“Nishan” said Roxie “it is so wonderful to be here. The present I sent you, I assume you have not opened it yet?”
“Of course not” said Nishan “you know me and surprises. I love them!”
“Of course. But could I borrow the parcel a second. I just need to tweak what is inside a little”
Nishan looked curious but retrieved the parcel from a nearby cupboard. Roxie tried not to go upstairs in too much of a hurry. She sat on the bed of the spare room where she knew she would be sleeping. After carefully placing her travel sewing kit next to her, Roxie slowly peeled back the sticky tape to reveal the cushion. Delicately, she unpicked the stitching and reached inside.
Strumbold was watching. Roxie held her breath.
And then her fingers came into contact with something hard and metallic. Then slowly, slowly, she managed to extract the chain and brush off the stuffing that was hooked to it in a few places.
Trembling, Roxie held the Chain for a long time. Two tears of relief rolled down her cheeks. “Oh Strumbold, thank you! Without you, I would not be here”
“Without you, I would not be in Scotland!” rumbled Strumbold. Roxie grinned and let out a long happy sigh. Soosh walked into the room.
“You’ve got it then! How fantastic is this. We are both celebrating our big brother’s birthday tomorrow, you can show everyone your Chain and we get to be home in time for the Teddy Bear’s Picnic!” said Soosh joyfully. They then both collapsed on the bed giggling and tickling each other. It was like they were children again.
She let her children know that she had found the Chain, but not to let anyone else know yet. All the children were happy and promised to keep things quiet until she got back home.
Later on, Roxie got a text from Samalan and smiled broadly
The chain never knew
That it was gone or missing
It knew where it was
Soosh and Roxie could not wait for tomorrow and their brother’s party.
The best day
The next day was one of the best of Roxie’s life. Nishan loved the cushion. Everyone admired the Chain of Office and joked about having to bow. The food was plentiful, spicy and sweet. The party was full of fascinating people with interesting stories to tell. There were crazy moments such as when everyone decided to dance on the lawn to “Mr Blue Sky”, waving their arms in the air. In the rain.
And there were quiet moments too: Soosh and Roxie held Elodie-Fay’s hands as she told them about the medical treatment she’d had a few months ago. All was well now. And the hugs they shared healed things even more.
Finally, as the evening relaxed down, Nishan got up to make a speech.
“Well, I feel so incredibly fortunate. I have now spent 50 years on this beautiful planet with the most adorable family and friends. I am sad of course that my parents are not here anymore. I have the most wonderful wife, who is the love of my life, who keeps me on the rails while making every moment we are together golden and glittery. And my two sisters who irritate me and delight me in equal measure. Of course I jest, they are much more irritating! And all of you, my dearest friends, who have come from far and wide to be here. I wish this party could go on forever. I love all you folks so much! Sometimes when people get to my age they have a midlife crisis and wonder about the meaning of life. But no crisis for me. The meaning of life is really not hard is it? It’s about love. It’s always been about love! So let’s toast: to living, to loving our family, our friends and everyone! Love is all you need!”
“Love is all you need!” exclaimed everyone
And with that, the Beatles song played and everyone sang along. Roxie and Soosh hugged. Everybody hugged! What a birthday party!
As they climbed into bed a couple of hours later, Roxie said “You know it’s funny. If I hadn’t have accidentally sewn the chain into the cushion, I wouldn’t be here and I would have missed everything. I have been so stressed about losing the chain but in an odd way, it was maybe one of the best things to happen to me. It is funny isn’t it. You never really know what will happen next.”
“True” said Soosh “But I know we have a long and fairly tedious drive ahead of us tomorrow. But hey, who knows what could happen!”
“Who knows” whispered Strumbold...
go to part eight
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