A Home for Shimmer (15 page)

‘Mum’s put a ribbon across the lane and when everyone’s ready to come in, he’s going to cut it and declare the shop, café and rescue centre officially open,’ I added.

Caitlin and I got stuck in helping out where we could and at one o’clock Dad came into the café with a worried look on his face.

‘Problem,’ he said. ‘Mike’s just been to the village. The roads are covered in knee-deep snow. He had to abandon his car and walk the last bit.’

Mum’s face fell. ‘No,’ she said. ‘
No.
This can’t be happening.’

As news of the roads spread, the mood in the shop changed and the air of excited anticipation was replaced with one of disappointment. What if no one could get here? I felt so frustrated – after all the setbacks we’d been through, we were going to be let down by the flipping weather!

‘People could put their wellies on and walk,’ I suggested.

Dad shook his head. ‘Not the elderly. They won’t come out if the roads are hazardous for driving or walking, nor will parents with kids.’

‘But we’ve got Santa’s grotto set up in the shop,’ I said. It was supposed to be a surprise for the youngest villagers.

‘I’m going to call Dad,’ said Poppy and got out her mobile.

‘I know her dad’s a powerful man and all,’ said Caitlin in a loud whisper, ‘but he can’t control the weather.’

Poppy finished her call. ‘He’ll do what he can,’ she said but she didn’t look optimistic.

Caitlin looked at me. ‘It’s that darn Snow Queen of Narnia again,’ she said. ‘Should we try a snow dance or pray or something? It worked in the summer.’

I grimaced. ‘You could try, Caitlin,’ I said.

Caitlin squeezed my arm. ‘It’s not over yet. The snow might turn to rain.’

But for the next hour, the snow continued to fall. It turned one-thirty, one-forty-five and finally two o’clock. A few people had made it up through the snow and reported there were no cars on the road.

‘It looks like Siberia out there,’ said Liam as he looked outside.

‘And how would you know?’ asked Caitlin.

‘I’ve seen movies,’ said Liam, blushing.

‘It looks pretty cold in here too,’ I said as I looked around at all the people dressed in their Christmas outfits sitting about waiting for a crowd who weren’t coming.

Mrs Watson, Mum and Mrs O’Neill made a huge vat of hot chocolate and all the workers gathered in the café.

The atmosphere was still gloomy.

‘Let’s sing,’ said Caitlin. ‘Come on, Christmas carols. Cheer ourselves up a bit.’

No one looked very excited about the idea but she refused to be put off and started singing, ‘
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
. . . Come on, everyone!’

Mrs Watson joined in with her.

I looked around at all the sad faces. ‘Come on, Robbie, Nat, let’s join in.’ So we did. Then a few more people began to sing, then a few more, even Liam joined in, and soon the whole café was belting it out.

‘Hey, look,’ said Liam and he pointed out of the window facing the yard.

Outside was a huge snow dredger and it had cleared the lane up to the stables. Behind the dredger was a procession of vehicles coming up the lane. First a Range Rover with seven people packed in, followed by the school bus full of people – including the snooty girls and surfer boys, next was a pony and trap that was used in the summer to take tourists around and lastly a tractor with a couple of people hanging on. They piled out and into the warmth of the shop.

Mr Pengilly got down from the tractor and went over to Dad. ‘‘We’ve cleared the road best we can and people are heading up. We’ve also asked the local radio to put out an announcement saying that the road is clear, and there’s a whole crowd waiting in the village. A couple more runs of the bus and I reckon we’ll have everyone up here.’

Josh got out his phone. ‘And I can put it on Twitter,’ he said. ‘Hopefully a few more people will see the roads have been cleared.’

All was not lost!

An hour later and just about the whole village was up at Silverbrook including our B-list star, Tyrrel Turner. He was surrounded by women of various ages (including Poppy, Caitlin and Natalie). The place was buzzing, the till was ringing, carol singers were singing, kids were outside throwing snowballs, Shimmer was inside trying to steal sandwiches and sausages (of course).

I thought back to when we’d first arrived and I thought Compton Truit was the dreariest place in the universe. I looked around at the festive scene in front of me and saw Tyrrel chatting to Mum whilst the local photographers took photos. Caitlin came over and put her arm around me and gave me a squeeze. ‘You’ve done it,’ she said.

I hugged her back. ‘
We’ve
done it,’ I said as Natalia and Poppy came to join us. ‘Team effort. Silverbrook Farm shop, café and rescue centre is really happening.’

Natalia nodded and looked around with satisfaction. ‘And this is just the beginning.’

Shimmer ran over to us, tail wagging, and my heart nearly burst with pure happiness. It was hard to imagine that once I’d felt lonely here. As well as Mum, Dad and Josh, now I had Caitlin, Poppy, Robbie and Liam as new friends – plus the furry ones: Shimmer, Ginger, Albus, Arthur, Dib and Dob. I felt a rush of excitement at the thought of what might happen here. Animals would come then go to other homes, but others would replace them. There would be other gerbils, ferrets, rabbits, cats and dogs – and I couldn’t wait to meet them and be a part of making their lives safer and happier. ‘Today has been good,’ I said, ‘but the future for Silverbrook Farm looks even better.’ I bent over to give Shimmer a stroke. ‘Don’t worry, Shimmer. You’ll always be our first rescue dog and my bestest furry friend.’

Shimmer put her paws up and gave me her usual response when she approved of something – a big wet lick!