The Mocha Music TV Challenge

By the morning, everything was sorted.

Mr and Mrs Terrys returned to the hotel, fully expecting Metallica and Flotsam and Jetsam to have left. They were surprised to see them in the restaurant, awaiting breakfast. They were even more surprised to see Walter still there, a guilty look on his face.

Between them, Walter and the musicians told the whole story to Mr and Mrs Terrys. After taking in this new turn of events, both Terrys were willing to go along with him and the other musicians.

Eric pointed out that Metallica and Flotsam and Jetsam had stayed the night, and they were the only guests to do so in years. As they happened to be famous rock musicians, the Terrys could perhaps promote that too.

“What an excellent idea” said Mr Terrys, pleased. “That will attract new customers to us like bees to flowers”.

“Or to cactuses” said James, through a mouthful of scrambled egg.

“Cacti” Kirk corrected him.

“Yeah, that’s what I mean. Bees pollinate cactuses too, that how come some species have flowers on them”.

“James, hush about cacti” said Lars, giving the singer a stern glance over his orange juice.

“What time are the Mocha Music crew turning up?” Jason asked, skilfully changing the subject.

“I think they said 10:00” said Lars. “That would give us time to have breakfast, providing we were still here and hadn’t run away screaming in terror”.

“Ah, cool. And I had another idea too”. Jason smiled at the Terrys. “When the TV crew turn up, they’re gonna take photos. How about we ask them to take an extra one for you guys and we’ll all sign it“.

“That sounds like a splendid idea” said Mrs Terrys. “We will have it framed and hang it in the reception, for all our future guests to see.

“Ah and speaking of future guests…”…Lars put down his glass of juice. “Did Walter tell you guys about our very firm and unwavering condition”.

“I did” said Walter. Mrs Terrys appeared pleased but her husband sighed.

“No more fake hauntings” he said.

“Exactly” said Lars. “Let the tales of ghostly happenings die a peaceful and natural death”.

“I’m willing to go along with that” said Mrs Terrys. “To be truthful, I’ve been tired of the deception for years now”.

“So have I” said Walter. “Especially since I’ve been having to wear that heavy suit of armour”.

“I will go along with it to” said Mr Terrys reluctantly. “”But…”.

Everybody looked at him, except for James, who was scoffing bacon and tomatoes.

“The stories of ghosts have been the only thing that has kept our hotel in business” Mr Walters explained. “If we cut all that out, how will we attract guests? What will happen after the excitement of the tale of you musicians staying the night has worn off?”

“Keep serving food like this and you’ll attract me back” said James, wiping up his tomato juice with a piece of fried bread.

“James is right” said Eric. “You just need something different to make your hotel popular, such as delicious food”.

“Or a trendy 1920s bar with fancy cocktails” said Kirk. James made a face behind his back.

“Or maybe murder mystery weekends?” suggested Lars. “They are very popular in old fashioned hotels and manor houses in England”.

“Just don’t really kill anybody or you’ll go to jail” said James.

Mrs Terrys and Walter both looked very interested and even Mr Terrys was beginning to brighten up[. They were discussing future plans for Walter Towers when the Mocha Music TV crew turned up, just after ten o clock.

Bettina and Harold were astonished and delighted to see Metallica and Flotsam and Jetsam were still there. They grilled everybody with a pulse; asking dozens and dozens of questions, while filming everything from Lars (a lot of Lars) to Kirk’s 1910s traditional Coalport China tea cup.

The Terrys played their part well, insisting that they were as surprised as the TV crew to see the bands still there. Lars and his friends answered their questions as well as they could.

“Well, there were some strange goings on” Lars said to Bettina. “Kirk and I heard lots of odd noises: tapping at the windows, clanking and rattling, weird footsteps…”…

“I heard a terrible wailing sound just before midnight” said Jason. “And when I went to investigate, I found a window partly open on the third floor landing”.

At last, it was time for photos. Harold and Bettina checked the photos on the Polariods that James and Eric has used and were pleased with them. Then, using their professional cameras, they took some more of the bands and the Terrys. Finally, Harold took one photo with the Polaroid and Metallica and Flotsam and Jetsam signed the back of it.

“There you go” said Eric, handing it to Mr and Mrs Terrys. “Proof that we all stayed the night and something to show your future guests”.

“Well, congratulations for your achievements” said Harold and he and Bettina shook hands with everyone. “Also, big congratulations for taking part in the challenge in the first place. This will make for excellent viewing when this episode airs. We are fully confident that we will get double our usual number of viewers”.

“It was a pleasure” said Lars, beaming at the cameras. “We had a great time and if you’d like us or Flotsam and Jetsam back for a future episode of Rock Star Challenges, we’d be more than willling to participate”.

“Uh, would we?” Jason muttered to Kirk who was standing nearby.

“That’s Lars for you” said Kirk, rolling his eyes.

“Splendid! We’re very glad to hear that” said Bettina. “Well, this episode will be the last in the series for this year but a new series will be starting up next year. Perhaps we will be back in touch with you for then”.

“Awesome” said Lars, excited. “Any ideas for the new challenges yet or is that all top secret at the moment?”

“Well, we have a few ideas in the mix” said Harold. “One that we are fond of in particular involves an excursion to Death Valley, to study the cacti species living there”.

James’ ear pricked up. He smiled evilly.

Lars blushed.

“Ah, well maybe…we’ll give that a miss!”