Page 71 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

‘One of my so-called best friends,’ Flora told him. ‘Apparently I can’t bake!’

She looked at him, waiting patiently for Nico to reply.

He gave her a gracious smile and took her in his arms. ‘You are a wonderful painter, an amazing girlfriend and the love of my life.’ Flora’s hands crept up to his shoulder as he gave her agentle kiss. ‘Who cares if you can’t bake?’ he added, once they’d finished their embrace.

Flora gave him a playful smack on the shoulder whilst Grams and Libby laughed.

But seeing the happy couple reminded her of Ethan and that magical kiss they had shared only the previous evening. And she found herself hoping and wishing for another and then another…

42

With the theme ofThe Nutcrackerdecided, Ethan knew that it would be all systems go to get everything up and ready for the first train ride on the first of December.

There was so much to do that he almost felt overwhelmed. But, thankfully, his skills and experience project planning in the past for work came to the fore. So he decided to view the Christmas train as a project for a customer, just trying to ignore the pressure and stress of making it perfect for his grandad.

The most important step as far as Ethan was concerned, after the train running properly of course, was setting up the decorations and theming. But he spent a very productive afternoon with Flora up at the farmhouse. Flora had been to art school and was great at picking out which decorations would work the best in each scene.

He was very grateful for her help, as well as his friends. Joe and Nico had already promised to help him lay the miles of cable for the lighting when it arrived in a couple of days.

Joe had also outdone himself by creating a website which meant that people could book their tickets online. They cobbled together some photographs of the steam train on its maidenjourney, but they needed something more spectacular to whet people’s appetite and get them to actually want to hand over money for the tickets.

‘It needs something more visual,’ said Joe, scrunching up his face in thought as they all looked at the website.

It was both eye-catching and easy to navigate. The problem was the lack of images of the train from anywhere other than the platform.

‘I know! You need a drone.’ Joe looked up at Ethan, who was standing next to him. ‘Just imagine. A sunny day. The steam train trundling through the countryside. That would get people’s imagination going.’

Ethan blew out a sigh. ‘I guess, but where are we going to get a drone from? I’m already maxed out money wise sourcing all the decorations and lighting required.’

Joe broke into a smile. ‘As it happens, I know a man who’s just treated himself to one.’

‘Who?’ asked Ethan.

‘Me,’ Joe told him laughing. ‘I told Harriet it was an early Christmas present to myself!’

‘Well, a drone is for life, not just for Christmas,’ conceded Ethan.

So, the following day, with Joe having practised a couple of times using it, Ethan and Bob took the train out for a run. It was a stunning day, the blue of the clear sky contrasting beautifully with the autumnal rainbow of colours that was lit across the landscape by the sun. The newly decorated steam engine looked magnificent in its shiny red paint too.

Whilst they drove the train, Bob told Ethan two important pieces of news.

‘I heard from the Earl of Cranley,’ he shouted, as they went past the old abandoned station. ‘He’s thrilled that it can be of some use.’

‘That’s great,’ replied Ethan. ‘Flora’s already designed the scene, so it can be set up as soon as possible, which will be one more tick on the to-do list.’

After they had returned to Cranfield station and shut down the train, Bob announced an even more important item of news.

‘Your grandad reckons they’re going to let him come home after the weekend.’

Ethan was delighted. ‘Dad, that’s great news!’ he said.

Bob nodded. ‘It certainly is,’ he replied, before climbing down the steps of the driver’s cab.

There was more good news when they returned to the platform.

‘We’ve got some amazing footage,’ Joe told them as he rushed up. ‘It looked even more dramatic this morning because it’s slightly colder, so there was more steam thanks to the condensation. Here, I’ll show you.’

Ethan thought it looked tremendous.