Christmas Eve had arrived, but over at St. Michael's vicarage, Reverend Morris was in a bit of a panic.
"Oh dear, what terrible timing," he sighed, as he put down his smartphone.
"What's up?" Jenna asked, handing him a glass of mulled wine. "Is it about tonight's carol service?"
"Unless I can find an organist willing to step in for Gordon, I'm afraid we'll be forced to have a rather muted carol service, with only the piano!" The vicar sighed.
A look of horror spread across Jenna's face. "Oh no, Gordon! Is he okay?"
"Gordon's fine. It's his cousin Barry, who lives in Yorkshire. He's taken a tumble on some ice and broken his ankle. He's recovering at home, but he lives alone and can't manage by himself over Christmas. His daughter Lisa, lives in Florida. So Gordon has decided to stay with him until after the new year, when Lisa will be flying over."
"Aww. That's so kind of him. Nobody should be on their own at Christmas. Let's hope Barry makes a speedy recovery. But the carol service just won't be the same without Gordon playing the organ. He's...taught me a lot, but I'm not up the standard where I can play fluently during a church service yet! The organ is so complicated."
In truth, Jenna had spent rather more time playing Gordon's 8 inch organ rather than the church organ. "Simon, I'll gladly play the piano at the service, although you're right, it'll be feeble-sounding by comparison."
Reverend Morris sighed. "I really appreciate that, my love. People are expecting a fantastic Christmas service this year, to make up for the two years we lost due to the pandemic. With all the bad news recently, they need cheering up. I've been going on about the carol service for weeks, promoting it online, putting ads in the gazette. I even forked out for an ad on the local radio. You simply can't have Hark the Herald Angels and O Come All Ye Faithful played on anything else but a pipe organ!"
"Is there nobody else who could take Gordon's place?"
"Not at such short notice. The service is only seven hours away! I phoned Tom Fishwick who used to play at St. Paul's, but he lives ten miles away and can't drive. He can't get here due to the train strikes. So I tried Sundeep Kapoor over at the Living Earth Free Church, but he's at home suffering from a chest infection, plus his cat has developed ringworm, so he's stressed out about that."
Jenna groaned. "What a nightmare."
"That just leaves Raymond Wilson, the organist at Oakwood Road Methodist Church. Oakwood had its carol service this morning, so he might be available. But..."
"But what? Get on that phone pronto, Simon!"
"Raymond's notoriously difficult to work with," Reverend Morris replied. "I don't like to speak ill of people, but I'm not that keen on him. He's rude and awkward. A bit of an Ebenezer Scrooge."
Gordon used to be a bit like that...before I was able to cheer him up, Jenna smirked to herself. "Oh I see. I wonder why he's like that?"
"Some people are just like that, and I don't think Raymond's that keen on Christmas anyway."
"I don't mind speaking to him," Jenna said. "He doesn't scare me!"
The vicar perked up. "Would you? I confess the last time I spoke to him on the phone, I got a tirade of abuse."
"Leave it to me," the wily redhead replied, although she wasn't planning to speak to him by phone.
"I must dash, Jen. I've got to head over to the church hall and drop these foodbank items off, then I'm going to take this shopping round to Mrs Grimes."
"Don't wear yourself out, Simon. Big day tomorrow! Our first Christmas together, and my parents, your parents, Lucy, Debbie and Christopher will be joining us for dinner. It'll be so nice for Christopher to have a big family Christmas."
