Page 54 of Starry Nights over Dragonfly Lake

‘Absolutely,’ said Lily, clapping her hands. ‘This is going to be such fun!’

Still not understanding, Beth exchanged a confused look with Ben.

‘Houston, we have a problem,’ said Ben, with a shrug.

Beth was still looking at her friend, wondering why Lily was laughing, when she felt something warm being placed into her hand.

She looked down and saw that Frankie had just given her a mug.

‘Thought you might need this after all,’ said Frankie, nodding at the Irish coffee.

Beth was inclined to agree with her and wondered whether the evening was doomed before it had even begun.

28

Two hours later, Beth hovered nervously in the lounge, peering through the glass doors to the large group of people gathered outside on the veranda ready for their evening of stargazing.

It was a far bigger audience than she had anticipated. She had never talked to so many people at one time and her stomach churned with nerves.

She glanced at the clock on the fireplace mantelpiece once more and realised that she needed to get started.

As she walked towards the doors on shaky legs, at least one thing made her smile. Lily’s idea with the astronaut cut-outs had been a huge hit, especially once the helmet visors had been removed. Everyone who had arrived at the hotel had all had their photo taken behind the cut-outs, their faces peeping through the helmets as if they were actual astronauts. Lily had also added a small sign on the front of the astronaut suits saying ‘Maple Tree Lodge Star Tours’ which was the best marketing idea that Ella had ever heard of, when Beth had read her text a short time ago.

She took a deep breath as she switched out the lights in thelounge, still nervous about the size of the crowd. Could she really hold this many people’s attention at one time?

There was only one way to find out, she supposed, and pushed the doors open.

‘Good evening,’ she called out.

It was a bit of a squeeze out on the veranda but because it ran the length of the hotel everybody had a clear view across the water, as well as of the dark skies above. She had asked Ben to switch off the veranda lights to help with the viewing, which he had done, and she was grateful for the clear night.

She cleared her throat and, for a moment, lost her nerve. As she glanced both ways along the veranda, she suddenly spotted Noah slipping out of the glass doors to stand nearby.

They locked eyes and he gave her a nod, as if reminding her of his words. ‘Just talk as if you’re only speaking to me.’

So she took a deep breath and began to speak.

‘Hi. My name is Dr Beth Jones and I’m an astronomer. But this evening isn’t about trying to dazzle you with physics or scientific information. It’s about showing you the wonder of the universe that we live in.’ She smiled as she began to relax into her rehearsed speech. ‘When people in the ancient world observed the sky, they noticed wandering lights that behaved differently from the stars,’ she announced. ‘These objects in the sky traced steady paths across the heavens. Over time, each one received the name of a Roman god and that naming tradition formed the identity of the planets even into the modern era. In our solar system, there are eight planets. Each of these planets has been named after a Roman god or goddess. Who can name them?’

She was pleased when the correct answers were shouted back to her, and nodded.

‘That’s great,’ she carried on. ‘Roman astronomers, who observed the five visible planets with the naked eye, had identifiedeach one by its movement and appearance before assigning each one with a god whose power matched what people believed the planet’s movement signified. Saturn, which was visible only at great distance and moved slowly, became connected with the ancient god of agriculture and time.’

She looked around at the people on the balcony. ‘Saturn is in opposition tonight. It’s one of the highlights of the observing year so you’ve timed this just right. At the moment it should be lying about 30 degrees in altitude so we should be able to observe it. Has everyone got their binoculars or a telescope? I’ve got a couple that can be borrowed.’

The people all brought their binoculars and telescopes up to their faces and, with Beth’s guidance, were soon able to spot Saturn in the night sky.

Once she was happy that everyone had had their turn observing Saturn, Beth moved on.

‘Next is Jupiter which was always brighter and much larger than the other planets. And because of its size, the Romans gave it the name of the king of the gods.’

She gave everyone the altitude in which to see the planet which was on show that evening.

‘I love this beautiful ringed planet,’ said Beth, once everyone was looking in the right direction. ‘Who can spot its trademark creamy hue?’

There were murmurs of appreciation along the balcony so she carried on.

‘And what’s Saturn’s giant moon called?’ she asked.