by Minna Howard
Dom caught her eye and Amelia had the feeling that he had already been chosen or anyway marked out as one of the people on the list to go. Better to wait and see and worry about it then.
34
It was the end of the school day and all of Amelia’s children had been collected and she was about to go home herself. Dickon was still waiting to be picked up with another boy and Kate Evans, his teacher, kept looking at her watch and muttering that she wished parents would make more of an effort to collect their children on time.
‘The kids are tired as are we,’ she grumbled to Amelia. ‘I’ve got a date tonight and I wanted to get my nails done.’
‘I can stay, if you need to go,’ Amelia offered. She wanted to get home herself, but she wasn’t in any particular rush, besides she saw that Dickon was getting agitated and she felt she would deal with it better than Kate, who was getting more impatient by the minute, and obviously making the children feel it was somehow their fault that they were still waiting, while all their classmates had gone home.
They heard running feet down the corridor. Dickon looked up in relief, but it was not for him. A woman rushed in. ‘So sorry I’m late, darling.’ She hugged the other boy. ‘And Miss Evans, the traffic was dreadful, been an accident or something.’
Dickon appeared more and more anxious as the other child was whisked away by his mother. Amelia said gently, ‘Who is going to collect you, today, Dickon. Is it Dad? He might have got caught up with a sick animal?’ She smiled. ‘I’ll stay with you until he comes.’
‘He’s not coming today, he’s in London. Cynthia is,’ Dickon said. ‘I s’pose she’s forgotten.’ His lower lip wobbled.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll stay with you until she gets here. You heard that other mother saying the traffic was dreadful. Can we contact her, or Dad? Or, perhaps we could find out if Great-Uncle Giles is at home.’ Amelia knew all the teaching staff would leave soon, and cleaners come in, but no child could be left here alone without a teacher in attendance.
‘I have Dad’s number,’ Dickon said, rifling through his bag and producing a piece of card. ‘He said to ring in emergencies.’
‘I think we can call this a sort of emergency,’ Amelia said. ‘Do you have Cynthia’s number too?’
‘No, the school has though,’ he said.
The room was empty now, all the children gone, and they could hear the rest of the staff chatting to each other as they got ready to leave themselves. Amelia knew the strict rules today of not taking a child home or dropping them off: it wasn’t allowed without permission from the parent, so she couldn’t just take Dickon with her like you used to be able to when she was at school. She handed him her mobile.
‘Ring Dad and tell him Cynthia’s not turned up. I’ll talk to him if you like, perhaps he’ll contact Cynthia and we’ll know if she’s been held up in traffic like the other mother.’ She said this to reassure him though she felt annoyed with Cynthia for being so late. Could she not have informed the school if something had happened to detain her?
Dickon dialled his father and Jules answered at once. ‘I’m in the car on my way home, but I won’t be back for a while. You okay?’ Amelia could hear him on speaker phone.
‘Cynthia’s not here, Dad, but Amelia is. Everyone else has gone. Can I go home with her?’ he asked, his eyes on her, making her long to hug him and reassure him that he had not been abandoned.
‘Wherever is she? She knows she’s to pick you up today, as I’ve been to London. I’m on my way back but it will take me an hour or so to get there.’ Amelia could hear the concern in his voice.
She moved closer to the mobile. ‘Jules, Amelia here. I need your permission to take him home with me, which I’m very happy to do until you get back, or, if he’s there, I could drop him at your uncle’s. He’s the only child left here, and the school is about to close but I’ll put you on to Mrs Purdy to get your permission, hang on.’
‘Great… if that’s all right with you, Amelia.’ He sounded relieved.
Telling Dickon to come with her, she led him down the passage to the head’s room. The door was open and Mrs Purdy was sitting at her desk, looking up as they came in. Amelia briefly explained the situation and handed her the mobile to give her permission. Mrs Purdy spoke to Jules with a look on her face that Amelia knew well, thinking of the incompetence of parents, though it was hardly Jules’s fault.
‘Thank you so much, Amelia, I don’t know what’s happened. I’ll ring Giles to tell him to expect you – he or Janey, his housekeeper, will be there now. Do stay until I get back if you have time, though you must be exhausted after coping with a class all day. If they are anything like us when I was at school, you probably feel like a lie down in a darkened room, and a stiff drink.’ He joked, sounding relieved.
She laughed. ‘You must have been a dreadful student then. No, my class is fine, though it is always a long day. I’ll drop him back now and perhaps see you later.’
It was dark and cold as they crossed the car park to her car. Dickon walked close beside her as if afraid she’d disappear. She’d have taken his hand if she was not carrying so much.
She still had Giles’s postcode in her Satnav, so she turned it on and they set off.
She remembered picking up her daughters when they were about Dickon’s age and how starving they always were. She used to bring them a snack and now she asked Dickon if he’d like her to buy him something.
‘No thank you, I’m not hungry,’ he said, solemnly staring out of the window at the passing fields.
Poor child, perhaps after losing his mother, he felt abandoned and something like this would affect him more than a child with more of a secure family behind him. Amelia wished she could give him a hug, make him feel cared for.
There was no doubt that Jules loved him, the two of them were obviously very close, especially close after losing the most important person in their lives, but the loss of a parent at such a young age would leave a gap forever.
Giles’s house was not far away and when they arrived, Dickon leapt out and ran to the door, jumping up to ring the bell. Amelia followed him.
‘What a muddle. Cynthia should have rung me if she couldn’t make it and I’d have come for you,’ Giles said, ruffling Dickon’s hair. ‘But we have the pleasure of seeing Amelia again.’ He smiled at her. ‘Come in out of the cold and have a drink, or tea, whatever you fancy, unless you’ve got books to mark or something. I was a teacher in one of my lives, and I know what it’s like, it hangs over you at the end of the day.’
‘Thanks, but there’s not much to do. I teach the class below Dickon, and we only have reading homework and that’s at the weekend,’ she said, going into the house, enclosed in the warmth of it.
He helped her off with her coat and led her into the living room. It was a beautiful room, that she’d last seen at the Christmas party when it was full of people. The curtains were drawn against the dark and there was a fire in the grate, logs burning like she was used to when she was a child. Giles saw her watching it.
‘Nothing beats a wood fire,’ he said. ‘So many pleasures have been swept away by health and safety and all the rest of it. At least here with the land I have around me, no one else is bothered by my smoke. Now let me fetch tea, or something stronger. I expect you need it after a day on the front line.’ He laughed.
‘I’d better have tea as I have to drive home, though thank you for offering.’ She felt relaxed and content here, but that was being a bit fanciful, she chided herself.
Dickon, who had disappeared the moment his great-uncle opened the door, now appeared again eating a piece of toast. He smiled at her and sat down on the sofa, saying, ‘I wonder what happened to Cynthia, but I’m glad you were there.’
‘I’m sure we’ll find out. I’m glad I was there too, but you wouldn’t have been left there. Mrs Purdy would have stayed with you, and your father will be back soon. Janey, or your great-uncle, would have come for you.’ What had happened to Cynthia? Had she forgo
tten, or had Jules not made it clear that he was in London for the day, or worse, had she had an accident? There was no point in speculating.
Giles came back with a tray of tea, a homemade chocolate cake and fresh scones. ‘Tea is my favourite meal,’ he said. ‘Tuck in, you must be starving after dealing with all those little savages.’ He laughed, sat down beside Dickon and hugged him, Dickon now giggling too.
He was so different here than at school, she thought. Here he felt safe, he could be himself. He was settling in, making friends, but one thing like being forgotten to be picked up could unnerve him.
Janey joined them from the kitchen. They all sat round together. Giles said, ‘I enjoy giving parties but it’s difficult to get to know people in a crowd, so it’s so nice to meet you in quieter circumstances.’
Dickon, having eaten a huge piece of chocolate cake, ran off to see Luna. Giles asked her about her family.
‘I understand you are a widow,’ he said. ‘When did you lose your husband?’
His voice was gentle. She felt the familiar sorrow of losing Esmond rise up in her and swallowed, attempting a smile. ‘Almost four years ago now. We had a wonderful twenty-four years together, so I was luckier than many other people.’
‘You were,’ he patted her hand, ‘as was I with my beloved Violet and Jules with Marina, though it was worse for him as he had her such a short time, barely six years. But life goes on and we must be grateful that we were blessed with having had them in our lives.’
‘Yes, we must.’ She felt close to him. So many well-meaning people had been careful to avoid talking about Esmond’s death as if they didn’t want to upset her by reminding her of her loss, when it always lay beside her, never far away. Talking about him and the things they did together kept him close.
They heard the front door open and Jules’s voice. ‘Back at last, what a drive.’
There was a sound of running feet and a breathless welcome. ‘Dad! Dad, you’re here. Cynthia forgot to collect me, but Mrs Meredith… Amelia brought me home.’
35
Jules strode into the room with Dickon dancing beside him, holding something in his hands, which he thrust forward towards Amelia. ‘Here is Luna, my gecko, you saw him at Christmas.’
‘So, I did. How’s he doing?’ She glanced at Luna, sitting so still in his hands.
‘He’s good,’ Dickon said. He got down on the floor, letting him run. Giles warned him to take care not to lose him behind the furniture.
Jules came over to her on the sofa, resting his hand a moment on her shoulder. ‘Amelia, thank you so much for bringing him home. I hope we haven’t ruined your free time. You were probably looking forward to some peace and quiet after teaching all day.’ He looked down at her, smiling. She felt a frisson of desire and laughed awkwardly. Her body really was behaving in the most ridiculous way.
‘It was no trouble, and I’ve been rewarded with a delicious tea and a lovely chat with your uncle.’ She was about to add, which beats being at home being bombarded by my daughter with ideas of how to raise money to reopen the kennels. But better not spoil the congenial atmosphere here.
‘Any news from Cynthia?’ she said instead. ‘Perhaps she got held up somewhere?’ Though even if she had, she thought, it was strange that she hadn’t rung the school to warn them.
Jules frowned and caught his uncle’s eye. ‘She misread the time,’ he said shortly, before asking Dickon to fetch him a cup from the kitchen so he could have some tea. Janey got up saying she’d fetch it while she made a fresh pot of tea, for him. Dickon picked up Luna saying his favourite television programme was about to start and he and Luna were going to watch it, and he ran off clutching him to his chest.
With Dickon safely out of earshot and a fresh cup of tea poured for him, Jules sat down on the sofa beside her and said quietly, ‘Cynthia completely forgot. She’d taken the afternoon off; said she had some urgent shopping she needed to do. I have someone else who works in the office a few hours a week, Fiona, who used to do all the paperwork for the last vet and when he left, she retired. She’s reliable and enjoys having some work to do. Cynthia went shopping and just forgot him.’ He looked upset. ‘I reminded her a couple of days ago, telling her I was going to London and could not possibly get back in time.’
‘You should have told me, I’d have gone for him,’ Giles said.
‘And me, I would too. I know how he worries if things don’t go to plan,’ Janey said. She turned to Amelia. ‘It’s a relief you were there, and he knows you and so you could bring him home. Is he in your class?’
‘No, the one above, but his class and all the younger ones all wait in the same room, so I saw that he was still there. It’s was no trouble to drop him home, it’s on my way,’ she said.
‘Rather a roundabout way,’ Jules said.
‘Was Cynthia at all contrite about leaving him there?’ Giles asked him.
‘A bit, though once she heard that Amelia had brought him home, she felt it was no great deal.’ Jules drank his tea, staring into the distance, a trace of sorrow in his face. Then, as if collecting himself he turned to Amelia. ‘My wife, Marina, died when Dickon was barely three. He hardly remembers her, but I think he feels the loss of her, which he can’t quite understand. He sometimes feels out of his depth if something like this happens, or he has to start in a new place, or being faced with things he’s unsure of. I… we,’ he gestured towards his uncle and Janey, ‘try to keep his life running as smoothly as possible. Of course, he has to be able to take on changes, new school, new form teacher, new friends, and all as he gets older, as we all do, but we try and make it as easy as possible for him.’
‘Well, I’ll do the collecting if you like, the days you can’t manage,’ Janey said. ‘I can work round them.’
‘Or I could for that matter,’ Giles said. ‘We could set up a rota between us and Cynthia needn’t be part of it. Is she good at her job as receptionist for the veterinary surgery?’
‘Yes, fine, very efficient, that’s why I’m surprised she forgot today,’ Jules said.
Amelia glanced surreptitiously at him. It was obvious to her that Cynthia had set her sights on him, which did not surprise her, he was a very attractive man. She wondered how long she had known him. Had she been at the vet’s when he arrived here? Or did she know him from somewhere else and hope that by working with him, seeing him every day, she had more chance of snaring him?
She guessed that Jules would not be easily caught. He still missed his wife, who’d obviously meant the world to him. She understood completely. She’d never stop missing Esmond, wishing he could come back. But it was perhaps worse for Jules as he had a seven-year-old son and if he ever paired up with someone again, she would have to be a perfect mother for him. Cynthia had not struck her as being very maternal.
She remembered the party at Christmas when she arrived just behind Cynthia and how both she and Dickon ignored each other, but if she wanted Jules enough, she might do her utmost to play that part until she’d got him.
It was time to go; Amelia got up and thanked them for tea. ‘I won’t need supper now,’ she said.
‘We can’t thank you enough for bringing him home,’ Giles said.
‘I’m glad I could do it. Just let Mrs Purdy or his form teacher know about the changes.’ She collected up her bag and made for the door.
Dickon was called to say goodbye and he appeared with Luna, standing rather awkwardly in the doorway. ‘Thank you for bringing me home,’ he said. ‘I didn’t like being forgotten.’
Her heart went out to him. ‘We would never forget you, Dickon, but sometimes people get held up which is not their fault. I was happy to bring you home.’
‘Cynthia could have rung on her mobile,’ he said solemnly.
‘Well, it’s all been sorted out and we are making a rota so one of us will always be there to collect you,’ Giles said reassuringly.
Jules came to the front door with her. ‘Thanks again,’ he said.
‘It
was a pleasure and after all you helped me with all those animals,’ she said with a laugh.
‘So, we are about even, then.’ He smiled, leant closer to her and for one mad moment she thought he might be going to kiss her, but he moved away, holding the front door open so that she could leave.
36
When she got home, Amelia found Sophie and Rufus sitting close together at the kitchen table, poring over a computer and making notes on a piece of paper beside them.
‘We’re trying to find people to fund us in reopening the kennels.’ Sophie looked up when she came in. ‘We need to find out how many pet owners would use them regularly, and what sort of money punters would get back for their investment,’ she explained.
Amelia was slightly dismayed to see them. She had thought Rufus was moving into his aunt and uncle’s now empty house on the site, and that he and Sophie were going to work from there and not be crouched over the laptop and phone in the kitchen when she got back, longing for a bit of peace after a hard day.
Sophie guessed her feelings and with a slight edge of impatience to her voice, she said, ‘You saw that the place had to be completely gutted and rebuilt to Jules’s satisfaction, so that will need a good lot of money.’
‘And he’s right.’ Amelia was getting fed up with it all. When Sophie settled on something she felt was unjust, she went all out to solve it, which in the past had mostly taken place while she was at university, not round her mother’s kitchen table. There was also another reason Amelia was not admitting to – she didn’t want Jules to think she was part of this scheme of Sophie’s to reopen the kennels that he had closed down.
‘Oh, Mum, you don’t understand,’ Sophie said grumpily. ‘Anyway, where have you been? You’re not usually back so late.’
‘The person who was supposed to pick up Jules’s son didn’t show, so I dropped him home, stayed for a delicious tea with his uncle and then Jules turned up,’ she said, making for the door to avoid any flak.
