‘Really?’
Phoebe leaned closer and lowered her voice. ‘Let’s just say that I daren’t even walk within twenty yards of my last workplace.’
Midnight looked suitably impressed. ‘Never had you down as the rebellious type.’
‘Which just goes to show that the old saying about never judging a book by its cover is true. Or never judging an elf by her bells.’
Midnight grinned. ‘I’ll have to remember that.’
Phoebe adjusted her tunic as she waited for the first customers to arrive. Santa had smoothed his face into a vacant smile just as a line of around a dozen children and adults were ushered into the grotto.
Midnight suddenly nudged Phoebe, a bit too hard in the ribs, making her wince and frown. ‘Awww, look,’ she whispered, ‘it’s that girl from yesterday.’
But Phoebe had already seen them. At the head of the line were Maria and her dad. As her gaze fell on Phoebe, Maria’s face broke into a bright smile. She tugged on her dad’s hand.
‘It’s the elf lady.’
Phoebe couldn’t help the equally bright smile that radiated from her. It was like whatever innocent joy at the world Maria seemed to display was contagious. Santa looked expectantly at the little girl, but instead of going to him, Maria ran to Phoebe.
‘Hello,’ she said in a suddenly shy voice.
‘Hey,’ Phoebe said, ‘did you think about what you wanted from Santa?’
‘Well…’ Maria’s dad cut in, ‘as she already has what she had originally asked for, she decided she would make a new list.’
‘Seems fair enough,’ Phoebe said, catching a grin from Midnight who was watching with interest. ‘So, you want to tell Santa what the new list is?’
Maria held out an envelope. ‘I don’t want to see him again because he has to see all the other children and he’s very busy,’ she replied solemnly. ‘So I thought you could do it.’ She looked at Phoebe uncertainly.
Phoebe knelt down and took the envelope. She looked at it. On the front was scrawled To Santa in careful, looping letters and there was a hand-drawn picture of Santa, a reindeer and another figure standing next to them. ‘This is awesome,’ Phoebe said, ‘did you draw it?’
Maria nodded.
‘Cool. So that’s Santa, his reindeer, and that is…’
‘You,’ Maria said brightly.
Phoebe looked at the picture again as a slow smile spread across her face. ‘That’s me?’
Another nod.
‘I don’t think anyone has ever drawn a picture of me before.’
‘Santa could get you one?’
Phoebe glanced up at Jeff-Santa. ‘Maybe,’ she said doubtfully. ‘I’ll put it on my own Christmas list, eh?’
Maria seemed satisfied with this and gave Phoebe a bright smile.
‘So… shall we put this baby in the box?’ Phoebe added, waggling the envelope in the air.
Maria took the offered envelope. ‘Okay.’ Her dad stepped forward with a warm smile.
‘I hope you don’t mind us coming back today,’ he said in a low voice, ‘Maria has done nothing but talk about you since yesterday.’
‘Really?’
He nodded. ‘She’s taken quite a shine to you.’
Phoebe smiled as she watched Maria skip over to the post box and deposit her new list. ‘She’s a lovely little girl, you must be so proud of her.’
‘I am. More than anyone could ever imagine.’
Maria was back within seconds. ‘All done.’
‘Right then, spud,’ her dad said, swinging her into his arms as she giggled. ‘We’d better go. Your granny is waiting to see you.’
‘Bye, Elf Lady,’ Maria called as they left.
‘Bye, Maria,’ Phoebe replied quietly with that strange feeling in her guts again.
Outside the glass doors of Hendry’s Toy Store, Christmas-lit blackness gusted as Phoebe headed for the main entrance. Her feet were definitely feeling the pounding they had received today, not to mention the smell from her tight elf shoes when she had kicked them off at the end of her long shift. But now she had a hot bath and a glass of wine with a microwave curry to look forward to, maybe an hour of TV – probably falling asleep in front of it if the last few nights were anything to go by – and then bed. It didn’t sound so bad, Phoebe mused, a little lonely, maybe, but since she had gradually lost her friends, one by one, after the accident that had killed Vik and screwed her up so royally that nobody could be around her, she was used to being alone.
Through the doors and out on the street, she took a deep breath of the cold air, feeling it clear her muzzy head. Shoppers were hurrying for last buses or cars that would have parking fines from hovering traffic wardens if their owners were a second too late, the streets lit by coloured lights and Christmas displays. It didn’t feel very Christmassy, Phoebe decided, as the gusting wind blew late falling leaves around her feet, but it was cold, and she wondered whether they could expect snow sometime soon. Fastening her jacket, Phoebe was about to make the walk to the bus station when she was stopped by a man’s voice.
‘Excuse me…’
Phoebe whipped around to see Maria and her dad step out from the shadows and into the light of the shop doorway.
‘Hello!’ Phoebe replied, looking slightly confused to see them there.
‘Sorry,’ Maria’s dad began, ‘it must seem like we’re stalking you or something.’ He laughed awkwardly. ‘It’s just that Maria wanted to give you something and she wouldn’t let it drop,’ he lowered his voice, ‘you know how kids can be…’
Phoebe had no idea how kids could be, not really. She had never harboured any desire to have one of her own, and had always been the sort of woman who moved as far away as she could when friends, family or colleagues came to display their mewling offspring. On reflection, she was doing a very good job of not telling any of the children that currently hounded her in Santa’s grotto to bog off. She couldn’t deny, though, there was something different about Maria, something that she couldn’t help being drawn to…
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Phoebe smiled. ‘I hope you haven’t been out here waiting for too long, though.’
‘Ah, well… I wondered whether it might get a little bit embarrassing for you if we turned up in the grotto again…’
‘Probably,’ Phoebe laughed, thinking about what Midnight and Jeff might have said if they had.
‘So we came back to town just before closing and thought we’d wait outside for you.’
Maria stepped forward, tussling with a sheet of paper that the wind was trying to steal from her. ‘Here.’ She held the page up to Phoebe.
‘Wow! You drew another picture of me?’
Maria beamed with pride.
‘That’s awesome.’ Phoebe took the page and held it up to the light. On it Maria had drawn a figure with completely straight limbs and a tiny head, red and green stripes scribbled over it, a mop of yellow hair underneath a triangle-shaped hat.
‘Thanks, I’ll put it up on my fridge when I get home.’ Then Phoebe frowned, looking down at herself. In her duffle coat and jeans, she didn’t look very elf-like. ‘Um… about the uniform…’ she began awkwardly, wondering how to explain to Maria.
‘It’s okay,’ Maria said brightly, ‘I know you only help the real elves, Daddy told me.’
Phoebe’s gaze travelled to Maria’s dad. In the dim light from the street, she could have sworn that she saw a cheeky twinkle in those bright blue eyes.
‘That’s right, I do,’ Phoebe said. ‘They’re far too busy at Christmas making all the stuff on kids’ lists to be coming to department stores as well.’
‘I know that,’ Maria replied sagely, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Phoebe.’
‘Phoebe… I like that,’ Maria said, her lips moving to repeat the name again under her breath.
Phoebe was about to ask Maria’s dad his name but she stopped herself. A little too friendly, perhaps? She did
n’t want to give the impression she was interested, romantically, or anything. ‘Well, I guess I’ll go home now and take this lovely picture with me,’ she said instead. ‘Thank you, Maria.’
‘Come on, spud,’ Phoebe heard Maria’s dad say as she turned and left them to begin her walk to the bus stop. For some strange reason that she couldn’t quite put her finger on, she didn’t dare look back.
‘Didn’t you buy one of those?’ Midnight grappled with her uncooperative stripy tights and nodded her head towards a poster pinned to the notice board of the staffroom.
Phoebe looked up vaguely. ‘Hmmm?’
‘I thought you bought one of those pony sets for someone?’
Phoebe’s gaze flicked to the board.
PRODUCT RECALL: COUNTRY GIRL PONY AND TRANSPORTER SET
‘Bloody hell!’ Phoebe dashed over to the board, hat jingling in her hand as she went. She read the details to herself. ‘Flammable mane!’ she nearly choked as she came to the last bit of the warning. ‘Midnight, this says the pony could catch fire!’
Midnight looked unconcerned. ‘Was it a Christmas present? Coz you could just bring it back.’
‘I already gave it to her.’
‘Can’t you go and get it back, explain about the hair?’ Midnight continued as she shoved her feet into her snot-green curly-toed shoes.
‘I can’t…’ Phoebe stopped mid-sentence. She had absolutely no idea where Maria lived, no phone number, not even the name of the school she attended – apart from knowing that their accents were local, she had no other details at all. There was no way she could get that toy back, and who knew what might happen. ‘I don’t know how to find the kid I gave it to,’ she concluded miserably.
Midnight frowned for a moment, before deciding that she didn’t need any more details about why Phoebe was handing over expensive toy ponies to people she apparently didn’t know very much about. ‘If you see them around you can tell them. And I imagine the posters are all over the shop, so if they come in they’ll see them.’
‘I suppose so,’ Phoebe said, clearly unconvinced that leaving it to chance in this way would be enough.
The more Phoebe thought about the dangerous toy that she had sent Maria home with, the more unsettled she became. By the time the afternoon break had arrived, she was almost frantic, imagining all sorts of horrific accidents that would be entirely her fault. It had been a struggle to stay focused on her job, and she half expected Maria and her dad to come back to the store again. Of course, they didn’t, but when did any awkward situation ever resolve itself that easily?
‘What am I going to do?’ Phoebe asked Midnight for the seventh or eighth time that afternoon as they sat in the staffroom nursing plastic cups full of orange tea.
‘There’s not a lot you can do,’ Midnight replied wearily. ‘I doubt that anything bad is going to happen unless she plays with it right next to a heater or something. When it says flammable on the notice, that doesn’t mean spontaneously combusts at the mere sight of a match.’
‘I know that,’ Phoebe said. ‘But what if she does play with it near a fire?’
‘You’d think she was being supervised if she’s only little. Even if the worst happened, someone would be there to put it out. You worry too much.’
Phoebe did worry too much, now. How could she explain that it was her fault Vikram was dead? How could she explain that if she had worried too much last year, he wouldn’t have been drunk, leaping up and down in the wet gutters only to slip at the moment a bus came past? She worried too much, but she had a right to. Not worrying had killed the man she loved.
‘There must be some way to find out where she lives,’ Phoebe insisted. ‘Maybe her dad bought something at the store when they were here; there might be credit card details or something.’
‘Oh!’ Midnight suddenly yelped, understanding now illuminating her expression. ‘Don’t tell me it was that cute little girl who took a shine to you!’
‘Well… yeah…’
‘God, no wonder she liked you so much! I’d be pretty keen if a complete stranger bought me a forty-quid pony.’ Midnight grinned. ‘Or maybe a little freaked out, but I wouldn’t let that stop me taking it.’
‘I know it was weird…’ Phoebe shrugged. ‘I can’t explain why I did it…’
Midnight held up a hand to silence her. ‘I don’t need to know. Whatever you do with your money, that’s your business.’
‘So… what do you think? You reckon we could check the tills or something?’
Midnight raised her eyebrows. ‘All the tills? For all the purchases made in this store over the last few days in the run up to Christmas? Good luck with that, honey.’
Phoebe’s shoulders sagged. Of course it was a stupid idea. They could check purchase details until the proverbial cows came home but they still wouldn’t be able to figure out who had bought what and where they lived. That was it then, she would have to wait to see what happened and hope that a horrible news report didn’t emerge over the next few days involving a lethal house fire rampaging across the city with photos of the fire brigade holding a barely recognisable, melted plastic horse.
‘Of course, you could try Santa’s post box,’ Midnight added nonchalantly. ‘After the store closes, that is; we don’t want a gang of miniature chavs rioting when you empty their letters out.’
Phoebe leapt up with a broad smile. ‘Midnight, I could kiss you!’
‘It’s lucky the cleaners haven’t binned this lot yet,’ Midnight said as they knelt on the floor surrounded by piles of childishly decorated envelopes. The grotto was silent now that the last of the customers had gone and Santa had scarpered faster than you could say nip of whisky. Steve had eyed the two girls suspiciously as they went back into the grotto after changing from their elf costumes, but Phoebe hastily explained that they were going to tidy up before they left for the day. Whether he believed them or not, he let them be and continued on his nightly inspection of the store before locking up.
‘They don’t really bin them, do they?’ Phoebe asked, looking slightly horrified.
‘What else are they going to do with them?’
‘But these are letters for Santa!’
‘Yeah, they are. So why don’t you just trip off to the North Pole if you’re so worried about him getting them?’
‘Ha ha, very funny,’ Phoebe muttered. ‘It just doesn’t seem right, that’s all.’
‘We’d better hurry up with this anyway,’ Midnight said, ‘never mind about what happens to the letters.’
Phoebe nodded and grabbed a pile of letters, while Midnight took a stack too, having been instructed by Phoebe on what the front of Maria’s envelope looked like. Every so often Midnight would hold one up that looked hopeful, and Phoebe would shake her head impatiently.
‘Seriously,’ Midnight huffed after half an hour of frantic searching, ‘who knew there were even this many kids in this town?’
‘I know,’ Phoebe agreed. ‘I think someone has been sneaking extras in… AHA!’ She suddenly held aloft a colourful envelope with a triumphant grin.
‘You’ve got it? Thank God for that. Now can I go home?’
Phoebe pulled her into a hug. ‘Thanks so much for helping.’
Midnight got to her feet. ‘So what are you going to do, go round there?’
‘Yep.’
‘And then what?’
‘I’ll explain that I need the pony back.’
‘You can’t just rock up at someone’s house and take their toy away.’
Phoebe was silent for a moment, deep in thought. ‘You’re right. I’d better take a product recall poster.’
‘What about the poor kid? What’s she going to play with instead?’
‘Ummm… I suppose I’ll have to take her another toy…’
‘But you said she really wanted that one.’
Phoebe sighed. ‘Bloody hell, why is nothing ever simple?’
‘Because you’re daft enough to go around giving strange kids toys on a wh
im, that’s why.’
‘I’ll think of something,’ Phoebe replied uncertainly, ‘but first I have to get the damn horse back.’ She paused for a moment, before ripping open the envelope. Somehow, it was like invading Maria’s privacy, and she felt incredibly guilty. Her eyes flicked over the letter. The handwriting was not quite as childish as that on the envelope and Phoebe had an incredibly vivid mental image of Maria’s dad holding the pen with her, guiding her as she formed the letters.
Dear Santa
Thank you for my pony. I don’t want any other toys but I like surprise toys.
Love from Maria Andrews
I am 5 and I live in King’s Road.
‘That’s it?’ Phoebe turned over the letter but the other side of the sheet was blank. ‘No new toys on the list and her address is King’s Road? How am I supposed to get her a replacement toy now? And how many King’s Roads must there be in this town?’
‘Helpful,’ agreed Midnight.
Phoebe stood up and pulled her phone from the pocket of her coat. Frowning, she tapped at the screen.
‘What are you doing?’ Midnight asked.
Phoebe looked up. ‘Looking for King’s Road on Google Maps.’
Midnight inclined her head at the pile of letters spilling around their feet. ‘Don’t you think we’d better get this lot cleared up first before Steve has a coronary?’
‘Good thinking,’ Phoebe agreed.
Thankfully, it turned out that there were only three King’s Roads in the town of Millrise, but the task was still far from simple. She had no house number and no name other than Maria Andrews to go on. Huddled in her duffle coat, Phoebe stood outside the first house of the first street wondering what to do next. Although she couldn’t have expected Midnight to accompany her, standing now on the dark street, Phoebe was wishing that she had asked. Unable to see any lights on in this house and assuming the family that lived there wasn’t home, she glanced up and down the street. It simply wasn’t going to be practical to check every house. Maybe she should knock on one or two and ask if anyone knew Maria and her dad? It seemed the most sensible plan.
The Spring of Second Chances : An absolutely perfect and uplifting romantic comedy Page 44
