‘Oh, right, yeah, that’s better,’ Warwick conceded, while Emily threw him a red knitted hat.

Good humour restored with a bit of hat pulling and scarf strangling, Carola got out her selfie stick and they all squashed together for a group photo to put up on the village Facebook page.

‘The red and black go well together,’ Neil said with satisfaction.

‘Not as crap as I expected,’ added Alfie, doubling his scarf and pulling the ends through the loop.

Carola glanced at her phone. ‘Isaac’s commented on the pic I just put up on Facebook. He says come down to have our photo taken in the bar for the pub’s social media channels and he’ll stand us all a drink.’

‘Awesome!’ The teens turned as one and headed for the door, Franciszka and Neil in their wake.

Lily rolled her eyes at Carola. ‘I’d hoped to get another run-through.’

Carola sighed. ‘I shouldn’t have just read that out loud, should I? Eddie and Warwick are already eighteen so I definitely read the light of “free beer” in their eyes.’ Then she brightened. ‘Let’s go along though. I have an idea.’

She refused to be drawn while the group hurried through the frosty evening and burst into the bar, cheeks almost as red as their hats. The bar was about half full and the group clustered around the bar while Isaac, as good as his word, gave them all a drink and, Lily noticed, paid for the round himself, using the contactless payment feature on his phone.

‘Right,’ he said, coming out into the customer area, his phone still in his hand. ‘Let’s get some photos of you with the bar in the background and all the Christmas lights above your heads. Tall people at the back and shorter in front.’

That effectively meant the four males at the back and five women in the front to say, ‘Cheers!’ and raise their glasses at Isaac as he snapped shots. A couple of other people in the bar took pictures too and Carola, being very businesslike, called out, ‘Use the hashtags “Middletones” and “Middledip” if you’re putting us on social media.’

‘And “The Three Fishes”,’ Isaac added, sending Carola an approving look.

But Carola was already organising the next shot. ‘How about a vid of us singing? Let’s begin with “Let it Snow”. We’ll have to do it unaccompanied but let me give you an E.’ She opened the musical keyboard app on her phone and touched the E key. ‘Ready, everyone? Three, two, one … Oh …’

Well-rehearsed, the Middletones took the melody up, Neil filling with low boom boom booms between phrases; Franciszka, an alto, closing her eyes to join him in the harmonies.