Chapter One
Sunday 1st December
Ashleigh – The Baxters’ Christmas Farm
‘I forgot about the bells,’ Ashleigh muttered as she pulled a thick green woollen sock over the top of her bright red leggings and the motion was accompanied by a delicate jingle.
‘Sorry?’ The other young woman in the staff changing room was trying to squeeze her large rucksack into one of the little lockers but ceased ramming her elbow into it at the sound of Ash’s voice.
‘Oh, just these interactive socks. They make me feel like a kitten whose dreams of hunting are being thwarted.’ She yanked on the other sock fast to minimise the sound effects.
The woman’s eyebrows knit together over her big brown eyes as she looked at Ashleigh’s feet. ‘The socks have bells in them?’
‘Yep.’ Ashleigh lifted her leg up on the bench shoehorned into the middle of the small room and tugged at the doubled-over hem at the top of the sock. ‘They sew them in here.’ She let it twang back against her leg. It wasn’t a bad design – even if the rest of the one-size-fits-all costume was no better than what you’d expect from a primary school nativity. At least it meant the elves could still wear their boots and the bells wouldn’t dig into their ankles. If Ash hadn’t been able to wear her favourite pair of Doctor Martens this whole gig would have been intolerable. She needed their comfort and warmth to survive being outdoors for eight hours a day in December.
‘You’ve worked here before?’ The woman finally locked her bag away and turned to contemplate her own pile of elf attire, neatly folded on the end of the bench.
‘This will be my fourth year.’ The minute she said it, Ash realised she hadn’t needed to admit that. She didn’t know what made her always blurt out the unvarnished truth to whoever happened to ask her a question. She could’ve kicked herself – but that would have only made her jingle.
‘You’ll be an expert then. Head Elf.’
Ash tightened the laces on her boots with a swift tug and knotted them before standing up. ‘No Head Elf. It’s the Big FC and his missus who call all the shots.’
The other woman opened her mouth as though unsure whether Ash was joking or not and then seemed to think better of saying anything and continued getting dressed. Ash hadn’t actually been kidding her; the Baxters, the couple who owned the farm, took the title roles each year and thoroughly enjoyed it. They were lovely people, if a little Christmas-obsessed, and always called Ashleigh as soon as they began recruiting. She never had the heart to say no to them…and never had anything better to do, embarrassingly.
As Ash headed for the door she had to hike her baggy leggings back up as they started the inevitable descent down her hips. Every year. It was a wonder no small children had been traumatised in an impromptu mooning incident.
‘Would you mind waiting for me?’ the woman called out behind her. ‘I got a map when I signed in but it’s in my bag somewhere. You’ll know where we need to go for the induction right, since this isn’t your first time?’
Ashleigh stifled a sigh. And that was the reason a simple ‘yes’ would have been a better answer when asked if she’d worked here before. She didn’t want her new co-workers turning to her for advice about every little thing. Once the doors were officially opened and the families started flooding in, she’d have to repeat herself enough with explanations of when the sleigh rides were scheduled and where the toilets were; she didn’t need it from the other elves too.
‘Sure,’ she called back, because however much she didn’t want to babysit anyone, she wasn’t going to be a jerk.
She stepped out of the meagre heat of the changing room into the chill winter air. The men’s changing room was in an identical porta-cabin opposite in the small clearing, which was surrounded by evergreen trees. The pine scent was heavy and the voices of the builders who were putting the final touches to the visitor buildings were muffled beneath the occasional sound of hammering and drills. These staffrooms were tucked away in the middle of the Christmas exhibit, hidden from view so that no kids could accidentally spot an elf wearing contemporary – well-fitting – clothes.
A jingle behind her gave away the fact that Ash’s newbie elf colleague was exiting the changing room.
‘Thanks for waiting. I’m a bit nervous about this if I’m honest,’ she rambled as Ash led her down the path, past Santa’s cabin and onto the dirt track the sleigh would travel down every half hour. ‘I thought it would be a fun way to make a bit of extra money for Christmas, but this place is a lot bigger than I expected.’
‘Every year it grows a bit more and they put in a new attraction. The first Christmas I worked here, there wasn’t much more than the grotto, toy workshop and the gingerbread decorating.’ They reached the pick-up point, where the families would queue with their tickets for the sleigh ride, and Ash led the way through to the main thoroughfare. ‘The owners love seeing the kids getting all excited…and I expect it makes a killing.’
The kids’ faces reallywerea picture as they set off on their trips to see Santa. Once the decorating was complete it would be lovely; with fairy lights twinkling against the thick green pine needles.
Ash didn’t hate this job – despite the poor clothing and freezing cold – it was just a reminder that another year had passed and she was still unsure of what she shouldreallybe doing.
Lining the hill were wooden huts of varying sizes for games, food and souvenirs, and set further back at intervals were the entrances to larger marquee areas. All of it would be festooned with fake snow soon. At the bottom was the puppet theatre where the ‘welcome’ part of the induction day would take place. Low, rough-hewn wooden benches faced a small stage, and already half a dozen elves were seated, facing the woman at the front who was wearing a business suit and welly boots, while clutching a clipboard.
They slid onto their own bench and within an hour of the woman explaining about the health and safety training in the afternoon, the rotas and various jobs, the script rehearsals and clean-up procedures, there were glazed-over eyes and blue noses everywhere.
‘When the farm is open for visitors, you’ll get a token each day to redeem at the food huts during your lunch break, so you’ll get a good hot meal to keep you going. For the time being, you can pop into the café at the farm shop and grab something.’
The young woman sitting next to Ashleigh raised her hand. ‘Will there be vegan options available?’
‘Erm…I expect so. We cater for all sorts of visitors. Perhaps best to bring along sandwiches for the first day in case.’
The hand went up again. ‘But if there isn’t and I have to bring a lunch every day will that lunch money be redeemed to me?’
‘Oh. I…am not sure.’ The woman pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at her clipboard as though the answer would appear there.
