Page 42 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

Belle was immediately alarmed. ‘Del…’ she began in a warning tone.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Tom and Lucy, coming to join her.

‘Del’s got indoor fireworks,’ Belle told them in a pointed tone.

The couple looked equally worried and immediately took a step backwards.

‘No, no, they’re all right,’ said Del. ‘They’ve got hardly any gunpowder in them at all these days thanks to bloomin’ health and safety.’

Lucy rolled her eyes. ‘I’d like to believe you but seeing as I almost lost my eyebrows thanks to your flammable gin last summer, I’m going to sit well out of the way over here with Keith.’

Amber and Molly followed Lucy and the dog to the safety of a far corner of the lounge.

However, Tom remained and had been joined by Josh. They were both now staring down looking somewhat alarmed by the contents of the box.

‘Isn’t a bit early for fireworks?’ asked Josh.

‘I want to test them out tonight to see if I can sell a few before bonfire night,’ said Del, who was always looking to make a quick profit where he could.

Grandma Tilly also joined the small group. ‘I remember these from years ago,’ she said. ‘They were always pretty pathetic.’

Josh nodded in agreement but as Del opened up the box, he still took a step sidewards so that his grandmother was behind him.

‘Oy!’ cried out Grandma Tilly. ‘I can’t see all the excitement.’

‘That was the point,’ muttered Josh, as they all watched Del light the first firework.

As it turned out, Josh had nothing to fear regarding his grandmother or anyone else being hurt.

Belle looked down at the barely glowing lump on the table. ‘Is that it?’ she asked, laughing with relief.

Del frowned. ‘The bloke said they were top notch,’ he said.

‘Try another one,’ said Tom, taking another small step away from the table.

But again, the next firework was yet another disappointment. In fact, it didn’t even glow this time.

‘I’ll get you a pint,’ said Belle, relieved that her concerns had all been for nothing.

‘If you can bear to tear yourself away from all the excitement,’ said Tom, laughing.

However Del could find no humour in the situation and looked most upset that he had wasted his money.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Pete, when Belle headed back behind the bar to pour Del’s pint.

‘Dodgy Del has bought the worst indoor fireworks ever,’ she told him, laughing.

Pete glanced over to where the small group were still gathered next to the fireplace. ‘Shouldn’t he be testing them out on a non-flammable surface?’ he said with a frown. ‘And further away from the fire?’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Belle. ‘They’re pretty unexceptional. You’ll get more flare from a single match.’

She took Del’s pint over to where there were now four lumps of leftover sludge on the table.

‘I hope you’re going to clear that up,’ said Belle, as she placed his pint of beer on the table. ‘The new furniture doesn’t arrive for a few weeks yet.’

‘This is awful, Del,’ said Josh, shaking his head. ‘It’s not exactly a great spectacle is it?’

Pete came over to stand next to her, obviously still worried until he saw the extent of the fireworks. ‘Maybe you should be paying us for the privilege of watching this disaster,’ he said, joining in the laughter.