WfW 2 September - Christmas at Unicorn Farm

River at Drifting through Life is supplying us with Words in September. Today we were given:

1. pipes and drums band
2. patch
3. setbacks
4. garnish
5. rubble
6. costly

and/or:

1. dropout
2. espalier
3. sari
4. cloudless
5. trace
6. fabric


  I sat down, fully expecting to write a sombre piece of someone dropping out and reducing a part of Unicorn Farm to rubble, but the words would not collaborate, and instead this happened. 
  I did not use all the words, and there's more story to be told, I just ran out of steam for today. I hope to continue later with the missing words. 

This happens in the second Christmas holiday at Unicorn Farm. Wizards and witches from other schools and academies have come visiting, and the Lion Dancers from Germany among them.

As Christmas day dawned at Unicorn Farm, Susan crept over to the window in the key-room, where she had slept together with Knud, Anna, Kalle, Kirstin and Rósa. The room had grown to accommodate more of them, and with it the number of beds. Susan peeped through the curtains, it was a cloudless day, perfect for the party they had planned.
  They were served a wonderful breakfast in the Barn, the Nisser did their very best to cater for all the exotic guests, Susan saw a lady dressed in a sari made of a costly looking golden fabric, and Rósa almost choked on her hot cocoa, when she caught sight of some of the members of the pipes and drums band from Scotland wearing kilts. Kirstin pounded her on the back and tried to hush her at the same time. Some clansmen were very touchy in matters concerning their attire.
  After breakfast they were set to work. Susan was sent off to buy some radishes, as the Nisser insisted on those to garnish the dinner, and obviously somebody had eaten the ones already purchased during the night.
  "I did not eat them," Susan insisted, "why do I have to go shopping? I'd rather help Knud and Kalle level the rubble on the road."
  "You go shopping," Thora said. "You know the island and the shops, and you know how to look normal. We can't send someone dressed in outlandish dresses, who does not speak the language, and generally acts strangely. Being suspicious would be a major setback for this school."
  "Oh, yes I see," Susan said. "I'm sorry I was so recalcitrant. Do I have to walk all the way, or can I fly as far as the parking lot on the beach. Nobody's down there this time of year."
  "You see why you have to go shopping?" Thora asked. "Nobody else knows where people go and where not. Being unobtrusive is a good ting. Take Rósa along with you, and ask the Nisser if they need anything else; and yes, you can fly. But don't get caught doing it!"
  "We won't. Thank you!" Susan said and ran off to find Rósa.
  Together they ventured into the kitchen. Timidly they asked the the Icelandic nissewoman, as she and her husband were the youngest and less set in their ways and feelings of propriety. They were handed a long list of things to buy, and promised to return as fast as possible.
  As Susan had suggested, they followed the beach below the cliffs to the southernmost parking lot Nobody was down on the beach this early on a cold, clear winter morning. The cliffs grew lower and lower and as they reached the bushes on the nearer side of the parking lot, they dismounted and deactivated their brooms. The parking lot was a rather small space, hemmed in by wild rose bushes on two sides, road and beach making the other two, and ten or eleven cars was all it took to fill it up. They hid their brooms in the bushes and walked the rest of the way to the grocery. They were able to get most of the things in the shopping list, only not radishes. The shopkeeper suggested that they buy a humongous white root instead. He called it a daikon, and said it tasted almost like a radish.
  "We'll take it. Thank you." Susan said. "They need it for garnish. I'm sure they could dye it if it has to have red rims." Susan also paid, and together they succeeded in putting all the stuff  into the two bags they had brought along.

... to be continued.