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‘Listen,’ Harold said. ‘I know she did wrong and she is going to put it right. She doesn’t have much money but she is going to donate all her husband’s clothes to the shelter, and she is also going to volunteer there to make amends. She really is trying and I think if we give her another chance to be in the show, to be friends with her, we’ll find out she really has changed; or gone back to who she was before, which I think is probably more the case.’

‘Don’t forget the Nativity is about God and what he did for the world. God and Jesus are both all about forgiveness,’ Ralph the vicar added.

‘We should give her another chance, it is Christmas after all,’ Sienna, who was so lovely, said.

‘Yeah, even though I was a trouble maker for a bit, everyone gave me another chance,’ Tommy said. I had a feeling he was more interested in impressing Sienna than worrying about Barbara. Never mind.

‘OK.’ Jonathan clapped his hands. ‘Let’s take a vote. Who votes we give Barbara another chance – bearing in mind that we can keep a close eye on her from now on. Raise your hands.’

‘I still won’t leave the hall without checking it is all fully locked, but I also think she deserves another go,’ Franceska added.

I watched, impressed, as everyone raised their hands until it was unanimous. Barbara was back in. I saw Jonathan grin as he went over to Claire.

‘No need to measure me up for a costume then,’ he said with a wink.

Chapter Thirty-Two

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‘Pickles, stop doing that,’ Polly shouted as she scooped Pickles up from where he was trying to eat the pretend Christmas presents.

‘Can you keep him with you?’ She shoved him into Jonathan’s arms, and he had no time to object as Pickles started wriggling. Pickles had a new Christmas collar on – it was decorated with Christmas trees and it made him look very festive, we all thought, although he had even tried to eat that.

It was chaos. It was wonderful. We had finally reached the dress rehearsal and backstage was mad. What we hadn’t thought of when we were rehearsing was the fact that when the acts weren’t on stage they were out front, watching. However, out front tonight was full of the people we were doing this for. Even Claire was struggling to keep everyone under control, but it didn’t matter because we were all excited and raring to go.

The hall had never looked better. The Christmas decorations were all in place, it was lit up beautifully, the curtains hung invitingly across the stage, and the smells of mince pies (not baked by Claire), and gingerbread filled the air.

The Helen Street Shelter patrons had arrived, led by Greg and some of the other volunteers. It was so real now, as they filled the hall. We had done it and it was really happening. I was chock-a-block full of emotion. We were doing it for them.

Tonight was the first time we’d all been in full costume. The dancers and the singing groups had arrived already dressed, as their costumes had consisted mainly of Christmas jumpers, and the dancers wore Christmas leggings and T-shirts, but those in the Nativity, the children, and us, had costumes to be fitted. The children were dressed as reindeer, and we were dressed as sheep, but more about that later.

‘Right, dancers get ready. As it’s so cramped back here, when you’re finished, go and sit in front of the stage, I think that’s best,’ Claire directed as she, and her clipboard, started organising the acts. She was pretty good at it, calm but just bossy enough. There was so much noise backstage, everyone was excited.

‘We need quiet,’ Franceska shouted, clapping her hands together, and everyone began to lower the volume.

There was a hush in the hall as Aleksy and Connie made their way on stage. I had to look so I squeezed through legs to the side of the stage, and pushed my head through the curtain so I could see. Not brilliantly, but I could see a bit.

‘Hello, good evening,’ Aleksy said shyly, finding his voice.

‘We’d like to welcome you to your Christmas show,’ Connie said. The crowd clapped.

‘We hope you enjoy it, but bear in mind this is our dress rehearsal, so if anything goes wrong, please be kind.’ They all laughed. ‘And after the show we would love for you to join us for hot drinks and some food,’ Aleksy added. ‘Right, well, here it is, the Edgar Road Christmas show!’

Everyone clapped as the curtains opened– much to our relief – to reveal the dancers waiting on stage.

I couldn’t see much of the show from where I stood but I’d seen most of it before, though having everyone in costume made it even more amazing. The music sounded good, and from what I could see the audience were enjoying themselves. I began to relax, and I saw from Aleksy’s face that he did too. It was all going to be more than alright.