new look because he’s only met me a couple of times, but Jackson was staring at me like I had a turnip for a head.
‘Wow,’ was what he eventually came out with, which was pretty cool. I mean not that I care what he thinks, it’s just nice when anyone has a good reaction to you.
‘Say anything, and you’re dead,’ I snarled.
Which wasn’t the ladylike effect I’m going for, but ifhe had laughed I would’ve had to have gone home and never left the house again.
‘Can I say, “Wow”, again?’
‘No,’ I said with my teeth gritted, but he made me laugh.
We bought some gold paint to add a bit of something to the tearoom chairs, and some more lavender and some white to finish the walls and woodwork.
Jackson paid, and the boys carried all the bags. Normally I would have insisted on carrying one to show I wasn’t all weak and helpless, but somehow my new outfit made me not want to carry anything. I guess that’s how princesses feel. When I am older I will employ someone to carry things so I won’t have to – books, bags, plates, suitcases. Or just get married, which is pretty much the same.
We were headed out and saw this man on the street opposite, leaving a building, slamming the door behind him like he was a huffy kid.
‘Isn’t that the Park manager?’ asked Bob.
It was Mr Walsh, coming out of a small, deserted-looking warehouse on the other side of the road. Jenny said it used to be the storage warehouse for an oil merchants, from before the farmers aroundstarted to get deliveries straight to their own farms from the suppliers.
‘The estate owns some property in the village, but not that building,’ Jackson said.
He looked at me like he knew I’d be up for it and said, ‘Let’s see what’s inside.’
‘Good idea,’ I said and we headed out the door.
Bob and Jenny thought we were being silly (which coming from them is a bit rich!), and wanted to get back to the tearoom. So we went inside, while they kept watch. Jackson gave Pie to Jenny to make sure he wouldn’t escape inside the warehouse.
The hinges were broken, so although the door was padlocked we could push our way in.
It was a small enough room for a warehouse, and there were a few large oil barrels and some building equipment, hammers and rope and a lever thing. I was hoping for a trap door or some stolen goods, but it was all quite boring really and we felt a bit nothing when we told the others what was in there.
Jackson saw my pissed-off look and whispered right into my ear, ‘It could still be important Tia, we might be able to work out what he’s up to.’
Once we got back to the tearoom there wasn’t much of a chance for any of us to talk because wehad so much grafting to get done. I didn’t have to be careful not to get paint and dirt on my new clothes because Bob had brought along some of his old shirts for us to wear as overalls and they reached mine and Jenny’s knees which made the guys start calling us ‘the elves’. Once all the walls were done (two in lavender, two in white, with white on the window frames) we voted to leave the chairs for another day as it’s such a big job. Instead we stripped the old paint from a long wooden sign where you could just about make out the words ‘The New Park Tearoom’. Bob said that was the name they had given it in its last year of life, to try and attract some customers.
Jenny had the idea of renaming the tearoom. We all agreed to that, but wanted to take ideas from everyone because we were worried that with her in charge of the name it might end up being called ‘Fluffy Singsong Tearoom’ or something like that.
In fact Jenny suggested, ‘The Cosy Tea Corner’, which was quite reasonable, but a bit ‘cottagey’ for such a grand building.
Bob suggested something in Latin, just to show off that he knew Latin, and Jenny thought that was a better idea than hers.
Jackson suggested ‘The Last Waltz Tearoom’, which I thought was the best and I expected the
‘Wow,’ was what he eventually came out with, which was pretty cool. I mean not that I care what he thinks, it’s just nice when anyone has a good reaction to you.
‘Say anything, and you’re dead,’ I snarled.
Which wasn’t the ladylike effect I’m going for, but ifhe had laughed I would’ve had to have gone home and never left the house again.
‘Can I say, “Wow”, again?’
‘No,’ I said with my teeth gritted, but he made me laugh.
We bought some gold paint to add a bit of something to the tearoom chairs, and some more lavender and some white to finish the walls and woodwork.
Jackson paid, and the boys carried all the bags. Normally I would have insisted on carrying one to show I wasn’t all weak and helpless, but somehow my new outfit made me not want to carry anything. I guess that’s how princesses feel. When I am older I will employ someone to carry things so I won’t have to – books, bags, plates, suitcases. Or just get married, which is pretty much the same.
We were headed out and saw this man on the street opposite, leaving a building, slamming the door behind him like he was a huffy kid.
‘Isn’t that the Park manager?’ asked Bob.
It was Mr Walsh, coming out of a small, deserted-looking warehouse on the other side of the road. Jenny said it used to be the storage warehouse for an oil merchants, from before the farmers aroundstarted to get deliveries straight to their own farms from the suppliers.
‘The estate owns some property in the village, but not that building,’ Jackson said.
He looked at me like he knew I’d be up for it and said, ‘Let’s see what’s inside.’
‘Good idea,’ I said and we headed out the door.
Bob and Jenny thought we were being silly (which coming from them is a bit rich!), and wanted to get back to the tearoom. So we went inside, while they kept watch. Jackson gave Pie to Jenny to make sure he wouldn’t escape inside the warehouse.
The hinges were broken, so although the door was padlocked we could push our way in.
It was a small enough room for a warehouse, and there were a few large oil barrels and some building equipment, hammers and rope and a lever thing. I was hoping for a trap door or some stolen goods, but it was all quite boring really and we felt a bit nothing when we told the others what was in there.
Jackson saw my pissed-off look and whispered right into my ear, ‘It could still be important Tia, we might be able to work out what he’s up to.’
Once we got back to the tearoom there wasn’t much of a chance for any of us to talk because wehad so much grafting to get done. I didn’t have to be careful not to get paint and dirt on my new clothes because Bob had brought along some of his old shirts for us to wear as overalls and they reached mine and Jenny’s knees which made the guys start calling us ‘the elves’. Once all the walls were done (two in lavender, two in white, with white on the window frames) we voted to leave the chairs for another day as it’s such a big job. Instead we stripped the old paint from a long wooden sign where you could just about make out the words ‘The New Park Tearoom’. Bob said that was the name they had given it in its last year of life, to try and attract some customers.
Jenny had the idea of renaming the tearoom. We all agreed to that, but wanted to take ideas from everyone because we were worried that with her in charge of the name it might end up being called ‘Fluffy Singsong Tearoom’ or something like that.
In fact Jenny suggested, ‘The Cosy Tea Corner’, which was quite reasonable, but a bit ‘cottagey’ for such a grand building.
Bob suggested something in Latin, just to show off that he knew Latin, and Jenny thought that was a better idea than hers.
Jackson suggested ‘The Last Waltz Tearoom’, which I thought was the best and I expected the