‘Please tell me he’s not stuffed,’ whispered Ella, looking for the rise and fall in his chest.

‘He’s deaf,’ mouthed Callie. ‘But very much alive.’

‘Obviously named after the great Paul McCartney. Well, sit yourselves down, there’s tea in the pot. And take a biscuit, but only if it’s one of those rich tea ones – they’re so boring, and they stick to the root of my mouth.’ Dolores nudged the plate towards them. ‘Go on, take one. I have to get rid of them somehow. Hamish brings them. He thinks I’ve not noticed they are past their sell-by date.’

‘Thank you,’ replied Ella, eyeing up the chocolate biscuits but only daring to take a rich tea.

‘More importantly, do you like Dolly?’ asked Dolores, eyeing Ella with interest.

‘I absolutely love Dolly!’ Ella replied enthusiastically.

Dolores stood up slowly and, with the help of her stick, walked over to the old-fashioned record player. She placed the needle back on the stand and the record stopped spinning. Then she slowly walked back to her seat.

‘Where was Dolly born?’ asked Dolores, watching Ella carefully.

‘Tennessee,’ answered Callie, thankfully coming to Ella’s rescue.

‘Which Bee-Gees song did Dolly and Kenny Rogers score a hit with?’ continued Dolores, leaning back and stretching her arms out along the arms of the chair.

‘I know this one…’ Ella clapped her hands together. Callie looked at her with amusement. ‘“Islands in the Stream”.’

Dolores nodded, clearly impressed. ‘Who is Dolly Parton’s god-daughter?’

‘I know this one too… Miley Cyrus.’ Ella beamed, getting into the swing of things and thankful for the pub quizzes at university.

‘Last one…’ Dolores was thinking. ‘Who wrote Dolly’s hit, “9 to 5”?’

Ella looked towards Callie for help, who mouthed ‘Dolly’. ‘That’ll be Dolly, herself,’ answered Ella triumphantly.

Dolores’ mouth hitched into a smile. ‘You, Ella, are a friend of mine. Take a seat and you can have a chocolate biscuit – but only one, mind.’

Ella was chuffed she’d passed the test and sat on the floral sofa covered in a patchwork crochet blanket of many colours. Callie sat next to her.

‘I might even open up the fruitcake.’

‘Save the cake for another day – we’ve just finished dinner and are stuffed. We just heard your beautiful voice and thought we’d say hello. We’ll pop back tomorrow for cake,’ replied Callie warmly, finishing her biscuit and catching the crumbs with her hand.

Dolores looked please, then nodded towards Ella. ‘Let me read your leaves.’

‘Of course, I’d like that,’ replied Ella, giving her a wide smile followed by a yawn. ‘Please forgive me! We’ve been travelling all day.’ She would have liked nothing more than to pull on her PJs whilst finishing the wine.

‘I feel very much the same,’ admitted Callie.

‘You get yourselves off, but come and see me tomorrow,’ instructed Dolores, waving her stick in the air.