Chocolate Wishes

by Trisha Ashley

  ‘In fact, I think it will be a distinct improvement,’ Effie said. ‘The current one floods most of the winter, so there’s always a lot of clearing up to do in the spring.’

  ‘But of course!’ Laurence Yatton exclaimed. ‘That’s why the tennis court land was never built on – seasonal floods! They affect the edge of the lido field too. I’d quite forgotten, and I don’t suppose Mann-Drake would know that at all, not being from the area.’

  ‘We will have to make sure any potential property developers are fully aware of it,’ Hebe Winter said thoughtfully.

  ‘Hear! Hear!’ someone called, and there were echoes around the room.

  ‘I can speak to my cousin Conrad,’ suggested Poppy. ‘He’ll probably learn about any interest in the site first, being the main local estate agent – or he can find out.’

  ‘That would be really useful, thank you, Poppy,’ Raffy said, and she went quite pink with pleasure.

  ‘Isn’t there a line on the side of the tennis pavilion, marking the highest floodwater levels?’ asked Mike, the village policeman.

  ‘I think it just shows how high the great flood of ’36 got,’ Effie said. ‘There’s a plaque too, but its paint has peeled off.’

  ‘It should be repainted so it’s nice and clear,’ suggested Felix, and someone in the hall volunteered to do that.

  Then Laurence Yatton proposed that a group could be organised to go and picket the Town Hall in Merchester and protest about the lido field, and by the end of the meeting there was a general air of having declared battle and of everyone being ready for action, once they knew exactly in what direction to proceed.

  The main business of the meeting wound up with Hebe Winter graciously thanking the vicar for coming to the rescue with the tennis courts and also for taking on the repairs to the village hall annexe.

  Everyone enthusiastically gave three loud cheers and then made a dive for the refreshments while Mr Lees, who had been sitting at the piano next to the stage with his black Labrador sprawled across his feet, now lifted the lid and played a Beatles medley, to everyone’s amazement.

  Kat introduced her parents to Grumps, who was gracious, Zillah, who grinned glintingly from ear to ear, and then to me, by which time they looked slightly stunned, though they told me what a nice boy Jake was. Then they left, taking him with them, which was probably easier than trying to disentangle him from Kat.

  ‘That went really well,’ I said to Felix and Poppy when I caught up with them by the buffet table. Felix had piled his plate up so high that it looked like one of those Continental choux pastry wedding confections. ‘It doesn’t sound like the tennis courts are going to be quite the valuable asset Mr Mann-Drake thought they would be, does it?’

  ‘No, and I’m sure we can get lots of protesters out with placards, and coverage in the newspapers if any developers show interest in building there, or on the lido field,’ Felix agreed.

  Poppy said earnestly, ‘Yes – I mean, it’s not that we’re against having any new homes in Sticklepond, just that they look so much better slotted in here and there, rather than a whole estate of little boxes dropped down in one place. I’ll see if I can get Conrad to be my mole about what’s happening.’

  ‘I wonder if there were houses on the lido field before the Plague?’ I mused. ‘I could ask Grumps to look on one of his old maps.’

  I noticed that Felix and Poppy seemed to be sticking together much more than usual, though there was no sign of any special awareness between them, so either the love potion didn’t work, which was just as I thought, or I simply hadn’t put enough in. But there was still a little left and I had it with me…

  ‘I’ll get you both some more coffee, before it runs out,’ I suggested. ‘Back in a mo.’

  The crowd had thinned out over by the urns and, by keeping my back to the room, I managed to pour the last drops of the potion into two cups…only to find Zillah at my elbow, watching me with interest. I started guiltily.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Poppy got one of Hebe Winter’s love potions and I stole it, because I think she and Felix would be perfect together!’ I hissed. ‘I put some in their drinks the other night, only it doesn’t seem to have worked, so I’m doing it again.’

  ‘We all hoped you and Felix would get together, because he’s a nice man and better than that David. But I see things working out differently in the cards now.’

  ‘I don’t want either of them,’ I told her, then noticed that Poppy and Felix were coming over. ‘Sssh!’

  ‘Here you are,’ I said, handing over the coffee. ‘Sorry I was ages. I got talking to Zillah.’

  ‘But I’m off now,’ said Zillah. ‘I only came over to tell you Clive’s giving your granddad and me a lift back, so you don’t have to bother.’

  ‘Grumps has been the sensation of the evening, hasn’t he?’

  ‘Yes, I heard several children ask their parents if he was Gandalf or, even better, Dumbledore,’ Poppy said.

  ‘I got you the last sausage roll.’ Felix handed it to me wrapped in a greasy paper napkin. He had three on his own plate, but you have to love a man who thinks of snaffling you the last savoury from under the nose of the hungry masses.

  Mind you, most of the female half of those masses were currently clustered ten deep round Raffy, with Janey practically plastered up his side like a poultice.

  As if he felt my gaze, he suddenly turned his head and gave me a half-despairing and somehow strangely intimate smile…

  I turned away abruptly and said brightly to the others, ‘It’s early yet. Shall we go to the Falling Star for a while?’

  As soon as Chas arrived next day I knew that he’d found out the results of the DNA test and it wasn’t good news, because it was written all over his naturally lugubrious face so that all his features seemed to be sliding sadly downwards, like tears.

  However, I kissed his cheek as usual, made him the strong Indian tea he likes and cut him a slice of fruitcake.

  ‘This is really nice,’ he said, looking round the little sitting room. ‘And is the Chocolate Wishes business booming?’

  ‘Yes, I’m making very good money and for something I love doing, so it couldn’t be better. I still do a bit of secretarial work for Grumps too, which I can fit in easily enough. He’s been so kind and he’s even giving me this cottage.’

  ‘That’s great – a home of your own! And Jake is well?’

  ‘Yes, he’s actually working quite hard, which is the influence of his new girlfriend,’ I said. I never asked about Chas’s wife, or his children, who were all grown up and off into the world, and he never volunteered the information.

  ‘Good, good…I’m glad everything is going so well,’ he said abstractedly and sipped his tea, looking utterly miserable.

  ‘You’ve had the DNA results, haven’t you?’ I asked, and he nodded.

  ‘And you’re not my biological father?’

  ‘No,’ he admitted. ‘And I can’t say it was a complete shock, because I’ve often wondered about it over the years, especially since you’ve never looked like me in the least.’

  ‘But you still came to see me and brought me presents anyway?’

  ‘Well yes, but I could have been, and anyway, I grew fond of you. And now I feel like your father, even if I’m not.’

  ‘You’re the nearest thing to one I ever had and I wanted it to be you, Chas. You’ve always been kind, though it can’t have been easy, especially when your wife found out about me.’

  ‘It was a difficult time, but she forgave me,’ he said and smiled reassuringly.

  He is such a nice man, despite his weak moment with Mum!

  ‘But now that we know it isn’t you, and Mum lied about that, I’m wondering if she also lied about this other man she was blackmailing. My biological father could be someone else entirely!’

  He looked up from his tea. ‘Who is the other man – would I know him?’

  I hesitated. ‘He’s still married too, with four children.�
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  ‘I have complete fellow feeling with him – I wouldn’t tell anyone else.’

  ‘No, of course not. His name’s Carr Blackstock and he’s a Shakespearian actor, but he’s done a bit of TV work, too.’

  Chas frowned. ‘Yes, I think I know who you mean, though I haven’t met him. I expect I know friends of friends of his, it’s a small world. I could get an introduction and try and talk to him for you, if you like?’

  ‘Oh, would you? I don’t know how to go about it without sounding as if I’m after something, or about to make a big scandal. I don’t want to meet him, or hear from him, or anything, only to find out the truth, one way or another.’

  ‘I’ll do my best and let you know.’

  Zillah, who likes Chas, had seen his car outside and came in to say hello. I asked her once why Grumps hadn’t tried to ill-wish Chas for getting his only daughter pregnant. She replied that the words ‘fly’ and ‘spider’ came to mind where Chas and Lou were concerned and it was hardly worth bothering with the fly once it hit the web, because it was a doomed victim.

  After she’d gone, Chas pulled out a little gift-wrapped parcel and a card and gave them to me before he left. ‘Happy birthday in advance,’ he said, kissing my cheek and, oddly enough, at that moment he felt more like my real father than ever before.

  We agreed that we were not going to let this discovery change things between us, so if this Carr Blackstock did turn out to be my real father it would suit me very well, since evidently he wanted nothing to do with me.

  Chas was father enough.

  My life has been a really mixed bag lately, just like my mother.

  Later I went up to Stirrups in search of Poppy and a shoulder to cry on, and luckily found her alone. Janey could be distantly seen in one of the paddocks, putting her bay horse through an odd dressage manoeuvre that made it look as if it was trotting on the spot.

  Poppy was very sympathetic when I told her about the DNA results and understood exactly how I felt. ‘I hoped it was still Chas too, but it’s lovely that he feels the same way even though he isn’t – that you both feel the same way.’

  ‘But now – assuming he agrees – I’ve got to go through the same process with this other man and it might not even be him!’

  ‘If you remember, Felix and I did think we saw a resemblance between you and Carr Blackstock in those pictures you showed us. And actually, Felix looked him up on the internet too, and found photographs of him with his family, and you look very like his daughters.’

  ‘How strange that feels!’ I shivered. ‘But at least if it is him, then once I know I can simply forget all about it.’

  ‘Yes, let’s hope Chas manages to persuade him to cooperate.’

  ‘I gave Chas a letter assuring him I only wanted to know the truth and would keep it a secret.’

  ‘Apart from me and Felix.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘It’s odd,’ Poppy said pensively, ‘but I keep having this urge to go and see Felix, though I can’t imagine why. He’s not worrying about anything, is he? He came up here earlier, for no particular reason, so perhaps he wanted to tell me something.’

  ‘And he didn’t?’

  ‘No, but I think I’m going to teach him to ride.’

  ‘What, Felix?’

  ‘Yes, he said he had a sudden impulse to try something new. It’ll have to be Atlas, though; he’s the only horse we’ve got big enough to carry him.’

  ‘That’s a turn-up for the books, isn’t it? He’s not usually a sudden impulse sort of man.’

  Or he hadn’t been until lately. But now he and Poppy seemed to be acting strangely, as if compelled to spend more time in each other’s company, though not exactly in the way I was hoping for. But I supposed that as long as Felix didn’t break his neck falling off the enormous Atlas, who had feet the size of dinner plates, then perhaps romance might follow.

  ‘Have you asked Janey if she can manage without you on my birthday?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, it’s fine. But what are we going to do?’

  ‘I’ve decided it’s time we got out of our rut, and I’ve got it all planned. We’re going to have a day of hair and face makeovers and shopping in Southport.’

  ‘But—’ she began to protest.

  ‘It’s all booked,’ I said firmly.

  ‘But, Chloe, I can’t afford—’

  ‘Janey’s paying for yours. I asked her and she thought it was a great idea.’

  Or she had once I’d tweaked what passed for her maternal instincts and appealed to her guilty conscience, by suggesting it was something positive she could do to help Poppy find the right man.

  Poppy was in a panic and really didn’t want to come, but she couldn’t refuse me when I said if she didn’t it would spoil my birthday, because I couldn’t go alone.

  ‘I need a new look, or at least freshening up a bit,’ I insisted and, goodness knows, it was time Poppy lavished a fraction of the care and attention she gave to Honeybun on herself.

  ‘Then we’re going to hit the shops of Lord Street and find something new to wear.’

  ‘Do you need something new?’

  ‘We both need something new, so that when we meet Felix at the Falling Star afterwards, we’ll knock him dead!’

  She giggled, warming to the idea. ‘If he even recognises us.’

  Chapter Twenty-six

  High Maintenance

  Grumps was all excited about his post, because his Spanish chum had managed to translate the last bit of the manuscript.

  ‘It’s quite clear now that the part we have is the original Mayan invocation, as translated and brought back by the conquistadores. The rest of it, which is in a different hand, is an embellishment from perhaps a century or two later.’

  ‘I suppose the original charm, invocation, or whatever it is, wouldn’t have meant much when it was first brought back, because chocolate didn’t take off until much later, did it?’

  ‘No, the document would just have been put away as a curiosity, until this man found it, and appended a few lines of his own. As to whether they add anything to the power of the original, I do not know, but I would try it with caution, my dear Chloe. You are quite safe with the original Mayan invocation to the gods to give the chocolate special powers. The rest…well, it reads more like a blessing. The author may well have been a priest, as well as secretly a practitioner in the Old Religion.’

  ‘OK,’ I agreed. I don’t suppose the extra bit will make any difference, but it’s odd to think of some old coot, the Spanish version of Grumps, necromancing away so many centuries ago. If he was a priest too, then he was playing a very dangerous game.

  I decided to try that blind-tasting experiment on Felix and Poppy: I’d make three identical batches of chocolate: one with nothing said over it at all; one with the Mayan incantation and one with the whole thing, including the later addition. I didn’t suppose there would be any difference.

  Meanwhile, I’d just keep on using the original charm for every day, which can do no harm at all.

  The chocolate tasting can be my birthday evening’s entertainment!

  Digby Mann-Drake had somehow managed to insinuate himself into David’s group of local friends that he met at the Green Man, and he had invited David to dinner at Badger’s Bolt, together with one or two other of his chums.

  He rang to ask me if I would like to go with him and got quite huffy when I turned him down, even when I pointed out it was my birthday and I had the whole day planned out already. Then I warned him about Mann-Drake, but he just laughed in a condescending sort of way and said, ‘You really shouldn’t listen to rumours! And you’re so terribly unsophisticated, aren’t you, darling?’

  I expect I am, if the idea of dinner with someone who gets his kicks from holding pseudo-black magic rites spiced with sex, drugs and, for all I know, rock’n’roll, does not strike me as a pleasurable outing.

  ‘Apart from the unsavoury rumours, he’s also a moneygrubbing little weasel, haven’
t you heard?’

  ‘Oh, that’s just business, and you can’t blame him for trying to make an honest buck! And if you were only planning on meeting your friends in the pub later on your birthday, then you could cancel that and come to the dinner with me instead, couldn’t you?’

  ‘Absolutely not. I’m having dinner with my family before I go out, I always do,’ I said. ‘Birthday cake and everything. And if you’ve any sense, you won’t go anywhere near Mann-Drake either.’

  He finally got a bit miffed at that and said he would take someone else.

  ‘That’s an excellent idea, David,’ I said emphatically, which didn’t exactly pour oil onto troubled waters.

  I made the chocolates for the tasting experiment: solid hearts, which I put in plastic boxes, marked A, B and C.

  Strangely, there was just enough chocolate left from the whole incantation batch to mould the two halves of a large hollow angel, though I’m positive I used equal amounts of ingredients for all three!

  Isn’t that weird?

  I put it away, unfinished, until I wanted to do an Angel reading for someone really special.

  My birthday morning started out really well. Jake managed to haul himself out of bed without being called, then gave me a lovely little white velvet teddy bear with angel wings and a lopsided silver halo.

  ‘I bought it before Christmas, and I think it’s supposed to hang on a Christmas tree, because there’s a loop on the back between the wings,’ he explained.

  ‘It’s perfect!’ I said, and reached up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, which he suffered stoically while wolfing down a chocolate spread toastie, washed down with half a gallon of orange juice. Then he remembered that Kat had sent me a gift too, a ‘Who needs men when you’ve got chocolate?’ fridge magnet. I thought I must use that phrase way too much…

  I opened my other presents while he finished eating breakfast. Chas’s was a little book of gardening tips with funny cartoon illustrations, and Zillah’s a porcelain bell shaped like an angel. It seemed a bit irreverent, having a clapper up your skirts, but it was a pretty thing. There is generally a bit of an angel theme going with my presents, and at this rate I would soon run out of room to display them all.