Bryony Bell's Star Turn (8 page)

The following days simply whizzed by in a flurry of rehearsals and breakfast shows, and before you could say ‘Jingle Bells' it was the day before the Nativity play performance and just four days before Christmas.

When Trish arrived for the morning's filming she was wearing a pair of brown-felt reindeer antlers with tiny golden bells, and looked particularly flushed and elated. ‘Take a look at this,' she announced as she tipped the contents of a large bin bag onto the table. ‘Fan mail!'

With shouts of delight everyone pounced on the letters, excitedly searching for ones that were personally addressed to them. They were thrilled with what they read.

Three boys in Wolverhampton had voted Angelina Pout of the Year. A whole class of six year olds from Aberystwyth wanted Emmy-Lou to make a celebrity visit to their sponsored tap dance. A shinty team in Belfast had won their first game of the season after adopting Little Bob as their mascot, and had sent him his very own shinty stick on which they had written ‘You fixed it for us!' And, from Land's End to John o' Groats, girls clamoured for advice from Melody
and Melissa on how to deal with their split ends.

The grown-ups hadn't been left out either. There was a very appreciative letter from a joiner in Grimsby telling Big Bob he'd never seen a better-constructed kitchen cabinet in all his born days; and a host of requests for fashion tips, plus two rather doubtful proposals of marriage, for Clarissa.

But the biggest, sparkliest pile of fan mail by far was for Bryony! From all corners of the country, letters had flooded in as girls and boys sent her photos of themselves in their skating gear and begged her to tell them the secret of her success.

‘Reckon you're on your way to your very own fan club, lass,' Big Bob grinned at Bryony, and Bryony turned to camera one and promised everyone who had written a personal reply.

‘So keep those letters coming, folks!' Trish urged. Then, reaching into one of her pockets, she took out a little bundle of envelopes. ‘Remember that fabulous Star Interview when Ken Undrum told us about his long-lost love, Cornelia Merryweather?' she said, fanning out the bundle. ‘Just look at this! We've been
inundated
with letters from English Nightingales
all over the country!' She opened some of the envelopes and held several photos up to the cameras.

‘Amazing, isn't it,' Big Bob remarked under his breath to Clarissa, ‘how many women of a certain age've got Titian red hair…'

‘Apparently,' Trish went on delightedly, ‘there's 14 in London, five in Doncaster, seven in Glasgow and one in Bristol – all
dying
to meet Ken again!

‘So, folks,' she said with a wink to camera one, ‘don't miss the Breakfast with the Bells Christmas special! What a line-up we've got for you…' She paused dramatically. ‘We'll join the Bells live as they eat their Christmas breakfast. Then we'll bring you our very first outside-broadcast special,' she continued, her voice rising higher and louder. ‘That's none other than Bryony, Angelina and Abid, in the Nativity play to end all Nativity plays!'

Sandwiched between Big Bob and Clarissa, Bryony listened with growing excitement, and when Trish dropped her voice confidentially and added, ‘And, believe me, there'll be a few Christmas surprises in store!' she glanced over at Angelina and gave her a little wink.

Angelina winked back, and Bryony heaved a sigh of relief. Everything, it appeared, was all right after all…

Bright and early on Christmas morning, an excited bevvy of Bells sat at the breakfast table with mugs of tea and warm mince pies. The kitchen was garlanded with holly and tinsel, and looked incredibly festive. Trish was looking festive too in a short, red-sequined Santa suit and matching hat, with flashing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer earrings.

‘Hi, folks, and welcome!' she announced gaily to camera one. ‘The Bells sure are ringing out for Christmas today! And, as we promised you,' she went on as fake snowflakes began to fall from netting above their heads, ‘today's Christmas special is packed full of surprises. And the first one happened at Peachtree Primary School just three days ago…'

Trish pointed over to a mistletoe-bedecked monitor. Everyone watched the screen with bated breath as the ‘When You Wish Upon A
Star' music played, and Mrs Quigg appeared at the piano in a figure-hugging, black evening dress, her hair cascading over her shoulders in glorious Titian red waves and her cheeks glowing rose-pink.

‘The look of love…' whispered Clarissa to Big Bob, and Big Bob blushed and nodded.

‘We've all been there…' he whispered back.

Everyone, except Angelina, glued themselves to the screen. Bryony looked sideways at her. Why was she so fidgety?

The scene opened on a starlit hillside, and as three shepherds watched several cardboard sheep, the camera panned round the audience. There they all were! Clarissa and Mrs Ashraf, both looking entrancing; Big Bob and Dr Ashraf, handkerchiefs at the ready; Melody and Melissa in matching muffs, Emmy-Lou looking as though she had dropped off a Christmas tree; Little Bob, very grown-up in a velvet suit and matching bow tie. And, at the end of the row, his eyes glued to the vision on the piano stool, Ken Undrum in a midnight-blue suit with a red rose in his buttonhole.

Then, just as the shepherds settled down to sleep, the doorbell rang and, as though she had
been expecting it, Angelina jumped up and ran out of the kitchen. Bryony got up and tried to follow her, but immediately found herself sandwiched tightly between Melody and Melissa.

Defeated, Bryony sat down and turned her attention back to the screen where, any minute now, the audience would be transported to the humble carpenter's workshop, which had been specially kitted out by Big Bob himself.

There was a gasp of delight as the Virgin Mary drifted on stage in her pale-blue shimmering finery, and delivered her lines more professionally than ever before. Then, at last, Mrs Quigg's angel-wings music played.

Bang on cue, Bryony soared through the air to land, gentle as cotton wool. Before announcing her tidings of great good news, she wove her way between the piles of saws and hammers and mounds of wood shavings, looking as mystical as any angel should. Then, trying not to flinch at the pain, she rose up on her points, indicated the star, and set off to tell the shepherds to gather up their lambs and follow it wherever it might lead.

There was a pregnant pause as the lights dimmed. The opening bars of the Big Number
rang out and, with scarcely a wobble, the grey fur-fabric donkey entered with the Virgin Mary on its back and a very concerned Joseph at its head.

And that was when Bryony got her first Christmas surprise. For not only was Abid on screen, he was suddenly also there in the kitchen, wearing a red-and-gold salwar kameez and carrying a big gold-wrapped box. ‘Happy Christmas, everyone!' he said, handing the box to Angelina.

Bryony felt a tiny wince, not unlike when her Vipers nipped. There was, she thought, no doubt Abid and Angelina had been getting on like a house on fire since they'd been playing the holy couple. He'd even begun to enjoy acting. Now, all those looks of love and concern must have borne fruit…

Trying hard to bite back tears, Bryony watched Angelina head for the Christmas tree with the beautiful box.

‘Ssssssssh!' ordered Clarissa as everyone moved along to let Abid sit down. ‘This is Bryony and Angelina's Big Number, and we've got to hear every syllable!'

Silence descended on the kitchen, and Abid and Angelina began their duet.

‘
When the journey's far too far,
' they sang.

‘
And you wonder where you are

If you wish upon a star

Your dream comes true
'

The donkey plodded over to the first of a series of inn doors, each of which Abid knocked. Then, shaking his head sadly, he sang the next verse as a solo:

‘
Even though they lock each door

Even though our feet are sore

Keep on wishing on a star

It WILL come true
'

Bryony bit her lip, then sighed with relief as the donkey made the difficult manoeuvre through the door of the friendly innkeeper, in whose stable Abid helped Angelina dismount. The star rose jerkily on its cable till it twinkled down on them and, holding hands, they sang the third verse:

‘
In a strange and far-off land

Help, at last, will be at hand

If you wish upon a star

Your dream comes true
'

Then, exhausted, Angelina sank onto the straw. A scuffle followed as the donkey sidestepped round to cover the actual moment of childbirth, and then the camera panned in for a close-up of the holy child cradled in his mother's arms.

From the kitchen table, a chorus of sniffs rang out as the Virgin Mary and Joseph gazed tenderly down at their offspring and sang the last verse:

‘
One day when our son is tall

We'll tell him, “When you were small

And we wished upon a star…”
'

The piano accompaniment slowed as the couple stood up, held the holy infant aloft so that his little plastic form was silhouetted against the golden star, and slowly and softly sang:

‘
“Our dream … came … true!”
'

The applause that rang out at the end was not
as loud as the crowds on Broadway had been; but as Bryony listened to it again, and saw the close-ups of her tearful family, she knew she had never, ever, felt so proud.

The ‘When You Wish Upon A Star' music rose to a crescendo. A red heart filled the screen.

‘But that isn't the only dream that came true this Christmas,' Trish's excited voice-over announced. ‘We've all been following the story of Ken Undrum and his long-lost love, Cornelia Merryweather…' she continued. ‘Well, folks… here's the moment they were reunited!'

There was a drum roll, and the inside of the heart melted to reveal Mrs Quigg rising in slow motion from the piano stool. Then it panned round to Ken Undrum who walked towards her and flung his arms around her. Oblivious to the shouts of ‘Encore!' they embraced rapturously and gazed into one another's eyes.

‘Ken…' breathed Mrs Quigg.

‘Cornelia…' breathed Ken.

‘At last,' they both breathed, ‘our dream has come true!'

As Ken and Cornelia's lips met, the heart reformed to draw a red veil over their kiss and the screen slowly turned black.

Trish stood up and beamed at camera one. ‘So there you are, viewers,' she said, ‘our first Christmas surprise. And the happy couple are now celebrating their engagement in a luxury Broadway hotel, courtesy of Channel 4! But there's another surprise,' Trish went on, waving a piece of paper at the camera, ‘in the shape of this
film contract
. A top American film-maker has been watching Breakfast with the Bells and reckons they're movie stars in the making! So next year the show will be shot on location in…' She paused dramatically. ‘
HOLLYWOOD
!'

The kitchen exploded in a series of whoops and cheers and yee-hahs as the Bells hugged each other, and congratulated each other, and danced round in one another's arms. And, in all the merriment, there was no one who whooped and cheered and yee-hah'd more loudly or more joyfully than Big Bob.

They were making so much noise that not even Bryony noticed Angelina slip into the living room and go over to the Christmas tree. All eyes were still on Trish, for Trish was making yet another curious announcement.

‘But the surprises aren't over yet,' she was saying. ‘Before we say goodbye and wish you all
a Happy Christmas, here's a flashback to Angelina Bell's special Christmas appeal, which viewers will remember we filmed last week, when Bryony was safely out of the way…'

Bryony hardly knew where to look. On the screen, her sister's face beamed out at her and in the kitchen Angelina stood right in front of her, holding the golden box.

‘Hi!' said the on-screen Angelina. ‘Here's a Christmas challenge for all you rollerskate makers out there!' And she unfurled a large roll of paper on which she had drawn a pair of rollerskates. But what rollerskates! Bryony's heart did a triple-flip as Angelina pointed out all the features she had designed.

‘I call them Bryony 3000s,' she explained. ‘They're white, of course, but they've got
gold
wheels, and a
gold
logo, which is Bryony's face, and when you skate really fast…' she pointed to the back of the golden wheels, ‘…little stars shoot out! So I'm really hoping,' she said with an alluring look to camera, ‘that someone out there can make a pair of size four Bryony 3000s in
double-quick time
, for my sister's Christmas. Because,' she added, ‘I think she's the biggest star of us all!'

All of a sudden, Bryony's entire world seemed to catapult into outer space as Angelina thrust the golden box into her arms. ‘Happy Christmas, Bryony,' she said. ‘I hope you like them.'