WHAT WOULD I WISH FOR?

 

If I had a Christmas wish

What would I wish for?

Well, that’s a good question

I’m not really sure

I'd wish for peace in the world

Yes, I think that would do

No, I’m only kidding

I would wish for you

Snippets of Downshire Life – Christmas Carol Concert

 

Brassington is a large sprawling village nestled in the wooded hills on the southern edge of the Dancingdean Forest in the south east corner of Downshire and in one of a row of terraced Victorian Cottages lived Craig Hooper, a Detective Sgt in the Downshire Constabulary, and he lived next door to divorcee sisters Chrissy Holdack and Carol Hutchins.

They were all in their mid to late thirties and with no romantic attachments, so they got on very well.

But when Chrissy and Craig got together on Christmas Jumper Day, Carol decided things had to change in her life.

She had been deflecting the attentions of Ashwin Soman for several months, and she really liked him, but she had put him off because she didn’t want to upset the comfortable domestic dynamic between her and Chrissy.

But that wasn’t an issue now as her friend and next-door neighbour Craig had already done that, but not just a Christmas indiscretion, it was something serious, so with them “loved up” Carol realised that she didn’t need to live her life on the side lines and was ready to get in the game.

 

Ashwin was the 40-year-old widowed, owner and manager of the Stephenson’s corner shop, and was very highly regarded in Brassington, by villagers and customers alike.

One of those customers was of course Carol Hutchins who he knew very well but would have liked very much to have known her better.

She was five feet eight with thick corn coloured curls tumbling down onto her shoulders and startling blue eyes, with a lovely figure, curvaceous and perfectly proportioned.

But every time he suggested doing something she was always busy, so he just admired her from a distance.

But then one day when divorcee Carol went into the shop to buy her newspaper, as she did most days, she was different.

“Good morning Ash”

“Hello Carol” he said, “The usual?”

“Yes please” she replied “And a favour”

“Oh ok” he said, “How can I help?”

“Well I’m going to the Carol Concert tomorrow” she said “and I was wondering…. Hoping, you might be free to…. Accompany me”

“I would be delighted” he said “I would like that very much”

“Excellent” she said “Thank you so much”

 

“Well done Carol” she said to herself on the way back to the cottage “You played a blinder there, part one complete”

She would put parts two and three into operation after the carol concert.

 

Ashwin was in a much more positive frame of mind regarding his affections for Carol than he had been for many months.

He put it down to Christmas magic, he liked Christmas and he liked Christmas Carols although he was not a Christian, in fact he wasn’t, anything.

Ashwin was of Indian descent, although he was born in Downshire, and he was raised as a Hindu, but had not practiced his faith, in fact he lost his faith when his wife Preeta died.

He loved his wife very much but after five years he had accepted it was time to move on, and Carol was the one he’d set his heart on.

 

Because Ashwin and Carol lived at opposite ends of the Village they met on the day outside the Pub, and after a drink at the Timberman’s they walked across the green to St Anthony's.

It was while they sat and had their drinks that Carol finalised part two of her plan in her head.

 

It was a marvellous service of hymns, carols, recitations and bible readings, and they sang some of her favourite carols and she was uplifted at the end of it and felt a little guilty considering what she had planned.

As they stepped outside she stumbled, and Ashwin had to reach out and prevent her from falling.

“Are you ok?” he asked with concern

“I think so” she replied and then winced

“What is it?”

“I’ve twisted my ankle” Carole said

“Can you put your weight on it?”

“I’ll try” she said and then winced again “no”

“Do you want to sit?”

“No, I’ll be alright if I can lean on you” she said

“Ok” he responded and supported her weight

“Is that better?”

“Much” she replied “Could I be a burden and ask you to walk me home”

“I will happily see you to your door” he said happily, and he walked her slowly to her cottage and once there she opened the door and asked.

“Do you want to come in for a coffee” and before he had chance to decline she dragged him across the threshold into the hall and closed the door behind him and went about thanking him for his gallantry, and part three was complete.

 

Carol and Ashwin lay silently in the afterglow in her bed and after a few minutes she turned her head to look at him.

“My goodness you take gallantry to a whole new level” she said from beneath the duvet.

“Well we Hindu’s take gallantry very seriously” he said, and she giggled and then she added

“I don’t make a habit of this”

“Nor do I” Aswin said “And this isn’t something I envisaged when you asked me to go to the Carol Concert”

He reached out and put his arm around her and she lay her head on his chest.

“Regrets?” she asked

“None” he confirmed

“Nor me” she whispered and kissed his skin “I have often dreamed of this”

“Me too” he said “But it wasn’t as I imagined”

 “I’m sorry if it wasn’t as good as you dreamed” she said

“I’ve only ever been with… I had only ever been with my ex-husband”

“It was every bit as I dreamed it would be” he reassured her

“I just never imagined it would ever happen”

She hugged him tightly and then he confessed

“I’m no expert in such matter” he confessed “and there’s been no one since Preeta, but I thought we did good”

“Me too” she said, and he felt her sighing breath on his chest

 

They lay entwined beneath the duvet and after about 5 minutes Ashwin broke the silence.

“I suppose I should go” he said “before Chrissy gets home”

“I don’t want you to go” she said

“It won’t be forever” he reassured her “There’s always tomorrow”

“I know” she said “But I thought you might show me some more gallantry”

“Your wish is my command my lady” he said and pulled her closer to him.

 

The Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa – The Fourth Sunday of Advent Matinée

The beautiful Downshire village of Clerembeax St Giles was situated to the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace Hill and Bushy Down and on the outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa and when staffing the Hotel, they wanted to employ from the village populous where possible, and that was how the Ward girls came to work at the Palace.

 

The Ward family had a small holding on the North side of the village, parents Jack and Olive, and daughters Donna, Felicity, Josephine, and Maxine.

Maxine was the youngest at twenty and was 5ft 2, and unlike her siblings, who all had brown hair, she was a redhead.

From almost the first day she started at the Palace she met and fell for Graham Watts, who was a shy young lad of a similar age to her, and although she didn’t know it, he felt the same way.

Everyone else knew, including all of her sisters, but they never told her, subsequently nothing happened.

 

But on the morning of the Fourth Sunday of Advent she cornered him in the second floor Linen Cupboard and when he turned around and saw her standing there brandishing a sprig of mistletoe above her head, he panicked, blushed and pushed past her to rush out the door and she was left standing there alone, mistletoe in hand.

“Oh great, Merry bloody Christmas”

 

She was in a foul mood for the rest of the day, which was unusual for her, so her sister Donna got her to one side and asked her flat out.

“What the hell is the matter with you today?”

And in response she burst into tears, and then Donna knew for sure there was something wrong, and when she had calmed her down she got the full story out of her.

“He ran away?” Donna asked

“Yes”

“But he’s mad about you” she said

“Apparently not” Maxine said

 

When she left her Donna went in search of Graham and when she tracked him down she tore him off a strip.

“I thought you liked her”

“I do”

“So why did you run away?” Donna asked

“I panicked” he admitted “She looked so lovely and I thought…. Oh God I don’t know what I thought”

“You idiot” Donna rebuked

“I know” he said and after a minute or two Donna asked

“Do you want her or not?”

“More than anything” he admitted

“Then come with me” She ordered and took him to the third floor where Maxine was washing glassware in the utility room, then she gestured to him with her head to go in.

 

He walked in and after a moment he said

“I came to help”

He saw her bristle at his words and then she replied

“I can manage”

“I don’t mind helping” Graham said 

“I said I’m ok” she insisted

 

Graham walked back out into the corridor and was immediately confronted by Donna

“What are you doing out here you idiot?”

“I offered to help, but she said she was ok” he replied

“You have a lot to learn about women” she said shaking her head and thrust a sprig of mistletoe into his hand

“Now get back in there and kiss her”

“But…” Graham protested

“Do you like her or not?” Donna asked

“Well yes” he replied

“Then get back in there” Donna instructed “trust me”

 

Graham pushed open the utility door and walked in

“You don’t have to help” she snapped “I really can manage”

“I’m not here to help” he said, and he held up the mistletoe and then his voice cracked as he said

“I’ve come for a kiss”

“Oh” she said and dried her hands before she turned around, and he stepped towards her and when they stood facing each other, there was a moment of hesitation but then Graham kissed her, and it was a perfect kiss that brought all the feelings they had harbored bubbling to the surface and Maxine felt the love that filled her generous heart spill out from her every pore and Graham gratefully gathered it up and wrapped her in his everlasting love.

 

The Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa – The Fourth Sunday of Advent

 

The beautiful Downshire village of Clerembeax St Giles was situated to the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace Hill and Bushy Down and on the outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa and when Yvonne Labuschagne inherited it from her cousin, the last remaining Clerembeax, she undertook the task of modernizing the Palace and opening a Hotel and Spa offering, fitness classes, gym, rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool, Reflexology, Raki, facials, scalp massage, hand massage, Manicure and Pedicure, while also providing accommodation, meeting and function rooms, a superior restaurant and whatever temptation might attract potential visitors.

She was by profession a masseuse and had worked for many years along with her late husband at the Dancingdean Spa Hotel in Childean.

Staffing the Hotel and Spa was crucial, and Yvonne used her contacts in the Spa world to find the right specialist people in her field of expertise’s and employed Hannah Morgan to fill the remainder of the roles, on the understanding that she employ from the village populous where possible, and that was how the Ward girls came to work at the Palace.

 

The Ward family had a small holding on the North side of the village, parents Jack and Olive, and daughters Donna, Felicity, Josephine, and Maxine.

It was a profitable concern and gave them all a modest living but when the Palace opened, it gave them a chance to supplement their incomes without having to travel to Abbeyvale.

They were all hard-working girls and didn’t care what work they did so Hannah Morgan didn’t hesitate to offer them all housekeeping jobs.

 

Maxine was the youngest at twenty and was 5ft 2, and unlike her siblings, who all had brown hair, she was a redhead.

From almost the first day she started at the Palace she met and fell for Graham Watts, who was a shy young lad of a similar age to her, and although she didn’t know it, he felt the same way.

Everyone else knew, including all of her sisters, but they never told her, subsequently nothing happened.

 

When it got to the third Sunday of Advent and she was the only singleton among the nine at her mother’s Sunday lunch, she resolved to make her move.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the following Sunday when they were both working on the same day, and that was the day that she intended to ambush Graham armed with a sprig of mistletoe.

The only problem was that there was an incident three weeks earlier, when her sister Donna and girlfriend Laura thought they’d have some fun with him, before they left the spa, so Donna snaffled some mistletoe and they went after him.

When they caught up with him he was on the first floor.

“Hey Graham, you’re taller than us, can you hang this sprig over this door?” Donna asked pointing above the door.

“Oh ok” he replied and adopted a strange ungainly stance before reaching up, at which point they both kissed him on the cheeks beneath the mistletoe, just a peck on each cheek, but that was enough to make him turn beetroot red, drop the mistletoe and rush through the doors unceremoniously.

 

Had Maxine been in possession of that knowledge she probably wouldn’t have embarked on a similar course of action, but she was ignorant to the fact, so carried on with her plan, such as it was, basically it was find him and snog him.

 

The first part was easy, she knew where he was, he was up on the second floor restocking the linen cupboard, and once she got him cornered in there she figured it would be child splay, armed with mistletoe and the fact that she was gorgeous, and she would have thought it even easier if she’d known he fancied her.

 

She hurried to the second floor and she was right, he was in Linen Cupboard, standing with his back to her, so she slipped quietly inside and said

“Hi Graham”

It made him jump but it also made him smile and then when he turned around he saw her standing there brandishing a sprig of mistletoe above her head and he panicked, blushed and pushed past her to rush out the door and she was left standing there alone, mistletoe in hand.

“Oh great, Merry bloody Christmas”

A SPRIG OF MISTLETOE

 

There hangs a sprig of Mistletoe

The first of the season I’ve seen

Its berries glowing like pearls

Amongst the tiny leaves of green

 

And below stands sweet Emily

Where hangs the Mistletoe above

Tied with red ribbon to the beam

And I claim a kiss from the girl I love

MY COMFORT AND SUCCOUR

 

Have a lovely Christmas

My companion and confident

My friend of friends,

My comfort and succour

Have a lovely Christmas

Soother of my soul

You are everything to me

Except my lover

Have a lovely Christmas

Occupant of my heart

My comfort and succour

My secret love

Snippets of Downshire Life – The Christmas Sleeper

 

Twin sisters Adriana and Abigail Archibald were both medical students at Edinburgh University and they were travelling home to Downshire for the Christmas Holidays on the sleeper.

It would have been a quicker journey if they’d flown, but Adriana was a nervous flyer and Abigail didn’t want to make her fly if she wasn’t happy and they both quite enjoyed the train.

 

Their destination was Turnoak-Under-Hawthorne, a large rambling village, originally settled in the 12^th century on the sparsely wooded slopes on the Northern fringe of the Finchbottom Vale about 5 miles from Purplemere, and it was everything you would expect from a Downshire Village.

The Archibald family had lived in the village for many years and were of the landed gentry and the girls had been educated at Carrington Chase, which was Downshire’s version of Roedean, although those in Downshire thought it was the other way around.

 

They were identical twins, Adriana was the older of the two by an hour and was five foot two with bobbed flame red hair and a pale complexion, green eyes and had cutely freckled cheeks.

Abigail was two inches taller than her sister and had fewer freckles but more hair, she was also the quiet one of the two sisters and relied on Adrianas boldness to help her in social situations.

 

Also aboard were lifelong best friends, Gary Stanley and Will Finch, who were also heading south from Scotland, but in their case, they had been studying languages at St Andrews and lived in Abbottsford.

Despite the fact the four of them were all from Downshire and had all been at Edinburg for two and a half years they had never crossed paths, that was in part because they studied very different subjects and probably more significantly because the boys had never got the train before

The only reason they were on the train that December was that Will had an inner ear problem following a bad case of flu.

But when they did meet up they hit it off immediately and the guys were instantly attracted to the girls, not a love at first sight kind of thing, but close, and that was before they’d even heard the Archibald girls speak in their posh Carrington Chase educated voices.

 

As it was a week before Christmas there was a great atmosphere on the train, which was aided by the fact that the majority of the passengers flauted the rules and smuggled liberal quantities of alcohol on board with them.

 

The Archibald twins were stunningly beautiful and even wearing their ultra-casual travelling outfits they were still drop dead gorgeous girls, and as the journey progressed they were not short of admirers, male and female, and under normal circumstances they would have flirted along with the them, the male ones at least, but they had both fallen for the language students, and they made that perfectly clear to any interlopers.    

They managed to commandeer a four-seat table, with the girls on one side and the lads on the other, and primarily just chatted, mainly about Edinburg, and amazed each other with the number of places they all frequented and the amount of acquaintances they had in common.

The atmosphere in the carriage was not unlike the student’s union on a Friday night as the cheap wine and cider flowed, but although some of the passengers were partying hard on the journey Will was on mineral water because of his issue with equilibrium.

 

Adriana glanced sideways where Abi and Will were sat facing each other across the table, each resting on their elbows.  

But she had tired of the conversation even if Abi hadn’t so she slipped quietly away from the table and took Gary with her and when she looked back the other two hadnt even noticed that they had gone.

The moment they left the bar car Adriana pushed him into the nearest corner and kissed him and his response was instantaneous.

But the kiss was short and sweet as there appeared to be a constant flow of people between the carriages and the toilet.

Gary tried to resume but Adriansa evaded his lips,

“No not here” she said and walked away “Come on”

And then she ran giggling down the corridor and he ran after her until she stopped abruptly at the end of the car, where she stood fingering her hair and chewing her lip while she waited for him and then he kissed her.

 

Abigail suddenly became aware that Adriana and Gary had gone

“Theyre not here” she said “Where did they go?”

“When did they go?” he asked and they both laughed

They were really enjoying eachothers company and the conversation but the more they talked the more she wanted to kiss him, but she couldn’t.

If Adriana was in her situation and wanted to kiss him he would already have been kissed, but she wasnt bold like her twin, she was the shy one so she couldn’t take the kiss she wanted.

Unfortunately Will was no better, he normally relied on alcohol for his bravery, but he wasn’t allowed to drink, so they both carried on and made the best of the situation, and just kept enjoying eachother.

Which they did for the next five minutes or so until the train came to a jerky dissordally halt and they found themselves nose to nose.

 

“Nice” Adriana said and kissed him again

“Very nice” Gary said

“I agree, but we’d better get back” she said

“Ok” he agreed reluctantly

“Do you think they’re wondering where we are?” he asked

“Hardly, they probably haven’t even noticed we’ve gone” she said, “And if they have Abi will just say “oh there you are” and carry on with the conversation”

They were laughing when they entered the carriage but stopped abruptly when they discovered Abigail and Will were still sat facing each other across the table, each resting on their elbows, but were now leant forward engaged in a very tender kiss.

Adriana and Gary looked at each other, smiled, nodded and retraced their steps and resumed their own kiss.