Listen, Pernille. The ledger has you at 9 points for 'receipts not produced', which is a lot for a woman who lectures about columns. Pay it in tea and we'll call it square.

Nine points, Beatrice? I shall contest every one of them, but I will accept tea as the settlement, provided it is strong enough to strip a spoon. Yours in curiosity, E.B.

Nine points for receipts, Elias? I'd have said nine for the cheek alone. Strong tea is fair, mind, but the spoon will be needed for your stories, not the tea. You never once in your life told a short one, so bring the chess board and we'll see who strips whose spoon.

Harald, the spoon is a fair point, though you have been telling the story of the '87 gale for thirty years and still lose your place in it. Bring the board on Thursday and we shall see who tells the shorter tale.

Elias, you cheeky article. The gale was a fair story and I lost the thread once, in 2019, and you were there and you didn't say a word. Bring the board on Thursday and I'll tell it start to finish, and you can sit there and try to keep up with the sea.

Very well, Harald, I accept the challenge; bring the board and your ferry captain's patience, and I shall bring a notebook for the parts you forget. Thursday at ten, then, and no excuses about the tide.

Strong tea, Elias. Weak tea is a crime I will not forgive. Shh, the ledger can wait.