The Gateau des Rois

Chapter 1

 Night came like the spell of an enchantress, water to stone, earth to iron, green grass to frosted white. No sign of snow yet, Oliver left the window feeling excited and returned to lay the last silver fork onto the table, smiling as everything was arranged neatly in rows. The doorbell rang, tinny and grating; he quickly hurried to open the door, letting in a bleak, chilling wind.

"Happy Christmas Charlene!" Oliver greeted a girl engulfed in her puffy coat, exhaling a cloud that dissipated into the cold air. She smiled through her chattering teeth.

"Christmas is tomorrow, save the greeting for then," Charlene grinned, stepping into the house, the warmth embracing her frozen fingers like an old friend. The smell of roast turkey dominated her senses as Charlene's eager eyes glistened with the thought of food.

"Is Tommy not coming?" Oliver questioned, as Charlene was not the only friend he invited over.

"No, he said he was busy – but at least I'm here!"

They laughed and Oliver led her through to the dining room, where a flickering Christmas tree stood proudly, flashing its tiers of lights, bestrewn with little Santas and shiny baubles. Oliver's mother and his younger sister May were already sat at the table which was topped with their dinner of Christmas Eve: a grand roast turkey sat in the middle in between a wide assortment of mouth-watering food. They both looked very keen to begin eating.

"There's still cake," Oliver's mother said, looking at Charlene's awed expression, "Oliver made it himself." She gestured to him and he held a large grin from stretching across his face, feeling pleased with himself.

The Christmas dinner felt more like a feast. Even with four people, they still didn't manage to finish half of the food Oliver's mother had prepared - and there was still cake to eat. Oliver brought the cake out of the oven and everyone gazed hungrily at the elegant lemon thyme cake; its alternating layers of lemon curd and vanilla butter-cream decorated with rich golden icing, candied citrus and sprigs of mint to top it off.

"I made a Gateau des Rois," announced Oliver proudly.

"What's that?" May asked, feeling intrigued.

"There's a coin in this cake; if you eat the slice with the coin in it, you'll be a lucky person!"

Charlene also looked fascinated and stared at the cake as Oliver divided it up, hoping to get the slice with the coin in it. As they each chose their slice to eat, May gobbled each spoonful up greedily, disappointed to see that she did not have the coin when she finished her portion.

Suddenly Charlene coughed violently, hacking and wheezing. She hastily took a swig of her glass of water and managed to calm herself down.

"Oh no Charlene, you must've swallowed the coin!" Oliver said anxiously, looking to get another glass of water for her.

"It's okay, I'm fine, I'm fine," insisted Charlene, dismissing it as if it was nothing. "At least I'm a lucky person now aren't I?" She smiled weakly and resumed to finishing her cake.

"Yes, I suppose you are," Oliver gestured in reassurance. "Well I'll clean this up now." Oliver sighed and began to clear the table, taking the plates away to the kitchen.