Page 78 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

‘More grotty than grotto,’ murmured Flora.

She and Libby exchanged looks of relief as Del disconnected the machine. ‘I’ll be back,’ he promised.

‘That’s okay,’ said Libby quickly. ‘Thanks for trying anyway.’

‘I can get a much bigger one, I’m sure,’ carried on Del.

Libby shook her head even more violently. ‘No worries, Del!’ she said, almost shouting to make sure that he got the point. ‘We can certainly manage without.’

They all sighed as he packed up the machine and left.

‘Thank goodness for that,’ said Ryan. ‘So, I’ve got a spare half an hour, what’s left to do?’

‘Actually I think that’s it,’ said Ethan, looking up the platform.

Libby followed his gaze. The platform was now tastefully decorated with huge swags of fresh holly and pine branches, along with many fairy lights and red bows, lanterns full of large, thick candles and holly wreaths on every door and window.

She then looked back at the enormous Christmas tree, decorated from top to toe and surrounded by brightly coloured boxes. There was one particularly large present, as tall as she was, which had been placed on the other side of the tree for everyone to see the nutcracker doll inside.

‘Hey, it’s your dad,’ said Flora, before greeting Philip as he walked out of Platform 1.

Libby looked around and smiled. ‘Hi, Dad,’ she said. ‘How did your first stroke meeting go?’ she asked.

Philip smiled. ‘It was delightful,’ he replied. ‘I was so glad to see Eddie there, as well as a few other people in the community who could do with a hand.’

‘He was determined to make it,’ said Ethan.

‘I’m so glad it worked out all right,’ Libby told her dad. ‘I’m sure it’ll be a huge help for everyone.’

She was so pleased to see the change in her dad for the past couple of weeks. He was so much more positive and even had a spring in his step these days.

‘Talking of help,’ began Philip. ‘It helps to have a purpose, a goal, so to speak. I’ve been doing a bit of research and apparently hobbies can be very relaxing, as well as taking one’s mind off a current problem and thus aiding recovery.’

‘What did you have in mind?’ asked Libby.

‘Well, they also say that being active helps, so I was hoping to combine the two. Do you remember when your mother used to paint pine cones in the wintertime?’

Libby nodded. ‘Oh yes, lots of glitter too.’

‘Well, I thought perhaps myself and my fellow members of the stroke club could head out next week for a small walk and collect some.’ He gave her a sheepish grin. ‘Then if you could perhaps show me how to decorate one, we could give that a go.’

Libby was delighted at the idea. ‘How about we go out for a small walk of our own this afternoon and find one?’ she suggested.

‘It’s a date,’ he replied, smiling.

Libby couldn’t remember the last time they had gone out for a walk together and couldn’t stop herself from smiling at the thought. ‘By the way, apparently they’ve uploaded your narration and music already for the dress rehearsal run.’

He nodded. ‘I hope the timings are correct,’ he said.

‘It’ll be just fine,’ she told him. ‘Flora said she and Grams listened to it last night and they said they were all ready for Christmas there and then! She said your storytelling technique is just as good as she remembers from school.’

Her dad smiled. ‘Just like the pine cones, a bit of extra glitter to the magic always helps.’

‘Yes, it does,’ she told him, reaching up to give him a kiss on his cheek.

As he walked over to talk to Flora, Libby found Ethan in front of her.

‘He looks pleased with himself,’ he said.