Page 55 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

As she relaxed back against the pillows, a dreadful thought occurred to her and she sat bolt upright.

‘The deadline!’ she said, before a bout of coughing took over once more.

Harriet and Flora leaned forward in united concern.

Katy, meanwhile, waited until Libby could catch her breath before she spoke. ‘It’s fine,’ she said.

‘It’s not,’ croaked Libby. ‘I’m running out of days.’

‘We know,’ said Harriet.

‘But you have us,’ added Flora.

Libby blinked at them, trying to comprehend what she was being told.

‘What we’re saying is that we’re all going to help make the truffles, along with Grams and Maggie,’ said Katy. ‘We’re heading over to the old school now to clean everything up ready for your instructions this afternoon. But, for this morning, you’re going to rest. And that’s an order.’

‘We’ll have everything done on time, okay?’ added Flora. ‘So don’t fret. Just rest for now.’

Libby leant back against the pillows once more and smiled at her friends, the tears pricking her eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

They all smiled back at her.

‘What are friends for?’ said Harriet, reaching out to squeeze her hand.

33

Ethan was still feeling very rattled by Libby’s near escape.

After a restless night spent in Ryan and Katy’s spare bedroom, he headed back to the old school to survey the damage with his brother.

Ryan whistled as they stared around the lounge. ‘I was hoping it wouldn’t look quite so bad in the daylight,’ he said.

Ethan nodded, feeling quite depressed. ‘Me too.’

The lounge and kitchen, unfortunately, were not looking good, nor smelling great either with the acrid aroma of smoke still in the air. Soot covered the sofa, floor and walls and every surface that it had been able to settle upon. Thankfully, the door into the bedroom had been closed and therefore the smoke hadn’t got in there, but the rest of the mess was almost overwhelming.

‘On the plus side,’ added Ryan. ‘Because you’re such a lazy so-and-so, you hadn’t unpacked, so that’s worked in your favour as most of your decent stuff is still in boxes. So that saves us a bit of work.’

Ethan looked at Ryan. ‘Us?’ he asked. ‘Haven’t you got work to do?’ He glanced at his watch and realised that it was almost opening time at Platform 1.

But, to his surprise, Ryan shook his head. ‘No way,’ he said. ‘Today my brother needs help. So Katy’s put a notice on the door about a family emergency and we’re closed for the day.’

Ethan felt incredibly touched. ‘Great. Cheers, bro.’

Ryan appeared to hesitate before giving him a slap on the shoulder. ‘Some things are more important than profits.’

Ethan nodded. ‘Yes, they are.’ He paused before carrying on. ‘Dad said that the update from the hospital was positive this morning.’

‘Grandad’s got almost all his movement back in his hand which is good news,’ replied Ryan.

‘We should be focused on grandad and not all this,’ said Ethan, waving his hand at the mess in front of them.

‘We can do both,’ Ryan told him. ‘And besides, there’s nothing we can do for Grandad at the moment. He’s in the best hands with the doctors and nurses. So let’s get things straight back here before he gets home.’

‘Okay.’ Ethan blew out a sigh. ‘It’s going to be a busy day.’

‘I agree.’ Ryan gave him a smile. ‘Thankfully, many hands make light work.’