Page 68 of Christmas at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry

‘Best show yet,’ came another comment from the parent of one of the older children.

The very next day, the school introduced a strict policy that no live animals were to be allowed to take part in any future performances. Rachel made her very apologetic call to the headteacher while Petie and his antics grew famous in the Kirkton area, and there were many comments in the coming weeks when Jill or Rachel were out and about in the town that that had been the best nativity play ever. There was even a video clip doing the rounds that Mr Stewart, the headteacher’s husband, had taken of the event – he was apparently thinking of putting it up for You’ve Been Framed – though Mrs Stewart had reportedly given him short thrift and banned him from doing so.

This was definitely a Christmas that Rachel wouldn’t forget in a hurry.

31

Rachel needed to buy a birthday card and a small gift for one of Maisy’s school friends as there was a children’s party coming up at the weekend. She thought she might as well nip into town before collecting the girls from gym club. Jill had closed up the Pantry a little early as it had been a bit quieter this afternoon; a downpour of rain seemed to have kept most of the customers at home so Jill said she had a couple of errands to run and mentioned that she was going to pop to see her friend, Jan, for a bit of a catch up.

Rachel was halfway up the high street, heading for the newsagents, and was passing The Cheviot Café when she stopped in her tracks. There was Mum – but it wasn’t Jan she was with – it was Daniel from the Pudding Club. They were sitting in the corner table near the window, chatting away and looking very cosy indeed. Rachel didn’t know what to think. Had Mum lied to her? Pretended to be seeing Jan?

Rachel suddenly felt awkward, and then had a real gut-churning twist of emotion. It just seemed all wrong, Mum meeting up for cosy chats with another man. What about Dad? What about their marriage? And why all the secrecy? Was this the blossoming of a new romance? It felt very much like a betrayal of Robert’s memory.

Rachel stood for a few seconds, in shock, taking in the scene. Well, they weren’t quite holding hands, but they seemed to have eyes only for each other – they hadn’t spotted her at all. They looked very comfortable in each other’s company. Oh, how could she be laughing and chatting away with another man when Dad was lying in a cold grave in the churchyard down the road? Rachel felt queasy. She had to get away from here and fast. She’d pick up the card and gift another day. She strode back down the street, back to her Land Rover, and then sat in the driver’s seat for a few minutes, staring blankly out of the windscreen and going nowhere, feeling a bit shell-shocked.

Surely Mum should have told her if they were meeting up, mentioned it, even if it was just for a friendly coffee or something? Did this mean there was more to it? Had she and Daniel met up before this? All sorts of thoughts were whizzing through Rachel’s mind. She let out a sigh. She’d quiz Mum later, see if she was keeping something back.

For now, she needed to calm herself, and go and collect the girls.

But the sight of Mum and Daniel together filled her mind as she drove off. A flurry of emotions were spinning in her gut as she parked near the school gates.

Later that evening, with Maisy in bed and Rachel and Jill sitting watching TV in the front room, she could hold back no longer.

‘So, er, did you have a nice time with Jan this afternoon?’

‘Ah, yes, fine thanks, love. It was nice to have a bit of a girly chat.’ She seemed so calm. It was odd. She’d never put her mum down as such an accomplished liar.

‘Oh … r-right.’ Rachel glanced at her, to see if anything might give her away, but Jill’s face was a mask. It was quite unnerving.

She evidently didn’t want to say anything about meeting up with Daniel. Rachel bit her tongue, and kept quiet. She wanted time to think this through.

They carried on watching TV in silence, but this new knowledge began to fester inside Rachel. They had always been so close, she and Jill, so open about everything. This seemed all wrong, and though Rachel tried her best to hide it, it began to wedge a distance between them.

The Ninth Bake of Christmas

WI Denise’s Easy Festive Fudge

Recipe:

1 can condensed milk (397g) A large knob of butter

400g good quality melted chocolate (dark, white or milk)

Icing sugar to hold

Additional ingredients such as: crumbled Christmas pudding, cranberries, rum-soaked raisins

Melt the milk, butter and chocolate carefully in a microwaveable bowl in short bursts of around 20 seconds, stirring each time. Stir in a dessert spoon or so of icing sugar to hold.

Add in your dried fruit or crumbled pudding (cranberries work well with white chocolate, Christmas pudding with dark) and stir gently through to mix.

Spoon into an 20cm (8 inch) square tin, lined with greaseproof paper and allow to set for an hour. Cut into bite-sized squares.

Ideal to pop into small bags tied with a pretty ribbon as festive gifts.

32

The next morning dawned frosty and very cold. The skies above Primrose Farm were a shocking, clear blue, with a mere drift of wispy cloud and Rachel was trying not to dwell on what she had seen yesterday; after taking Maisy to the school bus, she had headed out on the quad and got on with her farm work, spending a fair while trying to break the ice on the water troughs for the sheep out in the fields. The water pipes to the cattle shed, where the herd were now sheltered for the winter, were frozen too and if it didn’t thaw out soon, they’d have to bring fresh water in for the animals in huge plastic tanks on the back of the trailer. Yet another job to add to her load. They were a week on from the nativity play antics and the Swinton ladies were steamrolling their way towards Christmas.