need to contact other than over the Web. You can stay in your room and work all Christmas but Letty is one of the worldâs best cooks and here really is better than camping in the office.â
âI imagine it will be,â he said, but he didnât sound sure. âAnd I am grateful.â
âI bet you are.â
âItâs lovely hair,â he said, surprisingly. âIt would have been a shame to leave it dirty for Christmas.â
âThank you,â she managed again. Cheering up, despite herself.
Letty was coming. She could send W S McMaster to his allocated room and she could get on with Christmas.
Â
Anger was counterproductive. Anger would get him no where.
Yes, his PA had messed up his Christmas plans but thething was done. And no, he should never have agreed to come with her to this middle-of-nowhere place. If heâd thought it through, maybe he could have rung a realtor and even bought a small house. Anything rather than being stuck at the beck and call of one wiry little woman called Letty who seemed to own the only set of wheels in the entire district.
They hadnât passed another car. The car they were in sounded sick enough to be worrying. There was something wrong with its silencerâas if it didnât have one. The engine was periodically missing. The gearbox seemed seriously shot. They were jolting along an unsealed road. He was wedged in the back seat with both his and Megâs gear and Letty was talking at the top of her lungs.
âIâm late because Dave Barring popped over to check on Millicent. Millicentâs a heifer Iâm worried is going to calve over Christmas.â Letty was yelling at him over her shoulder. âDaveâs our local vet and heâs off for Christmas so I wanted a bit of reassurance. He reckons she should be right,â she told Meg. âThen I had to pick up three bags of fertiliser from Robertsonâs. Robby said if I didnât take it tonight the placeâd be locked up till after New Year. So Iâm sorry itâs a bit squashed in the back.â
âIâm fine,â he said. He wasnât.
Anger was counterproductive. If he said it often enough he might believe it.
âWe can swap if you want,â Meg said.
âYou wonât fit in the back,â Letty said. âNot with Killer.â
Letty was right. The combination of Meg and Killer would never fit in the back seat with the baggage.
Killer looked like a cross between a Labrador and an Old English sheepdog. He was huge and hairy and black as the night around them. Heâd met Meg with such exuberance that once more William had had to steady her, stopping her from being pushed right over.
While Killer had greeted Meg, Letty had greeted him with a handshake that was stronger than a manâs twice her size. Then sheâd greeted her granddaughter with a hug that made Meg wince, and then sheâd moved into organisational mode.
âYou in the back. Meg, in the front with Killer. I told Scotty Iâd be back by nine-thirty so we need to move.â
They were moving. They were flying over the corrugated road with a speed that made him feel as if he was about to lose teeth.
âSo what do we call you?â Letty said over her shoulder.
âI told you; heâs Mr McMaster,â Meg said, sounding muffled, as well she might under so much dog.
âMac?â Letty demanded.
âHeâs my boss,â Letty said, sounding desperate. âHeâs not Mac.â
âHeâs our guest for Christmas. What do we call you?â she demanded again. âHow about Mac?â
Do not let the servants become familiar.
Master William.
Mr McMaster.
Sir.
Once upon a time a woman called Hannah had called him William. To her appalling costâ¦
âHow about Bill?â Letty demanded. âThatâs short for William. Or Billy.â
âBilly?â Meg said, sounding revolted. âGrandma,