"But when are they COMING?"

"Josie, darling, I've told you three times, it will be after you've gone to bed."

"After Matty has gone to bed..."

"Ah, excuse me Miss Bates, it will be after both of you have gone to bed, and if this carries on, there will be no story at bedtime either."

Josie sulked at the kitchen table, arms folded and lip pouted in mutiny.

"Have you finished your homework?"

"Yes."

"Is your bed made?"

"Yes."

"And are your shoes in the rack where they should be?"

With a theatrical sigh, Josie slumped off her seat and stumped out of the kitchen.

Anna permitted herself a roll of her eyes. She had always known that any child of hers and John's would have a force of will to be contended with, but she had hoped that battles with her daughter would wait until at least after she had left school. But she was bright too, and therefore quick minded and eager to show what she knew, even if it was in an argument. In fact, especially if it was in an argument, even at the tender age of seven and a quarter.

"Everything alright, dear?"

John came in to check on things. The heavy clopping of his daughter's shoes going past the front desk to the inner hall had tipped him off to the presence of a cloud in his family dynamic.

"Oh, we're fine, but madam is convinced she should be allowed to stay up and see our Special Guests when they arrive."

"It will be far too late for that..."

"I know..."

"...And we have no idea what state Bill will be in..."

"... I know that too! But even so, you know what she's like when she's set her mind to something."

"Leave it with me."

"You won't undermine me, will you?"

"Not a bit of it. Watch and see."

Josie came back into the kitchen, still pouting.

"Shall we check your homework, darling?"

Josie humphed, pushing over her maths book.

"You're doing so well at these money sums now."

Josie was mollified a little. A patient hour at the desk with uncle Joseph had cleared up her pounds, shillings and pence far better than all of John's explanations over the kitchen table. "Uncle Joseph says I should be helping him out more, he says I'm nearly as good as him now."

"Quite right too, I think it is time you started helping out. You're getting to be a big girl now, much bigger and more reliable than Matty."

Anna shot a sharp covert look over at Josie, who was now beaming.

"And you know we're going to have special guests for the next few weeks."

The sunshine vanished. "Yes. But Mum won't let me stay up to see them."

"It is going to be really late darling, and they'll be so tired they'll want to go straight to bed. But there is something you could do to help. We're going to be very full for breakfast tomorrow. Would you like to help uncle Joseph to serve them? You could serve Uncle Bill and Aunt Beryl's if you like? And Aunt Isobel and Dr Clarkson's too, if there's time before school."

Josie's jaw dropped. This was high honour indeed. Daddy was always saying that Josie and Matty should stay out of the breakfast room in the morning, that it was their busiest time of the day, and the time when they needed to make the best impression on their guests, to make sure they kept coming back.

"Me...? Serve the breakfast?"

"You'll have to be up early, we serve at 8am, and you will need to have yours with me and uncle Joseph at 7am before we get started, so we can set the tables and check everything."

Anna waited with baited breath. Josie normally barely made it out of bed before 7am. This would mean getting up a whole half an hour earlier.

"Would I have to wear something special?"

"Oh I think so, don't you Mummy?"

"Absolutely. You could wear your black dress. And Mrs Johnson will lend you a white apron and cap, like she wears. You'll look super smart, like a waitress in the tea rooms."

Josie sat and thought for a moment.

"Will I have to carry three plates at a time?"

"No, no, I think one at a time will be a good start. With a special cloth so they don't hurt your fingers, because Mrs Johnson makes them nice and hot."

Josie nodded her agreement. "Alright then."

"It will mean you need to go to bed on time. To make sure you're up in time."

"Should I go to bed early?"

Anna swallowed her laugh as she set the tea to steep in the pot, handing the kettle back onto the stove. John was a master of diplomacy if he could pull this off.

"If you think that's best, it will help you get more sleep."

Josie nodded, determined.

"Alright. If I'm helping, I will go to bed with Matty."

"And I will be through to read you both a story. What are we up to now?"

"You said Sinbad is next."

"Yes, indeed he is. My favourite from Arabian Nights."

Josie smiled, a wide gap toothed grin.

"Why don't you go check on your brother? He's in the laundry room with Aunt Phyllis."

Josie clattered out of the room, her departure an absolute contrast to her previous exit.

Anna turned and put her hands on her hips.

"Alright, I have to know. HOW did you know that would work?"

"I didn't. It was a big risk. But she's always wanting to know what happens in the breakfast room, and I keep shoo-ing her out, so I thought it was worth a chance, letting her have an alternative thing that she wanted."

"I hope these bargains won't get bigger as time goes on."

"Oh they will ... but if we can use working here as a bribe, it might work out well for us for the next few years."

Anna gave in and laughed, bringing the tray of teacups and biscuits over to the table.

"So what time are we expecting them, seriously?"

"Isobel wrote to expect them at around 8pm. Mrs Johnson's left us some extra food for supper, so we can give them something to eat when they get here. The pub won't be serving food by then, so they can't go there like most of our guests."

"That sounds good. We can eat at 6.30 as usual. I'll feed the kids at 5 and send them off to bed before we eat. Where's Joseph?"

"Just totting up the figures. He wants to have it all done so that he doesn't have to do it before going to bed, then we can spend some time with our guests before they go to bed."

"I can't wait to see them."

"Can't wait to see who?"

Joseph appeared around the door with perfect timing.

"Bill and Beryl. Goodness, that still sounds so weird, I still think of her as being Mrs Patmore."

"Even though she's Mrs Mason now."

"She still answers to Mrs Patmore though," chuckled Joseph. "Just like Mrs Carson still answers to Mrs Hughes."

"Old habits die hard," smiled John, reaching for a biscuit.

"And yet it took no time at all for me to get used to being Mrs Bates."

"It took Phyllis a while, but that's because Lady Grantham called her 'Baxter'."

"And yet now everyone calls her Mrs Moseley."

Happiness radiated from Joseph's face like sunlight every time it did when someone mentioned his wife's married name.

"I'll never get used to it. In a way, I hope I never do. It means I've never taken her for granted."

Anna and John smiled at each other. They knew exactly what he meant.

"Is everything sorted in the guest rooms?"

"Yes, thank heaven. All lickety-spit, as Lord Grantham would have said." Joseph sipped his tea, sighing a little as he took the weight off his feet. "I'm glad we'll be able to make them comfortable. They've always been so good to us. All of us, in fact."

"I'm glad Isobel will be staying the night too. I miss her, even though she writes lovely letters."

"Has there been any news of the Crawley family lately?"

"Not recently. I hope she's got some when she arrives."

"Hopefully she's brought some letters with her." John was on his way back to the desk. It didn't do to leave the front door unattended for too long.

"Knowing her love of gossip, I bet she has. Right ... I'd better get started on tea for the kids."

"I'll go see how Phyllis is getting on."

"Right we are troops," Anna saluted with her spatula. "Onwards towards the evening we go..."