Merry Christmas Lottie from your Secret Santa
Joey Maynard gazed out of the Saal window at the sky.
“It doesn’t look as bad as all that does it,” said a voice as Joey’s second daughter wandered in the room, “in fact, it looks fabulous with all the snow. I’m glad it’s going to be a white Christmas.”
“Morning sleepyhead, or should I say good afternoon,” said Joey with a smile.
The triplets had returned after their first term of University and, taking advantage of the quiet house, spent the last two days, mostly sleeping.
“Am I the last one up?” asked Con.
“No,” answered Joey, “Len is off with Reg for the day as it’s his day off, I think they went ski-ing and Margot was still sleeping when I last checked. What on earth have you girls done the last two months to make you this tired?”
Con gave a grin. “Len, Margot and I didn’t sleep on the train,” she explained. “I think we were so excited, to catch up again, we talked all the way to Interlaken.” “What!” exclaimed Joey stunned, “no wonder you’re all so tired, though Len seems to have recovered the best of all of you.”
“That’s cos I was trying to get all my writing finished before I came home and I knew I wouldn’t get much peace and quiet once I got here, or feel like writing, and I know Margot has been studying hard for her exams, for the same reason and she had further to travel than us.”
“I know,” said Joey ruefully. “I only wish I was so organised but I still have two chapters to correct with those blasted gallery proofs and I dearly would love to get them off by tomorrow next if I can.”
“What’s stopping you?” asked Con with a complacent smile, glad her own work was finished.
“Geoff left his Christmas costume behind and managed to forget it this morning,” replied her mother succinctly.
“Why on earth, was it here, in the first place?” asked Con startled. “I thought all the costumes stayed at school.”
“They normally do,” answered Joey, “but Geoff managed to get into a scuffle with Marie Courvoisier and tore part of it. He managed to smuggle it home in the hope Anna or Rosli would mend it and he could smuggle it all back this morning.”
“Then how did you find out?” asked Con with a giggle for the animosity between Marie and Geoff was legendary.
Geoff, the youngest of all the Maynard boys by five years was heartily sick of playing with the three sisters closest to his age, Cecil, Phil and Marie-Claire. He loved playing with Pat and Jean Courvoisier and escaping his sisters. Marie Courvoisier was a little tomboy who led her family; mischievous, and fun loving, she was her mother’s miniature and insisted on joining in her brother’s games at all opportunities. She and Geoff clashed continuously, both being equally as stubborn, equally as warm hearted as the other, and were equally into mischief. As Biddy Courvoisier once remarked they were destined to be either close friends or bitter enemies, and so far, both had maintained their feud, which had lasted, for the full eight years of their young lives.
“I heard Anna giving out to Geoff, about it all, and heard the whole story. I told him he had to tell Miss Robertson the whole story and he couldn’t wiggle out of trouble, but had to stand up and take it like a man. He was very aggrieved and said everyone blamed him for fighting, when Marie started it.”
Con giggled. “She does,” Con remarked, “and poor Geoff is the one that gets told off for fighting with a girl-not that Marie lets him; she fully confesses her share of it.”
“I know,” said Joey with a sigh, “but can you imagine them at 16 or 17 and still fighting like that.”
Con choked, “they’ll have out grown it by then,” she said gravely, eyes dancing.
Joey relaxed. “I know,” she said, “and Geoff really needs to be surrounded by more boys. He has had it hard, with Phil being sick, and everyone does tend to show her the attention, which means he does get left out a lot, with it all.”
“He does,” agreed Con determined to spend some time alone with her youngest brother after hearing that.
“Anyway,” said Con changing the subject. “Would you like me to take Geoff costume to school; I’m sure Miss Robertson is tearing her hair out over it all.”
“Would you Con? If I go, then I know I’ll get caught over there. I always do and I really want to get all the gallery proof’s done before school is finished. The girls and Geoff will be home tomorrow and the boys the day after. I’m so glad Ruey, Roddy, and Roger are travelling back with them. It wouldn’t feel the same having Christmas without those three,” and Joey relaxed.
“Mind if I join you?” asked a fresh voice as the youngest triplet walked into the room. “Morning Mother. I feel like I’ve slept half the day away, and could do with a walk.”
“All right,” said their Mother, “but you do need to eat something before you she admonished, I don’t want you fainting.”
“Yes mother,” answered the two in a sing song voice, both close to laughing; this had been a regular refrain while they were at school.
That was a lovely snapshot of Maynard family life. Do I take it, from the title, that there's more to come? I'm intrigued to find out who the Evil Bobmother is.
I'd wondered about that title!