The Big Little Festival. Kellie Hailes

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СКАЧАТЬ in satisfaction and gave the women a tight smile. Job done. They knew the score. They’d be onboard. There’d be no bossing or bulldozing.

      A cackle filled the air. High-pitched and hysterical. Followed by the low rumble of a chuckle. They were laughing? At him? He looked over his shoulder to see Mel giving him a pitiful glance. What was going on?

      Mrs Hunter was gripping the table and gasping for air. ‘Don’t tell me,’ she panted, as she gasped for air, ‘that you said to Jody what you just said to us?’

      Mrs Harper was clutching her sides. ‘You’re hilarious. Who knew the big-city boy would be so very funny? ‘There’s no time for democracy’! Oh my word. Bless your cotton socks, Christian.’

      ‘Look, dear.’ Mrs Hunter laid her hand on his forearm and gave it a squeeze. ‘I don’t know how you do things up in London. I’m not even sure what you’ve done before. Jody didn’t say. In fact, hiring you is the only thing she’s done without chatting to us about it first, so it’s not like we expected you to be here, and we’re not entirely sure why we need you in the first place… But you have to understand that trying to tell us how to do things in that stern manner of yours is never going to work. It clearly didn’t work with Jody and it doesn’t sit well with us.’

      Was that a threat he detected in that sweet and low voice? And why had Jody not consulted them? Surely she’d have had to in order to secure the budget for his services? Not that the price had been that high. But he’d needed to get out of town, it was a paying job, and if he made a success of the festival then his great mistake would hopefully be quickly forgotten. His reputation as the best event manager in London would remain intact.

      Christian saw something out the corner of his eye. A young boy with a stick in his hand and a hoop beside him, rolling it down the street. Had he travelled back in time? Was he going mad? Had the stress of the pop-star disaster actually sent him barmy? Was he currently locked up in a padded cell having a delusion?

      Two soft thunks and the aroma of rich coffee brought him to his senses.

      ‘Here’s your coffee, and the scone, with extra cream. Eat up. Drink up. You’ve the look of a man whose blood sugar is dropping at a rapid rate.’ Mel scooted the sugar bowl his way. ‘Pop two of these in, it’ll do you good.’

      Christian nodded his thanks and spooned the sugar into the coffee, hoping the women across from him, still snickering away, wouldn’t notice the trembling of the spoon, or the small granules of sugar that fell onto the table.

      ‘So, how is this going to work then?’ he asked. ‘Will I make suggestions and you poo-poo them? Will you make suggestions and expect me to action them? Am I to be your lackey?’

      ‘Ooooh, I’ve always wanted a lackey.’ Mrs Harper clapped her hands in delight. ‘Yes, I’m very happy with that idea of yours. Excellent idea. You do as we say. I could live with that.’

      ‘Now, now, Shirley.’ Mrs Hunter shook her head in mock despair. ‘Give the poor lad a break. He’s here to help us and he must have connections. Why don’t we let him find the musical acts and we can go about telling the Rotary girls what we need for the baking stall. We’ve got the Welly-wanging sorted; Jody had that well in hand. So that should be it. We’re done.’

      Christian gripped the coffee cup with both hands, brought it to his lips and sipped, holding the rich and surprisingly delicious liquid in his mouth. Who knew a tiny town could do a better cup of coffee than any he’d had in the city? He swallowed and tried to process what he’d just been told. Did they think a baking stand, some Wellington throwing and a bit of music was all a festival needed? It needed more. Much more. But it wasn’t going to work if he didn’t have a team he could trust working with him. Mrs Harper and Mrs Hunter were loose cannons. They’d likely jeopardise plans rather than bring them to fruition. But Jody? There was something about her he felt he could trust. She was determined, yet centred. Solid. She’d make the perfect second-in-command. But she’d quit. Shit.

      He took another sip of the brain-focusing liquid. No, he wasn’t letting these two women smash the career he’d spent his life building into smithereens. He’d left London with his tail between his legs; there was no way he was going back to face the music of his great mistake without a success under his belt. He was going to make this work.

      ‘Ladies.’ The word came out with a squeak. Hardly the show of strength he’d hoped for. Still, it had caught their attention. He cleared his throat and tried again. ‘Ladies, I appreciate how hard you’ve worked on this festival. I can see how passionate about it you are. But to be honest, it’s not enough. A festival needs to be fun, it needs excitement, amusement, it needs to be something people talk about all year round as they wait for it to come around again. What you’ve planned is a start. But it’s not an end. No. We’re going to have to work together to make this bigger. To make it better than any other festival in the area. A festival people from other counties come to visit. We’re going to make this festival the biggest little festival in England. Are you with me?’

      ***

      ‘I’m an idiot. More than an idiot. I’m insane. I should be committed.’ Jody slapped her hand to her forehead, rubbed it wearily and eyed her brother, who was restocking The Bullion’s wine fridge. ‘What was I thinking using my…’ Jody stopped herself. Tony didn’t need to know she’d used her own money to pay for the event manager. If he knew, he’d offer to help her, and she wasn’t one to accept offers of help. She’d done everything on her own since the boys came along and being a little out of pocket now wasn’t going to change that. ‘I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea to hire a person who would come in and just destroy everything we’d put together. Well, what little we’d kind of put together…’ She eyed the bottles of wine lined up in The Bullion’s fridge. Was it too early for a drink? It was after midday, and surely it was five o’clock somewhere in the world. ‘Tony, pour your big sister half a glass. I need to take the edge off. And where is bloody Serena? She said she’d meet me here five minutes ago.’

      Tony snickered. ‘Edge off? You’d need a whole bottle of wine to do that, not just a half glass. I’ve never seen you so pissed off. And what’s five minutes? She probably got stuck in a sheep jam or something. Chill out, Jodes.’

      Jody stuck her tongue out at her brother. Then laughed when he stuck his own tongue out and crossed his eyes.

      ‘Seriously? How old are you two? Five?’ Serena set her tangerine-coloured tote on the bar with a whump and slid onto the stool next to Jody. ‘And why haven’t you ordered wine yet? Honestly, what kind of best friend are you? How long have we known each other? You should know by now that if you’re demanding I come to a pub then you’d better have something alcoholic ready for me when I get here. And what’s the big drama? And who’s Mr Fancy Pants? And why do we need to run him out of town, preferably with pitchforks that have sat in hot coals for a couple of hours?’

      Jody grinned at her friend. Serena had a way of bringing lightness to even the darkest situations. ‘Tony. Did you hear the woman? Wine. Now.’ She slapped her hand on the bar for emphasis. ‘And bugger the half a glass, make it a whole. Also, could you take some chips up to the boys and tell them they’re not to be playing the violent computer games. And if they do they’ll lose today’s TV privileges. And make sure you impress upon them that if they do play the violent games, I’ll know. And be sure to raise your eyebrows on the “I know” bit.’

      ‘And they believe you’ll know?’ Serena grinned.

      ‘They haven’t figured out that when I told them I had secret cameras installed upstairs and all around Rabbits Leap to СКАЧАТЬ