Page 67 of Starry Nights over Dragonfly Lake

‘One of the shepherds has lost an arm,’ she carried on in dismay.

‘Let me have a look,’ said Noah, putting down the bauble and taking the small wooden figurine from her.

It was in pretty poor condition, he realised, as it was cracked all over.

‘I can fix this,’ he told her, before glancing at the rest of the figurines in the set. ‘They all look like they need some wax as they’re pretty dry. I have something in my tool box that will help, I’m sure.’

‘How kind, thank you,’ said Faye, smiling.

‘It’s blowing a hoolie out there now,’ said Walter, coming into the kitchen with Ben close behind him. ‘It might be time to test that new generator.’

‘It’s one of those things where I’m happy to spend the money but never use it,’ replied Ben.

But at that exact moment, he wasn’t so lucky as the kitchen lights went out and Noah could hear all the electricsping to a halt.

He looked across the kitchen at Ben who was standing still, his eyes closed as if he was praying.

Thankfully his prayers were answered only a few moments later as the overhead lights came back on and so did all the appliances.

Ben quickly checked the app on his phone and gave a massive sigh of relief. ‘It works,’ he announced. ‘It’s the generator that’s keeping us going.’

‘Thank goodness,’ said Faye. ‘I mean, we’ve only got a handful of guests tonight but at least we’ll be able to keep them warm and lit, as well as fed.’

‘The generator works then?’ asked Frankie, coming into the kitchen. ‘That was money well spent.’

‘I agree but what about the poor folk without generators?’ asked Walter. ‘There’s a few of them in the area.’

‘Most are used to it, of course,’ said Dotty.

‘But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t check in on them,’ Frankie told her.

‘I agree,’ said Walter. ‘Especially as these power cuts normally last for hours, if not longer.’

‘Right,’ said Faye. ‘I can easily reheat some chicken and vegetable stew to share out. Noah, could you start buttering some rolls for me. Frankie, why don’t you dig out those old Tupperware boxes. We can dish the food out in that. Ben, there are spare thermos flasks in that cupboard. Dotty, start boiling the kettle.’

Noah was impressed at the efficiency with which everyone moved. Within an hour, they had twenty portions of stew to hand out, as well as at least ten thermos flasks full of hot water. Faye had also added bread and cakes to the food delivery service.

‘I’ve got to stay here, just in case there’s a problem with the generator,’ Ben told Noah.

‘No problem,’ Noah told them. ‘I can drive them wherever they want to go.’

‘Excellent,’ said Ben, looking relieved, and clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Thanks. Just take it easy out there, okay?’

Noah began to load up the back of his truck with all the food and drinks before Walter shouted out for him to pick up a load of logs as well.

‘Just in case folks haven’t got enough firewood,’ he said. ‘I could come with you,’ he added in a hopeful tone.

Dotty rolled her eyes. ‘So you can break the other shoulder?’ she told him, before slipping her arm through his good one. ‘Come inside and let young Noah get on.’

They crossed paths with Faye as she headed out into the wind and rain, closely followed by Frankie.

‘I know of a few people who might need an extra hand,’ said Frankie, climbing into the backseats.

Thankfully this time around the driveway to the road stayed clear of fallen trees and Noah was able to get out onto the main country lanes with ease. It wasn’t the most relaxing of drives with quite a bit of debris on the roads but thankfully it was without incident before he pulled up outside a small row of cottages only a mile away from Maple Tree Lodge.

Noah carried the food gifts whilst Faye knocked on the front door of the first cottage.

After a short wait, it was opened by a frail-looking elderly man.