The Big Little Festival

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‘Done? Who’s done what?’ A tall, burly man clomped his way towards them. White boots slapping on the tiled floor.

‘Mr Thompson!’ Jody squeaked. ‘We were wondering where you were…’

Christian grabbed Jody’s hand and gave it a squeeze, hoping it would convey she could trust him. That he wasn’t going to blow it. She snatched it away and shoved her hands into the pockets of her denim shorts.

‘Finally, I get to meet the great Mr Thompson. It’s an absolute pleasure, sir.’ Christian offered his hand to Mr Thompson, who looked at it with suspicion. Christian dropped his hand. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy a sell as he’d thought. He cleared his throat. ‘Right, so, um, as much as I’d like to make this a social occasion, Jody and I are here on business. I hear you’re refusing to give the okay for the festival to take place in the main street.’

‘It’ll ruin a day’s takings.’ Mr Thompson picked up a knife and steel from his butcher’s block and began to sharpen it vigorously. ‘I don’t know who you are, but if you knew anything about Rabbits Leap, you’d know it’s not the kind of place where a person can afford to lose a day’s takings.’

‘I understand that, Mr Thompson, I do. But it’s imperative you give us the okay today. The festival is just under three weeks away. Tickets have been sold, in fact they’ve sold out.’ The fib rolled off his tongue. Sometimes you had to expand on the truth to get what you wanted. ‘And if we don’t hold it here, we’ll have to beg a farmer to lease us some land. An expense we were hoping to avoid, as we’re aiming to raise enough money to revitalise the community pool.’

‘You mean the community pool I’ve never swum in and am not likely to. So why should I care?’ A slab of eye fillet was slapped on the block and sliced efficiently.

‘Look, here’s what I’m proposing. You give us the okay and we…’

Something warm and soft gripped his hand, squeezed it. Jody’s hand. Did she really think he was going to resort to blackmail? The idea was tempting, but you didn’t get anywhere with people by screwing them down with threats. You just had to make them see why your way was better.