A Spoonful Of Sugar: A Novella. Kerry Barrett

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СКАЧАТЬ She didn’t sound very surprised.

      ‘You knew?’

      ‘Well, yes,’ she admitted, sitting down opposite me and thumbing through some papers on my desk. ‘But that’s why it’s so great. The cafe will get so much publicity. Claddach will look amazing. Tourists will flock there and takings will go through the roof.’

      ‘I don’t want to be on TV,’ I said. ‘What if someone I know sees it?’

      ‘They’re not likely to watch Highland Television, are they?’ Harry pointed out. ‘I think it’s got something like ten viewers.’

      She didn’t quite meet my eye, though, so I suspected HTV got a lot more viewers than that.

      ‘Anyway, it’s too late,’ she said quickly. ‘It’s all sorted. There are six contestants, including us, two judges and loads of crew. Milicent’s beside herself with joy because they’re all staying at her B&B.’

      I grinned. Milicent was the local hotelier. She was a real character with a heart of gold, and she would love all the extra people descending on Claddach.

      ‘We start filming next weekend.’

      ‘Next weekend!’ I practically shouted. ‘Aren’t there like auditions and heats and things to get through first?’

      Harry looked shifty.

      ‘Well, yes there were,’ she said. ‘But I had a word with the producers and they saved two spots for us.’

      ‘A word?’ I said. ‘What word would that be? Abraca-bloody-dabra?’

      Because that was the other thing about Harry and me. We were both witches. Just like our mums, and Eva – and my toddler daughter Clemmie, which was already proving to be a bit of a headache. But unlike Harry and the rest of my family, I wasn’t massively enthusiastic about witchcraft. I used it when I really had to – why clean the bathroom by hand? – but I wasn’t casting spells left, right and centre like the rest of them were.

      I was fairly sure that Harry had used her magical skills of persuasion to get the producers to let us enter the competition at this late stage and probably to get them to hold the bloody thing in Claddach too.

      Harry grinned at me.

      ‘It doesn’t matter how I did it,’ she said. ‘All that matters is we start filming next weekend.’

      ‘I’m busy next weekend actually,’ I said, sulking. ‘I’ve got things to do. We need to paint the baby’s room.’

      Harry waved her hand as if that was a minor inconvenience.

      ‘You’ve got ages before the baby comes,’ she said.

      ‘And I can’t bake,’ I said. ‘I shouldn’t be in the competition.’

      ‘They always have two local contestants,’ Harry said.

      ‘I can’t bake,’ I said again. ‘Just because you’re a bloody domestic goddess nowadays, you can’t assume everyone is.’

      Harry laughed.

      ‘I’m not a domestic goddess but, yes, I can bake because I learned. And so can you.’

      ‘Not by next weekend,’ I wailed.

      ‘Oh we’ll sort it out,’ Harry said vaguely.

      ‘With magic?’ I was hopeful Harry could fix this, even if I couldn’t.

      ‘Erm, not really,’ Harry said.

      ‘Not really?’

      ‘Not at all.’

      My jaw dropped.

      ‘What do you mean not at all?’

      ‘No magic allowed, I’m afraid,’ Harry said. ‘You know as well as I do that we can’t bake with magic – it just doesn’t work.’

      ‘What’s the point of entering then?’ I said through gritted teeth.

      ‘Well, it’s fun, isn’t it?’ said Harry. ‘And it’s nice for us all to get together.’

      I put my head in my hands.

      ‘So how does it work?’ I said, dreading the answer.

      ‘They’re putting up a big marquee on the shores of the loch, right by the café,’ Harry said. ‘It’s going to be amazing. There will be ovens and fridges and mixers and everything we could possibly need inside there.’

      ‘Right,’ I said.

      ‘It’s every weekend for six weeks – someone gets knocked out each weekend.’

      ‘I’ll be out first,’ I said, cheering up a bit. ‘So it’ll only be one weekend really.’

      Harry shook her head at my lack of focus.

      ‘Anyway,’ she carried on. ‘Each week concentrates on a different aspect of baking. We do two challenges and the judges taste them and decide who’s going through to the next round and who isn’t. It’ssimple.’

       ‘Simple?’ I said, raising an eyebrow.

      ‘Simple.’

      ‘What’s the first week?’

      ‘Spongecakes,’said Harry. ‘Easy bloody peasy.’

       ‘Fine,’ I said, perking up at the thought of scoffing cake for days on end. ‘I’ll do some practice this week. Are you taking the kids?’

      Harry and her wife Louise had twins – Fiona and Finlay – who were three years old, adorable, and, in my opinion, out of control.

      ‘No way,’ she said. ‘Louise will be fine at home with them. Jamie can look after Clemmie on his own, can’t he? She’s no trouble.’

      I wasn’t so sure about that, not now my cute Clemmie had started experimenting with her new-found witching skills. But the thought of an unbroken night’s sleep was too good to resist.

      ‘He’ll love it,’ I said. ‘Let’s do it.’

       Two

      ‘Are you trembling?’ Harry looked at my hands in suspicion. ‘You are, you’re all shaky.’

      ‘I’m nervous,’ I said. ‘I’ve never been on television before, I can’t bake, I’m too fat to do up my own shoelaces and, altogether, this is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done.’

      Harry gave me a look that suggested I’d just grown an extra head.

      ‘It’s going to be fun,’ she said.

      ‘Yeah, СКАЧАТЬ