Free Once Upon A Winter by Valerie-Anne Baglietto

than a huge mountain of scrap material. Denim, gingham, brocade and other odds and ends.
    ‘So,’ Emma waltzed on, ‘I can get Ted - the farm shop man - to deliver a box just like this to you, if you want. It’s good value. And convenient. Dad used to order a smaller box, for one, but you’ll need something larger like this.’
    ‘A minute ago you were going on about Harreloe Primary needing my help,’ said Nell. ‘Now you’re going on about vegetables.’
    ‘Well, you asked me to.’ Emma was innocence personified again.
    ‘Just get to the point, Em. We’ve got to get over to the school in a minute to pick up the kids. And then Nana wants crumpets with her afternoon tea. I haven’t got any. Do they sell them “to go” at Calista’s? I can’t work out if it’s a café or a takeaway first and foremost.’
    ‘A bit of both. Calista ’s usually has them on the menu, you should be fine. Now, back to this.’ She shoved the crate of fabric closer to Nell. ‘You’ve still got your sewing machine, haven’t you?’
    ‘Of course.’ Nell couldn’t bear to be parted from her long-serving Singer.
    ‘And you still make those shabby chic cushion covers? Like the ones you gave me last Christmas. I’ve got them upstairs on my bed.’
    ‘I still sew, if that’s what you mean - when I have the time. Which is hardly ever.’
    ‘Well, I showed them to Antonia - Toni - she runs the Friends of Harreloe Primary, and she thought they were gorgeous. Very on trend. And she asked me if I could ask you to whip up a few for the school Christmas fayre.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘You must have a bit more time on your hands, now that you’re not working. Nana isn’t a full-time job, is she? And all the mums clubbed together to get this box ready. Everyone contributed to it. There’s some thread buried under there, too, and if you do a pillowcase style opening, you won’t need to faff about with zips. It won’t cost you anything.’
    ‘Except all my leisure time,’ Nell pointed out.
    ‘But just think of the money we could raise! We’re after a new I.T. suite for the school. It would benefit Joshua and Freya, so you can’t say it’s nothing to do with you.’
    ‘I didn’t say it wasn’t anything to do with me.’ Nell felt the first trickle of guilt. Her sister was an expert at wringing it out of her.
    ‘I’m making cakes for the cake stall,’ said Emma. ‘I’ll be baking for days.’
    ‘So I’ve got to do my bit, too, is that what you’re saying? I’ve only been back in Harreloe five minutes. You could have given me a little more time to find my feet.’
    ‘Well, that’s why I waited a week. A week and a few days, actually. So, I’m sorry it’s last minute, but if you could make as many as possible, the same size as the ones you made me, for next week -’
    ‘Next week!’
    ‘Friday. You’ve got ten days. We could probably sell them at a fiver each, if they’re really nice. Could you do a heart appliqué design, do you think? And maybe some with flowers, and -’
    ‘You’ll get what you’re given,’ said Nell, frowning as she scooped up the crate and strode towards the door.
    *
    ‘ Why don’t you run upstairs and tell Nana about your day?’ Nell suggested, as she clattered into the kitchen at Bryn Heulog, weighed down with all the paraphernalia the kids had conveniently forgotten to carry in from the car. ‘It sounds like it was another good day.’ She dumped lunch bags and book bags on to the gleaming, island worktop, next to the crate of fabric she’d already carried in.
    ‘Miss Perry dyes her hair to match her suits,’ said Joshua. ‘Adam Kelly said so. This week it’s an orange rinse. Sometimes it’s pink. He reckons next week will be blue.’
    ‘She’s nice,’ said Freya, helping herself to a juice carton out of the fridge. ‘Really funny.’
    Nell had finally met the children’s class teacher yesterday morning, when she’d taken the kids into school ten minutes early, to