The Wassail Gingerkuchen Excerpt
“May I
escort you, Mistress?” He led her into the Reading Room alight with glowing
candles and whispered, “Don’t they look real? The only bad news is the man you
hired to play St. Nicholas came down with the flu.”
“What will I do?”
Alarmed, Liberty fumbled in the brocade pouch at her waist for her cell phone.
“We can’t do this without St. Nicholas.”
“You will have your
St. Nicholas, madam.” Gregory stepped close to her side and smiled down at her.
“I have experience.” He gently placed her arm on his. His St. Nicholas outfit
was no rented Santa costume. The smooth velvet of his red jacket caressed her
bare arm. The ruffled shirt, tight black pants, and high black boots
complemented his masculine form perfectly.
Before Liberty could
speak, Lily announced, “Wassail time.”
Aldwyn, in a dinner
jacket, entered carrying a steaming silver punch bowl, followed by Emma and
Rebecca holding platters piled high with spicy, fragrant gingerkuchen.
Liberty whispered to
Gregory, “Is it safe for you here?”
“Perfectly safe.
This is a magic night.”
Outside the window,
a flash of lights illuminated the huge outdoor tree and they heard the loud
“Ah” as the people of Shipsfeather gasped in pleasure.
The strains of
“Greensleeves” floated from the Local History Room. Liberty didn’t remember hiring
a quartet.
Within moments the library doors were thrown open and guests paraded in. Gregory served wassail and Liberty passed out warm gingerkuchen, greeting smiling Shipsfeather residents and their visitors. Many of Liberty’s regular library patrons passed by. Gregory embraced members of old Shipsfeather families. An elderly gentleman called him Chronus and a woman with a British accent curtsied and addressed him as Sir Gregory. Replying to foreign visitors in their own languages, Gregory was the perfect host. He looked handsome, courtly, and comfortable in ruffled shirt and velvet jacket and each guest lit up at his attention.
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