The Cocktail Party Begins

On the evening of the cocktail party, Patrick and Penelope went upstairs to get changed. Their outfits were hanging up in their wardrobes.

Patrick put his 1920s suit on and looked in the mirror. He looked exactly like someone from the 1920s - and for a moment he imagined that he was F. Scott Fitzgerald (a famous writer from the 1920s). He wondered if the suit had once been his. He just didn’t know. Then he put his hands in the pockets of the jacket and he realised there was something in each pocket. From the left pocket he pulled out something in blue wrapping paper. It was oblong, and there was a gift tag which said, ‘To Patrick, with the compliments of Mabble Merlin’. Patrick was speechless. He immediately unwrapped it and revealed a lovely watch, worth about £3,000. The watch was named Karl Kobex, and it was a twin - but Patrick didn’t know that. Karl was from another galaxy - somewhere way past the Crab Nebula and way past the Milky Way. Karl was from somewhere near the Cat’s Eye Nebula, which is 3,000 light years away and looks like a cat’s eye.

Karl and his twin were able to tell the time in several galaxies, and they had hidden mechanisms which could locate the Musty Old Magical Curiosity Shop. A tiny key was needed to wind up the mechanism, which was hidden in the back of the watch.

The object in Patrick’s right pocket was oblong and wrapped in pink paper. It too had a little gift tag, and this one read, ‘To Penelope, happy birthday’. Patrick decided to give it to Penelope as a birthday present from himself. He didn’t know for sure, but it was exactly the same size as the box his watch came in so he guessed it was another expensive watch.

He quickly put Karl Kobex on his wrist and gave himself a splash of aftershave. Now he was ready for the party.

Penelope was wearing a 1920s flapper-style dress. It was turquoise with a turquoise boa and silver shoes. She also wore the Egyptian necklace, which was of lapis lazuli. With her long blonde hair she looked like someone from the 1920s, and when she looked into the mirror for a fleeting moment she imagined she was Dorothy Parker (a writer from the 1920s).

Patrick stood in the bedroom doorway.

“Well, doll, are you ready?” he asked.

Penelope looked at Patrick. He looked really spiffing in his pinstriped suit with his sage-green velvet bow tie.

Daisy and Oliver hadn’t seen anyone wearing 1920s clothes before, and when they saw their parents they were very impressed.

All the guests began to arrive, and they too were dressed elegantly. The ladies wore beautiful 1920s cocktail dresses with long strings of fancy beads, feathers in their hair, long feather boas and fancy high-heeled shoes. Their dresses were decorated with sequins and tassels. Many of the gentlemen wore moustaches, stuck on with plenty of glue. They had cut their hair short and slicked it down with a side parting. They wore spats, black-and-white shoes, bow ties or cravats, and 1920s suits with waistcoats and pocket watches.

Some arrived in 1920s cars. A black Buick pulled up outside the house, and a 1920 charabanc brought several guests. These cars were hired. They were real vintage cars. Patrick and Penelope had invited forty-eight guests altogether. They were Kitty and Kevin Fishwick, Harriet and Henry Nelson Bollinger, Alice and Karl Bridges, June and Jessie Jakes, Marilyn and Mervin Moor, Henrietta and Herbert Rufus, Belinda and Barry Winters, Charmaine and Charles Sayre, Joyce and Clifford Jones, Beatrice and Brian Brewster, Wanda and Walter Montgomery, Jenny Reach, Abigail Ainsley, Sandra Southern, Michelle Mendip, Carolyn and Andrew Chivers, Cathy Coin, Eric Babbington, Madeleine and Mike Short, Irene and Tom Calvin, John Vermont, Tamara Tolken, Susan Lawrence, Edward Larkin, Bob Fox, Raj Peshwari, Amelia French, Mark Sedgwick, Anthony Pool, Chantelle Chance, Geoffrey Barker and Cherry Scrimshaw.

Miles the butler showed the guests into the house and offered them drinks.

Patrick went into the living room and gave Penelope the gift that he’d found in his pocket.

“Another gift for you, darling,” he said.

“Oh, thank you,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting another one.”

He felt like saying, “Neither was I,” but instead he said, “You’re worth it.”

She opened the gift, and it was Katie Kobex - the female twin of Karl Kobex.

“Oh, gosh! Oh, gosh!” Penelope gasped. “This must have cost you a fortune, Patrick.”

“Well, look at this,” he replied, and he showed Penelope his brand-new wristwatch, which was a twin to hers.

“Oh, my word!” she exclaimed.

“I thought it would be nice to have both of them,” he said, “because they are twins.”

“Oh, twin souls like you and me, Patrick!” said Penelope.

“Well, something like that,” said Patrick. He wanted to say, “Actually, I just found them in the pocket of the jacket I’m wearing, and for all I know they may once have belonged to the original owner of the suit,” but he kept quiet.

He thought, ‘What would anyone else do if it was his wife’s birthday and he found an expensive watch gift-wrapped in his pocket with his wife’s name on it, just ready to be opened.’

Miles showed everyone to their seats to the dining room. Bob Fox, who was a film producer, was sitting with his actor friend Raj Peshwari.

Bob Fox piped up: “Where did you get my suit? I just love it.”

Patrick answered, “Miles got them for us. You can keep it - it’s yours.”

“All the outfits look splendid,” said Cathy Coin. “They’re so elegant!”

“And I love the pocket watch,” said Raj Peshwari.

Raj was a handsome man, and he loved the fine things in life, including good-quality clothes. He had real style and people admired him for it.

Henry Nelson Bollinger drank a few glasses of the potent wine that Penelope had been given for her birthday. He became a bit tipsy.

Then the food arrived. There was wild goose in port sauce, asparagus, julienned carrots, butternut squash, potato croquettes and artichoke hearts. For those who didn’t want goose there was wild Scottish salmon with mustard sauce and a medley of organic vegetables in ginger-and-apple sauce. Glasses of organic pear wine were served with the meal. For dessert there were strawberry sorbet and wild-strawberry-and-passion-fruit blancmange and chocolate-and-peppermint-chip cookies and wild cherries. Afterwards all the guests were offered pink champagne.

“The food is fabulous,” said Harriet.

“There will be a finger buffet later,” said Miles. “There’s cheese, pickled onions, dips, cocktail sausages, cheese biscuits and an assortment of sandwiches.”

“I just love buffet food,” said Beatrice.

“I do too,” said Belinda.

“I love food,” said Karl.

They all laughed.

“Oh, and I must thank you for the watch I found in my pocket,” said Karl. “It is in perfect condition, but it looks like a watch from the 1920s. In fact, it’s got ‘1924’ on the back of it. It is named Squire Hedges.”

Mabble Merlin had put watches in every gentleman’s jacket pocket, and in every lady’s handbag he’d put a necklace, a bracelet, earrings and a watch.

“I love my watch,” said Chantelle Chance.

Hers was a pink watch with a circle of diamonds around the clock face. This watch was named Fay Diamonds. All the watches had magical powers, but none of the guests knew this. They would all find out in time. The diamonds on Fay Diamond were pink diamonds, hand-mined in South Africa. The motto on the watch was ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.’

Anthony Pool sat opposite Chantelle. The diamonds sparkled and she was sparkling.

“That watch sparkles like you do,” he said.

“Thank you, Anthony. That’s a lovely compliment. You look very cute in that suit and with that pocket watch,” said Chantelle.

“My grandfather had a pocket watch and I always wanted one. This could be the fashion of the future, don’t you think, Chantelle?” he replied.

“What are you talking about?” asked Bob Fox.

“Fashions of the future,” said Chantelle.

“Well, let’s talk about it, then. Do you think we should go into business and bring out some new fashion designs based on the 1920s and 1930s?”

“I think trilbies and spats should come back into fashion,” said Anthony. “And I want boas and feathers and tassels and the charleston dance to come back into fashion.”

“Ah,” said Bob Fox, “let’s call our company Charleston Fashions.”

“That’s a deal!” said Chantelle enthusiastically.

Elegance was Chantelle’s middle name - Chantelle Elegance Chance.