Chaos At Christmas – Episode 14
Chaos At Christmas by Ewan Smith
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- 1. Chaos At Christmas – Episode 14
Dawn, one of the other helpers, approached her. “I think we’re done, Ferelith. I’ll take your bag if you want.”
Ferelith smiled. “That’s alright, I’ll take the bags to the bins. I’m going outside anyway to check when the penguins are next being fed. I want to put up a notice about it on the board.”
“Okay. But make sure that all the cardboard goes into the recycling hopper.”
“Will do.”
As she made her way through the lobby laden down with bags, she caught sight of Erik on the front desk. He was gazing at her with an expression of horror. At Fosbury Manor, guests didn’t expect to be confronted by members of staff carrying rubbish bags; she should have gone out the back way.
“Sorry,” she mouthed at him in apology and turned to head for the kitchens.
Three children raced past her, GroupChat phones in hand. “Steady on,” she laughed. Moments later, she turned a corner and came upon two more youngsters, squatting down and huddled over their phones.
I can hear water, they must be at the pool!
They jumped to their feet and rushed off.
She gazed after them, shaking her head in amusement. She had no idea what game they were playing but it was clear that the young folk were taking to the GroupChat phones like ducks to water.
“Hi, Dandy, I’m just checking that you’re still happy to act as Santa Claus at our Christmas Eve party?”
“I certainly am, Ferelith. We have an afternoon performance of the panto that day so getting to Fosbury Manor for 8 o’clock won’t be a problem. And the costume folk here at the theatre are sorting out an outfit for me.”
“It’s going to mean a long day for you.”
She heard a rumbling laugh down the phone. “The very generous payment I’m receiving from you will help with that. Especially if there’s a wee whisky ready for me afterwards…”
“The best malt that Fosbury Manor has to offer will be waiting at the bar for you when you finish.”
Ferelith put the phone down. Dandy Barham was playing one of the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella at the local theatre. She suspected that he would make a perfect Santa Claus for the Christmas Eve party.
She put a line through ‘Check Father Christmas’ on her To-Do list and puffed out her cheeks at the number of items still waiting to be dealt with. She got to her feet. ‘Check Konrad’ was next.
The noise was deafening. Shrieks and squeals from the young people echoed around the pool area. Ferelith tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Water was flying in all directions from the guns in people’s hands, some of it shooting vast distances. People were clambering eagerly about the blow-up desert island in the middle of the pool and the surface of the water was in turmoil as swimmers splashed and chased each other, both adults and children.
All at once, there was a deafening sound. It was coming from the airhorn Konrad was holding up in his hand. Silence fell over the pool apart from the gentle rippling of the water. Everyone turned to him. “Temporary truce,” he called out. “You have two minutes to catch your breath and refill your water guns before battle recommences.”
Ferelith saw Lyle hurriedly climbing out of the water. “Blue team to me!” he shouted. “We need to talk tactics.”
A woman on the opposite side of the pool was waving her arms. “Quickly – red team to me. We’ve got them on the run!”
“Green team – fill your guns and get over here,” a third voice yelled.
Ferelith wandered over to Konrad’s side. “This looks like fun.”
He gave her a weary look. “Fun is not the word I would choose, Ferelith. Until now, I thought that nothing in life could be as hard as preparing for the bobsleigh event at the Olympic Games.” He shook his head. “How little I knew. This is like trying to control a mad shoal of fish in the sea.”
She grinned. “So what’s going on?”
“It is all the idea of Herr Cranford. A water battle between three teams of guests.”
“They look as if they are enjoying themselves.”
He looked at her ruefully. “That may be true. But I have aged ten years in the last three quarters of an hour. And there are still fifteen minutes of the chaos to go.”
“Dad asked me to check on you to see if there was anything you needed.”
He snorted. “A dark room, something comfortable to lie on and absolute silence around me,” he muttered.
She laughed. “It will soon be over.”
“If I survive. Keep your fingers crossed for me.” He looked at his watch and lifted the air-horn. “Are you ready?” he called out in an roar. His eyes were sparkling and Ferelith wondered if he was secretly enjoying the fun as much as those taking part.
“Ready!” voices retorted from round the pool.
Then let battle commence!
Ferelith just had time to cover up her ears before the air-horn sounded again.
Outside, she found Geraint and his staff on the lawn with wheelbarrows full of artificial snow which they were spreading over the green patches on the ground. “That’s beginning to look like a full-time job,” she said sympathetically.
Geraint nodded. “The trouble is that the artificial snow is starting to get grubby with people walking about on it and that’s not a great look. Not to mention the wind blowing the snow all over the place.” He looked around. “So we’ve decided to concentrate our efforts on the front of the hotel. We’re collecting the snow from the sides of the building where it’s mostly untouched and clean and we’re spreading it here every day to try and maintain as much of a Christmassy look as we can manage.”
Ferelith smiled. “You could always ask Franklyn to order another lorry-load of artificial snow.”
Geraint looked at her in horror. “Don’t say things like that. It’s going to be hard enough getting rid of this lot once Lyle and his guests have gone.”
“I’m sorry about it all,” Ferelith said sympathetically. “This can’t have been what you signed up for when you took on the job.”
But Geraint just shrugged. “It’s not a problem. The grounds and gardens are here to please the guests, not me. If the artificial snow is doing that then I’m all for it.” Not for the first time, Ferelith was struck by his easy-going person nature. She liked that. She was sure that, if she had been in charge of the grounds, the situation would have been driving her mad.
