Page 2 of Christmas at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry

‘Yes, we’ve been painting leaves and doing prints with them, and we’ve been learning all about squirrels and we’re helping to save the red ones.’

‘Oh, that sounds good. Did you know that where we live, here in Northumberland, is one of the few counties in England that still has red squirrels?’

‘Yes, Mrs Brown told us all about that – and they have four fingers and five toes, and their babies are called kittens.’

‘Well, I didn’t know that,’ said Eve.

‘And they have no teeth and no hair when they get borned,’ added Amelia.

‘Hah, they’ll look funny little things,’ said Maisy.

‘Hmm, yes I bet, all bald. Well, you two have learnt a lot today,’ said Rachel. ‘That’s great.’ It was nice that her daughter was happy and had settled in well in her first year at the local school. ‘Time for home then, Maisy?’

‘Yep. Has Grandma been baking?’ asked the little girl hopefully.

‘Oh yes, there’s bound to be a little something waiting at home for you.’ The smells wafting from the farmhouse kitchen had been delicious as she’d left, so there had definitely been plenty of goodies baking away in that Aga.

Rachel had been covering in the Pantry this afternoon before taking a break to fix up the fairy lights; worryingly, the only custom had been an elderly lady and a couple who’d been out hiking in the hills.

‘Yippee!’

They said their goodbyes to Eve and Amelia and set off up the farm track, walking past the field where their small herd of black, Aberdeen Angus cattle were out to pasture, making the most of the late-growing grass. Macduff, the sturdy bull, gave them a stare and one of his ladies mooed. The autumn had been mild so far, but who knew when that might change. Winter could be hard in the Cheviot Hills, as Rachel well knew. Soon enough they’d have to come into the shelter of the cattle shed.

‘Can we go and see Petie, Mummy?’

Petie was Maisy’s favourite pet lamb from this spring. He’d joined the other sheep out in the fields several months ago, but was still the friendliest of the bunch by far. Maisy (plus Rachel, she had to confess) had a soft spot for him, so much so that when the other male lambs went off to market recently, they couldn’t bear to send him. So, he was still here on the farm, even though he was nearly fully grown, full of bounce and cheeky affection. Rachel swore he thought he was a dog at times, chasing about after the quad and their Land Rover, and he loved playing with Moss, the farm’s border collie.

‘Yes, I don’t see why not. We could go and have a check of the sheep before it gets dark.’ There had been that bother with the ewes stuck in the fence yesterday, so it’d be good to check the others were all all right and that the fence repair she’d made had stayed sound. ‘We could jump in the Land Rover and go before tea. It’ll be muddy, mind, so you’d better get changed out of your school uniform and get your wellies on.’

‘Yay!’

They popped in to say hello to Grandma Jill, who was now keeping an eye on the Pudding Pantry which was disappointingly devoid of customers. With it being nearly four o’clock, it seemed unlikely there’d be any more. Jill was still baking like a trojan, but the customers weren’t there in the numbers they had been over the summer. Rachel might have to have a word. She didn’t want to dim her mum’s baking enthusiasm, but they really couldn’t afford to waste all those ingredients.

Jill was already starting to pack up. ‘I’ll be across to the farmhouse soon, love. I’ll just get tidied here and pop back and check on the crumbles I have in the Aga. Then, we can have a quick cup of tea before I start organising supper.’

No wonder it had smelt so good – Mum’s crumbles were divine.

‘That sounds great. But first, Maisy and I are going out to quickly check on the sheep.’

‘We’re going to see Petie, Grandma.’

‘Ah, how nice. Well, give him a pat from me.’

‘I will.’

‘We won’t be long.’

‘That’s fine. See you later, then. Oh, here, take a couple of these oat flapjacks with you. You might fancy a little treat whilst you’re out and about.’

Rachel rolled her eyes – Jill was unstoppable when it came to feeding them up with her delicious wares – but couldn’t resist a smile as her mum popped the syrupy flapjacks into a paper bag.

‘Thank you, Grandma.’ Maisy broke into a gappy grin, having recently lost her two lower front teeth.

‘Cheers, Mum.’

‘See you soon, my loves.’

Maisy bounded into the passenger side of their slightly battered Land Rover as Rachel took up the driver’s seat. Moss, the collie dog, was in the back, more than happy to join them, and little Maisy was soon chattering on about school and squirrels once more. After a bumpy ride over the fields that made Maisy giggle, they were soon up at the Top Field, where Petie and the hoggs, as the lambs selected for breeding were called, were grazing. Rachel had taken a couple of cobnuts from the lambing shed store to give their fleecy friend a treat. There was no need to call out to him, as he was already galloping across the field to meet the vehicle as they slowed to a halt on the rise.