The sun was out, the sky a hard, winter blue making a dazzling backdrop to the grey, flint castle that towered above them as they drove through the scatter of houses and a few shops in the village and the gleam of the river not far away. Anna, Freddie and Ozzie the guinea pig arrived at Northbrook Castle just after lunch on December 19th.
Anna always had a last-minute panic if she were leaving for somewhere abroad, checking and rechecking that their passports and money were still in her bag where she’d put them, as though goblins might have stolen them in the night. At least she and Freddie were staying in their own country with their own currency and didn’t need a passport.
Freddie, who was so like his father with brown curly hair and blue eyes, was ecstatic when he saw the castle lording over them. ‘Will there be dungeons and p’haps a ghost,’ he added a trifle nervously.
‘There probably were dungeons long ago when people called the Normans were here, but they took any ghosts with them,’ she said cheerfully, relieved they would be in the castle’s self-contained snug little flat and Freddie would not get lost in the long corridors and masses of rooms and stairs in the rest of the castle.
At least it wasn’t raining as they arrived. The castle looked huge with its battlements and even – she pointed them out to Freddie – arrow slits.
‘So they had bows and arrows,’ he said in wonder, ‘will we see some?’
‘They might have some old ones inside, we’ll have to ask, and you see the battlements?’ She pointed upwards.
‘So it’s a real castle,’ Freddie breathed.
‘Yes, I didn’t see much of it when I came with Daisy as it was raining and when we left it was dark, but look up there, up on that mound, that stone building is very old and it’s called a keep. Remember the pictures in that book of castles I showed you?’
They had reached the door of the flat and she parked the car outside. She felt a rush of nerves and struggled to control them. Although she’d met Luke and Cathie, it was a bit daunting being here all alone with just Freddie, but it was too late to cry off now and let Philly and Sidney down.
She glanced at herself in the driving mirror; she’d had highlights put in her light brown hair that touched her shoulders. She looked washed out; she was always exhausted by the end of term and the long drive from London hadn’t helped. She hoped being in the country would put a sparkle back in her skin.
Sidney and Philly were waiting at the flat for them and they ushered them in, Sidney helping with their cases – one hiding some secret presents wrapped up in her jerseys – and a box of other Christmas presents and bags of groceries, putting them all in a corner in the hall out of the way of their own bags standing ready to go by the front door.
He was about to shut the door when a truck pulled up outside and someone jumped out, lifting out a Christmas tree and a wreath from the back.
‘Hi, I’m Luke, we met when you came up before,’ he said, smiling at Anna and Freddie as they stood in the hall.
‘Of course, you came with Cathie,’ Anna said, pleased to see someone else she knew. ‘This is my son Freddie.’
Freddie said, ‘Are you a Christmas tree person, the man who brings trees and things?’
‘Sort of, we grow Christmas trees as well as other things on the estate and this one is yours.’ Luke said. ‘Shall I take it in? Hello, Philly, all ready for your trip?’
‘Oh, yes, Luke. Thank you. Usual place, I think.’ She turned to Anna, as Luke carried through the tree, which was wrapped in a net. ‘We always have it in the living room, so we can enjoy it with all its lights and decorations when we’re sitting there in the evenings. I hope that suits you, Anna, Sidney has put out the stand’
‘We bought our own decorations,’ Freddie jumped about in excitement as Luke released the tree from the net and the branches spread out filling the room with the sharp, fresh smell of pine. ‘We were going to buy a tree and now we needn’t.’ He followed Luke out into the hall.
‘No, you needn’t. So, tell me what’s in that wooden box,’ Philly said, pointing to a box on the floor. She knew it was a guinea pig as Anna had rung her to ask if they could bring him as Freddie couldn’t bear to leave him with a friend for as long as a month, if they stayed that long. Daisy had said she could possibly take over for a week after Christmas if they wanted to leave.
‘It’s Ozzie,’ Freddie opened the box and pulled him out, a toffee-coloured animal with a quivering nose and button-black eyes looking round with interest at his new surroundings.
‘You’d better put him away in case he escapes,’ Philly said nervously, standing back as if Freddie were holding a deadly snake instead of a curious rodent.
Luke was by the front door. ‘If you want mistletoe or holly just call my number, it’s on the hall table.’ He pointed to a piece of paper with a list of names on it. ‘You’ll soon get to know us all: Cathie you know, Simon is in charge of the grounds, Tessa and Nell are sisters and they do all the admin and have their office in the castle just along from you. They are only there during the day, but they are away now, they’ll be back soon. Oh, and the most important person who runs the whole thing is Julius and he’s away skiing.’ He smiled as if he’d recited some long and complicated poem.
‘Thanks, I hope I’ll get to know them and remember their names,’ Anna said.
‘I’m sure you will, we’re a friendly bunch.’ He smiled at her and she felt less shy at being here among strangers. ‘Oh, a guinea pig, my brother had one when he was young, kept escaping.’ Luke grinned, said goodbye and that he’d see them around, but he had a lot to get on with just now. He got into his truck and drove away.
‘I like him,’ Freddie said, eyeing his mother.
Anna froze; was Freddie going to size up every man he met and pick out one to be his father? She realized now they were here that they could be in daily contact with more men working on the estate, than they saw in London. He couldn’t just choose one as a replacement father. She’d have to try and explain to him to keep his wish just between them.
Sidney joined them. ‘Perhaps Ozzie would like to see his sleeping quarters?’ He led the excited boy and his wriggling guinea pig out through the kitchen door to the garden shed.
‘He’ll be safe in there,’ Philly said, ‘we keep a low heater on as I grow pots of bulbs in the winter and do my artwork there, though it’s all packed away now.’
When Freddie returned, Philly showed them where everything was, and how the heating and hot water worked. Anna was to sleep in the main bedroom with its en suite bathroom, Freddie in a bedroom next door with two beds, and cheerful pictures on the walls and a large bookcase stuffed with children’s books.
‘I sometimes have my grandchildren to stay,’ Philly said, ‘they are a little younger than you, Freddie, but you are welcome to play with any of their toys you find in that cupboard that appeal to you.’
‘Thanks,’ Freddie said, clutching his own bag of favourite things he couldn’t leave behind.
They heard a car draw up and a door slam and all headed back to the hall, where Sidney opened the front door. ‘We’re all ready,’ he called to the person outside and picked up their suitcases, taking them to put in the car.
‘It’s lucky a friend of ours is going to stay with his daughter in Surrey and he’s dropping us at Gatwick on the way, saves us a lot of trouble,’ Philly explained, now slightly agitated that they’d forget something, rechecking the tickets hadn’t gone walkabout, looking round the hall in case something had been left behind before putting on her coat.
Sidney came back in to take out their hand luggage and said goodbye to Anna and Freddie, ‘Thank you both so much for stepping into the breach at the last moment, I’m sure you’ll have a great time here, everyone will see you are all right.’
Philly hugged them both. ‘Thank you so much Anna, I can’t tell you what this means for us. It’s our first proper holiday together for ages, but more importantly we need to visit Gerald, my father-in-law, as he’s getting too frail now to travel far.’
‘I’m so glad to do it, it will be an adventure.’ Anna hoped she sounded confident, but now it was really happening her anxiety was biting again. As soon as Philly and Sidney left, it would be just her, Ozzie and a seven-year-old boy alone, looking out for this vast castle in the winter darkness.
‘Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention,’ Philly turned back, ‘there’s a wedding on January 5th, before we get back, it’s all taken care of by the staff and Jenny, who you’ll meet. She does the catering for all the castle events. I’m just mentioning it in case you wonder what’s going on. Julius, Julius Vaughan, the estate manager, he’s not here just now, he’s taken a few days off, but he’ll be back before Christmas, he copes with it all, so no need for you to worry about a thing.’
There was an impatient sound of a car horn.
‘Sidney has train, or rather plane fever, though we’ve hours yet.’ Philly blew them both kisses and made for the door.
It was pitch-dark now, being five o’clock at the end of the year, and to chase away a sudden lurch of homesickness Anna decided that they’d decorate the Christmas tree to add a festive touch to the flat before unpacking. As they unwrapped the decorations, Freddie greeting his favourites with delight – a fat Father Christmas, some spun-glass silver horses with silk manes, and a red engine with tiny presents in the back – Anna felt better.
They had just finished the tree when the bell rang and, assuming that anyone who called would be local, Anna gingerly opened the door. A smiling woman holding a cake box stood there.
‘Hello, I’m Lucy Scott, I’ve bought you a cake as a welcome.’
‘Oh, how kind you are, come in.’ Anna stood back to let her in. ‘This is Freddie, and I’m Anna, Anna Gordon.’
‘Welcome, we’re so glad you’re here to give Philly and Sidney a much needed break. We’re looking forward to getting to know you both.’ Lucy came into the kitchen and put the cake box on the table and opened it. It’s chocolate,’ she smiled at Freddie, ‘you might have rather had a Christmas cake, but I didn’t know if you’d both like that.’
‘I’ve brought mine with me, thanks so much for thinking of us.’ Anna smiled at her. She guessed that Lucy was in her late thirties, early forties, the same age as she was. She had wavy, dark hair and rosy cheeks from being in the country air. ‘I’m going to ice it here, I never got round to it before we left. Would you like some tea or coffee?’ Anna asked her, hoping she would stay.
‘Tea would be lovely, thank you. I’ve been on the run all day.’ Lucy sat down at the kitchen table. ‘I have a cake shop in the village. I make wedding, christening, birthday, or any kind of cake for anyone who wants one and sometimes for events held in the castle. The old boy, Jeffery Farnley, who owned the castle before the Second World War, left it in trust and to keep the castle going he wanted as much as possible to be done by local people who’d get paid for it. So some of us have inherited a business or a craft from our great grandparents and others, like me, have started their own.’
‘That sounds such a good idea.’ Anna took some cups and plates out of the cupboard, and sent Freddie to find the Christmas tin of biscuits her class had given her and to put some on a plate. ‘So where did the name Northbrook come from?’ she asked Lucy.
‘Oh, from a family years back who owned it and like so many other families the name died out in the First World War and Jeffery Farnley acquired it,’ Lucy explained.
‘I’d like some of that cake… please,’ Freddie said when he returned, eyeing the glossy chocolate cake with a beautifully piped ring of darker chocolate round the top of it.
Lucy laughed, ‘That’s just what my son, Benny, would say. You must come and meet him, he’s seven, how old are you?’
‘Seven too, I’ve just had my birthday,’ Freddie enthused.
‘Well, I’m sure you’ll be friends.’ Lucy smiled at him.
‘So you do the cakes for weddings and such… and someone else does the catering?’ Anna remembered Philly mentioning it.
‘Yes, Jenny, she has a catering business. But a lot of us do work for the castle, flowers for occasions, and in the office and the grounds. Like it or not, the castle is part of us, so those that can, help out, and as we need to work anyway it’s good for us all,’ Lucy explained.
‘Sounds wonderful all of you doing your bit. Well, I hope Freddie and I come up to scratch,’ Anna joked.
‘I’m sure you will,’ Lucy replied, ‘you’ll be swept up by all of us… if that’s what you want.’ She frowned, ‘I mean, you might find us all too much, want to be quiet, on your own?’
‘No,’ said Freddie, hugging the biscuit tin, ‘we—’
Anna, fearful that Freddie might let drop that he hoped for a dad for Christmas and ask Lucy if she knew of anyone who would fit the bill, which would embarrass her and, more likely, cause every man that might qualify to leave the district until they’d gone, said quickly, ‘Yes, we’d love that, get to know everyone and help out wherever we can.’ She cut some slices of cake and handed them round. Freddie crammed a huge bit into his mouth, they hadn’t eaten for hours so he was starving, and to Anna’s relief he set his mind to eating it as quickly as he could.