Chapter 64
Part Two of the nativity play reminded Nancy of that strange art exhibition she had gone to in London last week, while the grandmothers had been on Danny duty at the hospital. A real mixture to please everyone, with a meteorite as well as the stars, a rainbow, Dick Whittington and his cat, and seven dwarfs looking for Snow White.
‘In my day,’ sniffed Patricia, ‘we stuck to the facts.’
Christabel clucked her tongue. ‘Are you saying that everything in the Bible is a fact?’
‘Sshhh,’ said the man in front. He turned round and glared just as the singing started.
‘Away in a manger, No crib for a bed …’
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as the audience focused their attention on the group of children singing as though their lives depended on every word.
Then it was the turn of the wise men, which didn’t seem very chronological, after Snow White and the dwarfs. Oh well. Who was this kid with ginger hair and freckles, carrying a box covered in painted newspaper? Nancy leaned forward. It looked like the son of Hippy Mum as the others called her, and he was speaking very slowly with long pauses between each word.
‘We got you a present. It’s …’
He stopped and looked around the audience, as though about to burst into tears.
‘Frankincense and myrrh,’ impatiently hissed the prompt behind the curtain, who sounded very like Bella. ‘Franky sense and mermaids,’ announced the boy.
There was a ripple of laughter and a burst of clapping, which made him beam around the hall. Buoyed up by even more clapping from someone at the back, he carried on enthusiastically. ‘Then the wise woman gave birth to Jesus.’
Chronology had definitely gone out of the window! Another round of clapping until an arm came out from the curtain and gently pulled him back out of sight. Clearly the fourth wise man was too much of a liability.
Then there was a burst of music which Nancy imme- diately recognised. It was the tune for the various versions of the Puddleducks song. But although she knew the music, she didn’t know these words as well as the rest of the audience, who were rocking from side to side and clapping in time with Di’s piano-playing.
We are the little Puddleducks
Happy Christmas to you all.
We hope you have enjoyed our show
We’ve certainly had a ball!
But we’ve something else to tell you
Before you all depart.
And that’s to say we love you
With one big Puddleduck heart!
Nancy’s heart filled with emotion. To think how frightened she’d been about Danny coming here in September. Now it was as though he was part of one big happy family – and she felt the same. It was going to be so hard to leave it all. Still, if there was one thing that Puddleducks had taught her, it was that you could always make new beginnings.
Sam leaned towards her. ‘Danny’s getting tired,’ he whispered. ‘We need to get him home.’
She agreed but then an oversized elf bounced on to the stage. Standing in front of the assembled cast, he said he had some announcements to make.
‘That’s Mr Balls,’ giggled Danny. ‘Doesn’t he look funny?’
Everyone else clearly thought the same, as it took a while for the giggles to subside. Actually, thought Nancy, it wasn’t every man who could carry off a pair of green tights so well.
The elf cleared his throat. ‘As you know, back in September, all the parents were asked to come up with an idea for the Top Ten Playgroup Award. One of our mothers had a bit of a brainwave. I wonder if Mrs Carter Wright would mind standing up.’
Nancy felt her legs wobble and her face burn as she awkwardly got to her feet. Everyone began clapping enthusiastically. Mr Balls continued. ‘Mrs Carter Wright, who also happens to be Danny’s mum, had the idea of building a mural at Puddleducks which would depict the whole town. Unfortunately, as you will know, it was vandalised. Nevertheless, the award administrators saw fit to make a special category for the mural, which has resulted in a very generous donation and lots of good publicity for the school.’
Another round of applause. Sam was beaming at her. ‘Well done,’ he mouthed.
‘Meanwhile, you might recall that you were asked to send in one-line statements about what our schools, past and present, mean to us, for inclusion in a book we called MY SKOOL! Mr Hughes and I had the task of editing it – we didn’t win a prize but one of our parents, who wishes to remain anonymous, has kindly offered to print it so we can sell copies in aid of the school. The book was Mr Hughes’ idea so I think he deserves a clap, don’t you? He’s helped me see that prizes aren’t everything. Where are you, sir?’
Brian appeared beside Joe, and everyone cheered. ‘Finally, I’d like to say on behalf of everyone that we are thrilled to have Danny Carter Wright with us this evening,’ smiled Joe.
Another round of applause. Three months ago Danny would have hated being thrust into the limelight, but now, as he got down from his father’s knee and waved at his friends on stage, he seemed to be lapping up the attention.
‘Of course, I was always in the high-school production,’ murmured Christabel. ‘He takes after me.’
Patricia snorted. ‘Acting was always considered rather low in my family. Did I tell you I’ve offered to pay for Danny to have pee-yarno lessons?’
Sighing at their endless bickering, Nancy tried to ignore them. To her amazement, Danny walked up to the stage. Gemma, who was standing next to Joe in her lovely dress, grabbed the microphone. ‘Is that all right, Danny’s parents, if he comes up?’
They both nodded as they watched Danny run up the steps at the side of the stage and link hands with Billy, who had been remarkably quiet during the performance.
‘Blimey, I forgot to tell you,’ whispered Brigid, who’d now abandoned her washing-up duties and was sitting next to Nancy in the aisle, her coat-hanger wings lying by her side. ‘When we went to see you at the hospital last time, one of the doctors asked if we were interested in enrolling Billy in a trial for what he called challenging children. He doesn’t have to take pills. It’s a sort of behavioural therapy combined with something called brain gym. Gemma says she’s going to incorporate it into the musical movement activity.’
‘Shhhhh,’ said the man in front angrily.
One of the mother helpers had just come on to the stage and was whispering something to Mr Balls. He looked surprised, and then conferred quietly with Gemma. An apprehensive ripple ran through the hall, and finally Gemma took the microphone. ‘We’ve just received some news that we thought you might like to share,’ she began.
It was then that Danny grabbed Billy’s arm and began pointing excitedly to the back. Nancy tried to turn round, but her view was blocked.
‘He did it!’ Danny was shouting. ‘Father Christmas got my letter. He did it!’
A small, delicate-featured dark-haired girl, clutching the hand of a thin pale woman in a blue anorak, slid into the empty seat next to Nancy. ‘Hi,’ she said shyly.
It was Lily! Or rather Natasha.
‘I hope we not miss too much,’ said her mother. ‘My daughter wants to come. It is OK. Yes?’