The fireman appeared in the doorway. ‘We’re off now, but I’ll get a report filed in the next forty-eight hours so you can forward it to your insurance company.’
‘Thank you,’ replied Julia, still feeling bewildered. She had no idea if the insurance claim would even pay out, knowing the sprinkler system didn’t meet any current regulations.
‘Oh, and there’s a lady called Rona who wants to speak to you. Apparently, the guests are wanting some answers and becoming a little agitated.’
Julia knew that was going to happen, she just wished she had some good news to tell them all. ‘I’m on my way,’ Julia picked up Woody and began wading back through the water.
Rona was waiting by the gate with a look of concern on her face. ‘What has actually happened here?’ she asked.
Julia explained about the dated sprinkler system and the extreme heat. Her bottom lip began to quiver, and she felt that her legs were going to buckle underneath her. ‘I need to sit down.’
‘Sit on the wall,’ suggested Eleni, taking Woody from her while Rona wrapped him up in a towel and gave him a quick rub. ‘It’ll be the shock.’
‘This is all my fault.’ Julia exhaled. When she’d bought the B&B the survey had flagged up the outdated system, and that whilst it wasn’t unsafe, they had recommended that she change it to a more updated version. But the cost had been huge and Julia’s main priority had been to get the business up and running. She had been planning to update the system when the building work started on the new extension, but now it was too late.
She pulled herself back to the moment. ‘I don’t even want to go back in there,’ she said, anxiously. ‘I don’t even know where to start and those poor people. I’ve wrecked their holidays.’
‘It’s just an accident, one of those things,’ Rona tried to soothe the way, but Julia was feeling distraught.
‘Rona, can we move everyone up to the teashop whilst I work out what to do?’ asked Julia, thinking aloud.
‘Of course, it’s already in hand. Drew and Fergus are on their way with the trailer to transport the guests and their luggage, but everyone is wanting to speak to you. They are asking questions that I don’t know the answers to.’
‘I’m not sure I know the answers either,’ admitted Julia, taking a look over at the bedraggled guests who were looking in her direction, but she knew she needed to go and talk to them.
‘We are right behind you,’ stated Eleni with warmth. ‘You aren’t on your own.’
A small thread of relief ran through her. ‘Thank you, that is a weight off my mind,’ she said, ruffling the top of Woody’s head who was sitting patiently at her feet.
‘In fact, here’s Drew and Fergus now,’ Jack nodded towards the tractor chugging up the lane pulling the trailer behind. ‘And I still think your only option is talk to Flynn.’
Now it was Rona’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
‘I might not have a choice,’ Julia had thought about nothing else in the last five minutes, ‘especially if there’s no vacancies anywhere in Glensheil.’
‘Any vans free up at Foxglove Farm?’ prompted Rona.
Julia shook her head. ‘No, they are completely full.’
‘I think Jack is right, you know,’ Eleni touched Julia’s arm. ‘You may just need to swallow some pride on this occasion. We can’t leave them sitting outside for much longer, some of those families have children.’
Julia knew she needed to make a decision, but asking Flynn for help would be so humiliating and she would hazard a guess that he wouldn’t be jumping at the chance to help her. But her guests couldn’t sleep out on the street, they needed relocating and fast. Taking a deep breath Julia began to walk towards the guests.
After gathering everyone around, Julia took a swift glance back towards the B&B. It was going to take a lot of hard work to get that place back into any sort of order and she had no idea how long it would take. She was going to lose revenue from the imminent guests arriving in the next couple of weeks and she needed to come up with an alternative plan for their forthcoming holiday bookings, and fast. Julia felt sick to her stomach; maybe Eleni was right, maybe she was going to have to go and speak to Flynn about striking a deal.
As Julia approached, almost immediately, she heard an undercurrent of disgruntled mumblings, but she could absolutely sympathise with them.
‘How long are you going to leave us out here?’ bellowed one guest.
‘Are we setting up camp on the grass verge?’ another shouted.
Julia realised that tempers were beginning to fray and she needed to act fast.
‘And where the hell are we sleeping tonight?’
Julia raised her arms then lowered them to gain everyone’s attention, and thankfully everyone hushed.
‘Hi, firstly, thank you all for being patient,’ said Julia warmly, trying to calm the situation. ‘It certainly hasn’t been the easiest of evenings. Secondly, everyone is out and safe. According to the Fire Service, it’s more than likely the sprinkler system was set off due to the extreme weather conditions, which was beyond our control, a freak accident.’
‘Never mind that, all we want to know is where are we sleeping tonight?’ shouted Mr Cullen who was juggling a small child. ‘Some of us are already in need of their bed.’
‘Yes, I fully understand that and I’m working hard to try and sort that as soon as possible, but for now we are going to transport you over to Bonnie’s teashop.’
‘And how long are we going to be there?’ Mr Cullen shouted again.
‘Please bear with me Mr Cullen, I will endeavour to get this situation sorted as soon as possible, but first let’s get you all shifted off the street.’
‘And who is going to pay for any new accommodation, I’m assuming that’s not coming out of our pocket?’ added Mr Cullen once more.
These were all questions that needed answering, but at this very moment Julia didn’t have the answers. She felt as stranded as them. For a brief moment Julia closed her eyes and tried to keep her panic at a manageable level. This was hard enough as it was without the constant interruption and negativity.
‘I promise you I’m going to do my best to get this sorted as soon as possible, and the sooner we transport you over to the teashop the sooner I can get on with arranging alternative accommodation.’ Julia looked over her shoulder and thankfully Fergus and Drew were standing behind her ready to load up the trailer with the guests and their possessions.
‘If you would like to head over to the trailer Fergus ad Drew will help you with your belongings.’
‘Are you having a laugh, you expect us to travel by that thing?’
Julia knew that Mr Cullen was far from happy, but she really wished he could see the bigger picture. ‘Think of it as an adventure Mr Cullen, I’m sure the children will love it.’ Julia gestured over towards the hay bales on the back of the trailer.
All of the stranded guests began to walk towards the trailer and handed their bags over to Drew and Fergus, who stacked them up safely. Rona and Felicity quickly began collecting up the empty cups then jumped on the back of the trailer alongside them all.
Drew made sure everyone was sitting comfortably. ‘It may be a little bumpy, but I won’t go too fast… hold on tight!’ He winked at the children before climbing into the cab of the tractor next to Fergus. As soon as the engine started, he beeped his horn and waved his hand out of the window at Julia. She watched the trailer trundle down the road thinking it reminded her of a scene from the war, when all the evacuees were loaded onto carts and shipped away with their possessions. As soon as it disappeared around the corner, she let out a huge sigh – what the hell was she going to do now? Time was ticking.