Chaos At Christmas – Episode 08
Chaos At Christmas by Ewan Smith
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- 6. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 06
- 7. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 07
- 8. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 08
- 9. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 09
- 10. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 10
- 11. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 11
Ferelith spotted Holly and Bree with a group of friends. They had gathered some of the artificial snow into a large pile and were taking turns to throw themselves onto it. “The youngsters got a bit excited when the snow first appeared. They were running around all over the place.”
Geraint just smiled briefly. “It’s Christmas; they should be enjoying themselves. And if the grounds are covered in artificial snow then that means less work for us.” Ferelith was grateful for his attitude, though she suspected that he couldn’t feel as relaxed about the situation as he appeared. He clapped his hands together. “Anyway, me and the lads had better get on with swapping the Christmas trees round.”
Ferelith turned to the back of the lorry. “That one looks a beauty.”
He nodded. “I was lucky. It had been ordered for a special event that was cancelled at the last minute. Normally you have to order potted trees this size months ahead of time.”
“Everything is ready for you. The tree inside has been cleared of its decorations. Though it seems such a waste just to get rid of it.”
Geraint shook his head. “I’ve been in touch with the local hospice. They said that they would love to have the tree to put up in their lobby. I’ll take it round there later.”
“That’s such a good idea; thank you, Geraint.”
“No problem.” He pressed a button on his phone and lifted it to his ear. “Hi, Faisal. Gather up the troops and bring them round to the front of the building. We have a couple of Christmas trees to move.”
Ferelith watched as the ground staff gathered round the tree and began untying its ropes. An artificial snowball whizzed past her nose. “Careful,” she laughed at two youngsters racing by.
“Sorry,” they cried in unison. They disappeared round the corner of the building and Ferelith made her way into the hotel. There was a pleasant atmosphere in the reception area. With Miss Buckley-Tone’s music playing quietly in the background, guests were relaxing in the armchairs, chatting together and enjoying their morning coffees.
Then came a voice in her ear.
We have a problem, Ferelith.
It was Jane Soutar, the chief housekeeper. Earlier, Ferelith had helped Jane and a couple of her staff to speedily remove the decorations from the Christmas tree. Once the replacement tree was in place, they were planning do an equally speedy redecorating job. A task like that would normally have been done at a quiet time when there were few guests around. However, Lyle Cranford seemed to be turning all the hotel’s normal routines upside down.
Jane nodded to the boxes of decorations waiting in the corner. “It’s the wooden baubles you ordered; the ones with guests’ names on them along with a Christmas message.”
Ferelith smiled. “They came out well, didn’t they? I’m really pleased.”
Jane grimaced. “That’s the trouble; they came out too well. They’ve been really popular and people have been trying to spot the ones with their names on them.”
“That’s good.”
“Perhaps. But five minutes ago, I found a little huddle of youngsters going through the box of baubles. I chased them away, politely of course, but a few of the baubles are missing.”
“You think people have taken the ones with their names on them?”
Jane nodded. “I suspect so. It won’t be easy getting them back.”
Ferelith shook her head.
There’s no need for that. We were going to give them to the guests anyway when they left. And there are plenty of other decorations to go on the tree.
“Talking of which,” Jane murmured.
Ferelith turned. The top of the new Christmas tree was appearing through the entrance followed a few moments later by Geraint and three of his gardening staff. They were clearly having difficulty carrying the enormous pot. They set the tree upright just inside the door.
“When we lift the tree, Faisal, put this underneath it to protect the floor,” Geraint said, handing him a square of old carpet. He and two of his men took the strain and then lifted the pot as Faisal slipped the piece of carpet into place. Geraint stood up, feeling his back ruefully. “I wouldn’t want to do this every day.”
They began pulling the tree slowly across the polished floor making sure that it didn’t topple over. People watched in amused curiosity and a spontaneous round of applause broke out when it reached its destination. Faisal pulled off his woolly hat and did an extravagant bow while Geraint and the other helpers adjusted the position of the tree at Jane’s direction.
Removing the other tree was less of a problem. They quickly lowered it to the horizontal and, with the eager help of some young volunteers, they carried it across the lobby and out through the entrance.
Jane gazed at the new tree thoughtfully. “This one isn’t quite as big as the other. It shouldn’t take too long to decorate.”
“I’ll be back to help in a minute,” Ferelith said. “I just want to make sure that everything is alright with the old tree.”
She hurried outside where Geraint and his helpers were loading the tree onto the back of the flat-top lorry. She watched as they tied it down carefully. “Thanks so much for this, Geraint. I can’t believe we’ve had to go to all this trouble just because Lyle Cranford doesn’t like the idea of a traditional Christmas tree.”
Geraint pulled on a rope to check that it was tight. “It’s not a problem. If that’s what he wants to spend his money on…” But then he turned with a frown. Shouts of excitement were rising up from the guests.
Ferelith looked round and blinked. Turning carefully into the driveway was a sleigh being pulled by two reindeer with giant red scarves round their necks and tinsel round their antlers. The reindeer were being led by a grizzled-looking elf and sitting in the sleigh was a man dressed in a Father Christmas outfit. As they watched, he stood up and began waving enthusiastically. The children didn’t need a second invitation. They raced off down the drive towards the sleigh, cheering and shouting.
“That must be the great man himself,” Geraint murmured in amusement. “Lyle Cranford.”
Ferelith nodded. “I imagine so. It looks as if he quite likes being the centre of attention.”
The scene quickly became chaotic. Some children clambered onto the sleigh while others surrounded the reindeer, which the elf didn’t seem too happy about. Father Christmas was laughing and trying to keep prying hands away from the large bags of presents beside him and his hat got pulled off at some point in the process. It took a minute or two but calm was restored with the help of the children’s parents. The sleigh got going again, moving slowly on the little wheels under its runners and eventually came to a stop in the middle of the lawn. A grinning and hatless Father Christmas with his beard dangling sideways called out “Ho – ho – ho and a Merry Christmas to you all!”
