“I know personally that a lot of love and hard work has gone into making today a success, so please dig deep—everything goes to charitable causes—and most importantly, have a wonderful and memorable day. I now declare this fête officially open!”
With that, Clifton O’Keefe launched into the opening lines ofWe Will Rock Youby Queen to rapturous cheers from the audience. Nathan stood shocked, having no idea Clifton could sing, let alone provide a very credible performance of the classic. Had he auditioned for the role in the movie? When the crowd joined in with the chorus and the band’s singer took over, two cannons exploded at either side of the stage, sending multi-coloured streamers into the audience, announcing the official start of proceedings.
Nathan spent most of his time on his stall, but while Fingal and Halina did most of the selling, he simply chatted with the customers he knew. At one point, he headed to the village hall for an interview with the documentary crew about the making of the calendar, something all the players had agreed to do.
At four o’clock, back at his stall, as Nathan sipped on a mug of tea, Polly materialised out of the crowds, a look of mischief on her face.
“Fingal, Halina. Can you cover? I need Nathan to come right now.”
“Okay. Just give me a minute—” began Nathan.
“Right now!”
“Why? What’s happened—?”
Nathan put his mug down, rolled his eyes at Fingal and Halina, and simply obeyed.
“No questions,” said Polly. “Just follow me.”
Nathan left them to cope with the stall, which was fine because business had died down significantly by mid-afternoon. He followed Polly around the outside of the mini fairground until they reached the small crowd surrounding the ducking stool. Mikey already stood there and smiled mischievously when he saw them appear. Sat poised on the cushioned seat of the ducking stool was Arlene Killroy, her hands folded neatly in her lap, her legs crossed daintily at the ankles. A young boy had already missed the bullseye with his three wooden balls, and Arlene sat grinning, immaculate and invincible. As the little boy passed them by, he muttered to his mother about the impossibility of hitting such a tiny target. Polly kept them to the back of the crowd but pointed to the ginger-haired boy about to step forward and take his turn.
“Isn’t that—?”
“My eldest, Trevor,” whispered Mikey.
“Doesn’t he play sport?”
Nathan didn’t get a chance to receive a reply because Trevor’s first ball smacked the board, just hitting the left of the target and missing the bullseye. Around them, the crowd groaned in sympathy.
“It’s a tough one to hit,” said Nathan.
“He’s playing around. Just watch,” said Mikey, smiling, his big arms folded. He had a dry bath towel over one shoulder.
As they watched on, the second shot hit the opposite side of the target, this time much farther from the all-important bullseye, the pad that would release the chair. Again, the crowd moaned in unison.
On the final attempt Trevor took his time rubbing the ball along the outside of his jeans before standing perfectly still while sizing up the target. Eventually, he pulled back his arm, lifted one leg like a baseball pitcher and let the ball fly. The ball hit the target smack in the middle, dropping and submerging a satisfyingly shocked Arlene beneath the water in the Perspex bath. With a gasp, she broke the surface amid loud applause and laughter. Hats off to Arlene, she took the humiliation with dignity. Helpers on the stand assisted her out of the vat onto the grass verge. Mikey had pushed forward through the crowd and pulled the towel from his shoulder. Arlene stood dripping wet, her hair stuck to her face like seaweed, her clothes bedraggled as though she had just been caught in a rainstorm.
“Sorry to drag you away,” said Polly. “But I thought you deserved to bear witness. Trevor’s captain of the school cricket team. Allegedly the best under fifteens bowler in the south of England.”
“You are pure evil, Polly.”
“Not me. We have Max Killroy to thank. He promised to donate money to the school for their new gym on the proviso that all senior teachers take a turn in the chair. And just to show goodwill, he persuaded his wife to take a turn for thirty minutes.”
“Good for him. He should have taken a turn himself.”
“He did,” said Mikey, who had returned after giving Arlene the towel. “First one up. And let’s just say, he’s a little large around the midriff and went in with one almighty splash. But this is the victim Polly wanted you to see. Oops, I spy someone coming over to talk to you.”
When Nathan turned in the direction of Mikey’s gaze, he saw a grinning Clifton heading towards the group. Before he reached them, someone stopped him to chat, so Polly leant in and whispered in Nathan’s ear.
“Remember to look shocked if he mentions the idea of buying the shop.”
Clifton managed to pull Nathan away to the small tent set up next to the stage, which was marked private and had a no-entry sign to keep out the general public. Checking nobody else was inside, Clifton began immediately.
“I’m guessing you know what this conversation is about.”
“And I’m guessing it’s not about you hijacking the launch party?”
Clifton had the decency to appear embarrassed.
