Chapter 37 Charlotte
Charlotte
It was really quite exciting, Charlotte thought, as she sat next to Jacob and listened to the members of the committee hash out their plan.
The hardest part had been convincing them about what James actually had planned, but Aunt Marjorie had backed Jacob up about some of James’s previous nefarious deeds, and once they were all onboard, it was amazing to see the ideas flowing back and forth.
‘The plaza outside the church will be big enough,’ Tom said.
‘We can set up a police road block,’ said Mark Bobbins, ‘and just keep an eye out for his car.’
The door opened, and Kelly came with Clive behind her. Charlotte let out a whoop and clapped her hands, as the rest of the committee turned round.
Kelly winked at Charlotte, and Clive gave her a thumbs up. ‘He said he can do it,’ Kelly said to Charlotte, as they pulled up a couple of chairs and sat down.
‘Just let me know the time and the exact wording you’d like me to use,’ Clive said, nodding at Regina Clover, who gave him a scowl.
‘We never should have let the local station be privatised,’ she moaned.
‘But you’re good for the emergency alerts?’ Tom asked.
Regina looked like an ice cream about to melt. ‘Just for you,’ she said.
A group of old women were sitting on an adjacent table, having breakfast. One of them turned round and sneered, crow-like, at the festival committee.
‘You lot think he’s going to fall for this plan of yours? You’re out of your mind.’
Marjorie gave her a smile. ‘Do you have any good suggestions, Barbara?’
‘You can’t just shift the whole thing,’ Barbara said. ‘He’ll sus it. You need a decoy.’
‘She’s right. A couple of fake performances, maybe a stall or two,’ Pete said. ‘I volunteer the van to take one for the team. I’ll whack a bit of salt in the coffee in case any of his minions get thirsty. With a bit of luck, they might dissolve.’
‘Something to replace the scheduled performances, but not so obvious,’ Marjorie said. ‘Barbara, you’ve still got a touch of youth about you. With a bit of make-up, you could probably pass for a schoolgirl.’
‘You really think?’ Barbara turned to the women beside her. ‘Marguerita, Tiffany, how about it? We could call in the whole Brentwell Silvers Association for a bit of costume karaoke. As long as it’s snowing, we’ll all look fourteen.’
Jacob suppressed a snigger, and Charlotte tapped him on the thigh. The other old women at Barbara’s table seemed delighted by the idea.
‘Are we on then?’ Tom asked, looking around the group. ‘There’s a few details to be ironed out, but do you think we can pull this off?’
‘Absolutely,’ Marjorie said. ‘An illusion to fool the illusionist.’
A cheer went up from the group. Charlotte glanced at Jacob, who grinned.
‘You’re a genius,’ he said.
After the committee had dispersed and Jacob had gone to work, Charlotte pulled Kelly aside on the high street outside.
‘I have another problem,’ she said.
‘I’ve got to be quick,’ Kelly said, glancing at her watch. ‘I’m on shift in half an hour.’
‘It’s about Jacob.’
‘Have you told him yet? You know, about you and you-know-who?
‘I’ve told his mother, and she thinks he’ll be fine with it.’
Kelly patted her on the shoulder. ‘She’s probably right. He’s completely smitten with you. You can tell just by looking at him. You could probably tell him you were born on Mars and he’d just shrug and ask you want the food was like.’
‘It’s not just that,’ Charlotte said, lowering her voice and leaning close. ‘It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow. His mother invited me over for Christmas dinner. I haven’t got them any presents yet.’
Kelly laughed. ‘Oh, Charlotte. Jacob’s easy … he’s a man. Think of the Ks.’
‘What?’
‘Books and socks.’
‘But that’s B and S.’
‘The Ks are at the end.’
‘I know—’
‘Books and socks.’
‘But what about his mother?’
Kelly smirked. ‘A grandchild?’
‘A … what?’ Charlotte’s eyes widened, and she slapped Kelly’s arm. ‘Anything a little more short-term?’
‘Just make Jacob happy, and she’ll be happy,’ Kelly said. ‘Don’t overcomplicate things.’
‘Don’t overcomplicate things,’ Charlotte repeated, tapping her chin with a finger. ‘All right. Got it.’
Kelly patted her on the shoulder. ‘I’ve got to get to work. Good luck.’
Charlotte wondered how everything would have been achieved without the miracles of technology.
In the morning, she sent an email to her class’s social media group and asked them to all meet up at the plaza outside the church instead of Sycamore Park.
At three p.m., an hour before the festival’s designated start, Clive made a broadcast on Radio Brentwell to say that due to such heavy snowfall, the festival had been moved.
Half an hour later, an emergency mobile alert went out to all local phone numbers.
According to Regina, certain numbers could be excluded, and Tom had surreptitiously procured a list of all those relating to James and his staff.
On watch down by the theatre, Madeline from the Oak Leaf Café had called in to say that his car was still parked outside.
Charlotte’s class put on a lovely show, with Billy Toad receiving a large cheer for his performance.
The other kids were also great, but then there was the small matter of putting on a charade for James’s scheduled magic show.
Walking in pairs, the children made their way down to Sycamore Park, where a handful of locals who hadn’t got the message about the change in location sat around watching a hastily arranged stand-up comedy set by local comedian Edith Davies, who was clearly making things up on the spot to a spattering of applause, overlooked by Pete’s burger van, a kebab stand, and a couple of information stalls from Evans’ Carpets and Brentwell Mortgage Services.
The children slipped in, cheered loudly at the end of Edith’s set, then gave a louder cheer as James Steamblack took to the stage to perform an impressive show of illusion and sleight of hand.
Charlotte, standing back with Jacob in the shadow of one of the big sycamores, couldn’t help but be impressed, even though she still had a bitter taste in her mouth over how he had treated Billy Toad.
Billy, as well as some of his other classmates had opted to stay up at the Christmas festival’s new location rather than come down.
This time, however, James didn’t ask for any volunteers, and he gave a sense of being in a hurry, keen to get on with the main event.
Almost as soon as his show was over, Barbara Bakersfield and her team started to move in.
The children filed out a few at a time, replaced by groups of old ladies wearing duffel coats buttoned up so tight their faces were barely visible.
According to Marjorie, Barbara had recruited the entire Exeter branch of the Silver’s Association, and soon a large crowd was in place for the final performance of the evening, a karaoke competition, after the choir had supposedly been called off following an outbreak of flu.
‘It’s a little creepy, isn’t it?’ Charlotte said, nodding at the crowd seated in front of the stage, clapping along. ‘He’s going to have a terrible fright, isn’t he?’
Regina Clover, scowling in only the way a bitter councillor could as she climbed up on to the stage to introduce the next singer, lifted the microphone to her mouth and said in a deadpan voice, ‘Well, thank you, little Jenny Thomas, aged nine. That rendition of a Barbara Streisand classic was … lovely.’ She sighed, then looked down at a piece of paper in her hand.
‘And next we have … little Carla Simpleton, aged … hmm … seven, from Willow River, who’s going to sing us …
um … Ticks and Leeches by … ah … Tool. Oh, I can’t wait for this. Carla? Are you there?’
A figure rose out of the crowd—a little way at least—then shuffled along the row and up the steps to the stage.
‘Good luck, little girl,’ Regina said with another scowl, holding out the microphone.
‘Ooh, Kelly loves Tool,’ Charlotte said. ‘We should really get back though, shouldn’t we?’
Jacob nodded. The arrival of Father Christmas had been brought forward an hour, as an extra precaution to sidestep James, should he find out what they were up to.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, taking her hand. They started to turn away, but Jacob paused, turning back. ‘Are we doing the right thing?’ he asked. ‘I mean, I can’t condone what James was planning, but even so….’
‘I have an idea,’ Charlotte said. ‘I’ll tell you about it on the way back. We’d better hurry, though. I really want some of those hot cinnamon doughnuts and I’m worried they’re going to sell out.’
By the time they’d made it up to the church square, the last act of the night was almost over.
Harry, being looked after by Julie, barked as they approached.
Jacob paused to greet an elderly woman in a wheelchair, a little toy dog on her lap.
The woman looked a little confused for a moment, then smiled and patted his hand.
A woman holding the wheelchair gave him a smile, then introduced herself to Charlotte as Rita.
Before they could get into a conversation, however, the church bells suddenly clanged, and a hush fell over the crowd. From all around, a piped instrumental version of Jingle Bells began to play out of loudspeakers set up outside the local shops.
‘Children, please approach the stage,’ said the town mayor, speaking into a microphone. ‘A special guest is about to arrive.’
Lights appeared at the top of the street that arched away behind the church.
People began to cheer as a golden sleigh, lit by fairy lights, led by real-life reindeer, and driven by two men in elf costumes, came gliding down the street into the square.
A huge, jovial Father Christmas sat just behind the elves, and bellowed ‘Merry Christmas!’ as the sleigh came to a dramatic stop.
‘Merry Christmas everyone! Merry Christmas to all!’
‘Gather round, children!’ the mayor shouted. ‘Gather round to meet Father Christmas! Have you all been good this year?’
Charlotte squeezed Jacob’s hand. ‘We did it,’ she said.
‘Thanks to you,’ Jacob said, but Charlotte shook her head.
‘It was a collective effort,’ she said. ‘Things always work out best when people work together. Ah … Jacob … can I talk to you about something?’
‘Sure.’
She led him away into the churchyard. Around the back, she spotted a bench beneath some trees that had been cleared of snow. She sat down beside him and took his hands in hers, feeling the warmth of his hands through his gloves.
‘Jacob … there’s something I need to tell you.’
‘Ah … sure. Am I going to like it?’
‘I … don’t know. You see … a long time ago, something bad happened to me on Christmas Eve. I was only three years old, so I don’t remember much about it, but there was a crash. Both my parents died.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘You’ve told me before.’
‘Not everything.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve never really mourned them because I have no memory of them, and Grandma was so wonderful … she gave me a childhood I don’t regret for a moment. But that night … I saw something in the sky, and I knew everything was going to be all right.’
‘A police helicopter?’
Charlotte couldn’t help but smile. ‘No … but looking back, I suppose it might have been. But from that day, and ever after, I’ve been sure that I saw him.’
‘You mean….’
‘Yes.’
‘Father Christmas?’
‘Flying across the sky. He’s real, Jacob. I know because I saw him.’
He was quiet for a moment, and Charlotte watched his face, illuminated in the moonlight that lit the clear night. What would he say? Would he tell her he thought she was crazy?
‘Maybe you did,’ he said at last.
‘What? You really think so?’
He shrugged. ‘I think there’s room for a little magic in the world, isn’t there?
And who am I to question what you believe?
If you believe you saw Father Christmas that night, then maybe you did.
’ He pointed up to the sky. ‘See those lights? Maybe that’s him now. It’s about the right time, isn’t it?’
Charlotte looked up at a set of lights moving across the night sky. ‘That’s probably James’s helicopter.’
Jacob smiled and shook his head. ‘No, I think that’s Father Christmas. But talking of James … what was it you wanted to tell me?’
Charlotte squeezed his hands and leaned close. ‘Well, it is Christmas, isn’t it?’