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‘Ha, Elsie’s the best, isn’t she?’ Diane grinned.
‘She is. And everyone has made me feel right at home, too. There’s no awkwardness because I’m just volunteering there or anything. It’s as though we’re all in it together.’ Holly frowned. Had she described that right? She knew what she meant, but she wasn’t sure she’d said it correctly.
‘I know what you mean. It’s just like a big family, really. Elsie even calls us all her bakery family, and that’s how we view ourselves too. Isn’t that right, Ollie?’ Diane looked across at her husband.
Ollie turned and smiled. ‘It certainly is. That’s why we decided to make our home down here, wasn’t it?’
‘Yep, you can’t beat the bakery for the family feel or Penworth Bay either.’ Daisy nodded towards the pub a few feet away. ‘Here we are. Into the chaos we go.’
Ollie pulled the heavy wooden door open and stood back, letting Daisy and Holly through first.
‘Thanks.’ pausing, Holly let herself grow accustomed to the atmosphere. The familiar traditional pub aroma of stale beer mixed with perfume and aftershave. It was packed too. She didn’t think she’d ever seen her local back home so busy. Not even on New Year’s Eve. Groups of people were huddled around tables, whilst others sat on stools at the bar, or stood in groups nursing a glass of lager in their hands.
‘We’re over there.’ Touching Holly’s forearm, Daisy pointed to a couple of tables which had been rearranged together by the window.
Holly nodded and followed Daisy and Ollie towards the table. As they got closer, she frowned. Joe was sitting at the table, a spare chair to his right and Josh on the other side of him. What was he doing there? Hadn’t Diane said the team was made up of people who had volunteered at the bakery?
‘Hi, Holly.’ Standing up, Joe pulled out the chair next to him.
‘Hi. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.’ She slipped into the chair. ‘Thanks.’
‘No, well, I didn’t expect to be here either, but Diane incited me over.’ Joe grinned. ‘I’m not sure how much help I’ll be though, but I’ll try my best.’
Holly laughed. ‘I’m sure you’ll do better than me.’
A loud screech cut through the hubbub int he pub.
‘Oh, there’s Gerald, ready to start the quiz.’ Tammy passed Holly a drink.
‘Thanks.’ Holly smiled as she took the glass.
‘You’ll get used to him. He can be quite eccentric.’ Diane picked up an answer sheet from the middle of the table. ‘But he’s great, and he’s the one who organises the lantern parade.’
‘Okay my Christmas elves, I hope you’ve all been concentrating at Christmas school?’ Gerald repositioned the mic as he picked up a wedge of papers from the bar. ‘I have an abundance of festive themed questions for you to answer tonight and being as I myself am in the Christmas spirit I shall not only be giving away free drinks to the winning team but I’ll be throwing in a bag of cheese and onion crisps too!’
A loud cheer rang through the pub before someone shouted out, ‘Can I swap mine for salt and vinegar?’
Gerald tilted his head and placed his forefinger on his chin. ‘Umm, I shall have to think about that request. The cheese and onion crisps go out of date at the end of the year, whereas the salt and vinegar have at least two more months left.’
Laughter erupted around the room, and Teresa stage-whispered across the table. ‘That’s Gerald, through and through, but we love him.’
‘Oh yes, we do. Pub quiz night just wouldn’t be the same if it was someone else.’ Diane laughed.
‘Okay, question number one. And it’s a classic. Everyone should know this.’ Gerald held his forefinger out, pointing at all the teams in turn. ‘Name the reindeers who pull Santa’s sleigh.’
‘Ooh, we can do this! Easy!’ Lauren, Diane’s sister, leaned forward.
‘Haha, yes, you should be able to. Knowing you, you probably test the kids in your class on it.’ Diane laughed.
‘Well, maybe I do...’ Lauren grinned and shrugged before leaning forward. ‘Okay, so there’s Donner...’
‘Or Donder. I thought that one was called Donder?’ Teresa frowned.
‘Oh, maybe this isn’t going o be as easy as I thought then.’ Lauren grimaced. ‘I think it depends what book you’re reading. Maybe Donder was the reindeer’s name originally, and then it got changed to Donner.’
Ollie leaned forward. ‘I think you’re right. Maybe write both the different spellings down?’
‘Okay.’ scribbled on the answer sheet before looking back up. ‘Then it’s Blitzen.’
