Fairytale of Headley Cross Read Online Free PDF Page B

me to go to work. You guard the house while I’m gone.” He barked at her. “Glad to hear it. And no chewing my slippers, you hear?”
     
    ****
     
    Carson looked in the mirror and decided that Maggie was right; the toddler group would be a bad move. His jaw was far too painful to shave, so he’d give that a miss. Maybe he just grew the beard back. The phone had rung constantly since he got up that morning, after Nate mentioned his ‘accident’ in church the previous evening. He was tempted to record a new answerphone message and let that pick up calls for the rest of the day. Something along the lines of…
    Before he thought any further, the phone rang again and he grabbed it. “Hello.”
    “Carson, its Jack. Is everything OK?” Jack Chambers sounded unusually concerned. From what little Carson knew of his co-pastor, he seemed pretty unflappable, except where his wife and family were concerned.
    Carson gingerly sat on the couch. “Everything’s fine. Why?”
    “I was listening online last night. Well, my morning, your last night.”
    “Oh.” He exhaled heavily.
    “Nate said you’d been in an accident. What happened?”
    There was no point hiding what happened from Jack. Nate would only tell him the truth when asked anyway. “I was having lunch at the carvery with Maggie Turner to talk about the nativity. Her ex-boyfriend took a dislike to this and hit me. Several times. And before you ask, no, I didn’t hit him back. Those days are long gone.”
    “Are you pressing charges?”
    “No, I’m not.”
    Jack’s sharp intake of breath matched the drumming of his fingers on the edge of the phone. “May I ask why? Are you sure it wasn’t—”
    “No, Jack, it wasn’t related to my past. It was Maggie’s ex, and even if it wasn’t, I can handle it. There are at least ten witnesses to the fact that he just walked in and started the fight unprovoked. He grabbed hold of Maggie, I stood and told him to leave her alone, and he hit me. I just want to forget it. And between you and me, I don’t want to see any more courtrooms.”
    Pilot pushed his head onto Carson’s knee, and he petted him absently.
    “Is something going on between you and Maggie Turner?”
    “No. We were talking about YPSB and the nativity. Did you know she runs that on her own? YPSB that is, not the nativity. I’m giving her a hand with that.”
    “No, I didn’t.” As Carson had hoped, Jack took the bait. “As far as I was aware, Esther Mulholland and Maggie did alternate weeks.”
    “That hasn’t been happening for some time, apparently. Maggie can’t remember the last time she was in a morning service. Do you mind if I sort that? Either get Esther involved again, or find someone new? And insist that Maggie and the new teacher do the same rota as the other helpers—three weeks on and three weeks off.”
    “Feel free. I hadn’t realized Maggie was coping with the teaching on her own. She hadn’t said anything to me at all.”
    Carson gingerly rubbed his stomach. “She only mentioned it when I asked directly about the staffing and how often she got into the services. I doubt she would’ve mentioned it at all otherwise.”
    “Probably not.”
    “So, how’s your trip? Got any snow yet?”
    “More snow than Cassie likes, but Lara is in her element. She’s taken to skiing like a duck to water. She hates the homeschooling. She thought this was a holiday from school work.”
    Carson laughed. “I bet. Is she looking forward to Christmas?”
    “Oh, yeah. She does keep asking if Santa is the same as Father Christmas and will he come visit us on real time or American time.”
    “And which will he visit on?”
    Jack laughed. “Neither. She knows full well that all presents come from me and Cassie and Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. I’ve never told her any different. She’s fine with it.”
    Carson rubbed his neck as Pilot settled on the floor in front of the fireplace. “If I did…is this fight going to be a problem? With