Murray let his shoulders drop. He’d overestimated Finlay’s softer side. Maybe he didn’t have one after all? ‘All right, fine! But if she ends up sleeping her life away in this kitchen…’ he threatened.
‘By the looks o’ her she’d be very happy with that outcome.’
Finlay didn’t excuse himself in any way, didn’t take one last, longing glimpse at the puppies like every other caller had these last few days. He merely left, closing the door behind him.
‘Well, I think he loved you,’ Murray comforted Nell. ‘Somewhere deep,deepdown, he definitely loved you.’
The indifferent dog half-opened one eye as if to tell him even she could see he was deluded and that there was no helping misery-guts Morlich.
Murray put his feet in his wellies and followed the ranger out into the winter morning sun.
‘Guard the house, Nell, Babies. Murray’s going out to find you a new daddy.’
22
Jolyon Sears was having a lovely day.
There’d been his favourite Greek yoghurt for breakfast and his favourite person in all the world helping him into his coat and gloves. His heart was bursting with love for his mum as she got him in the car, ready for a ‘big day out’ which sounded very exciting, and things only got better for having his favouriteBatwheelscartoons on his tablet in the car. And now here he was at a muddy, grassy place and somebody, who he didn’t know, but he seemed nice, was giving him an actual proper thingy to dig in the mud with. There were birds making a racket in the big trees on the other side of the big shed, and there was a bright yellow sun in the blue sky, just like the drawings he loved to do, and very, very,verybest of all, Pink Wafer Girl was here, and she had that soft-looking blue blanket with her again, the one he’d have little squeezes of when she wasn’t looking, and she was being handed a thingy of her own for digging, andyes!she was coming over here to his rectangular box of muck which was just the right height for him to reach in and scoop.
‘Hello,’ she said in a whispery way, and he beamed back at her, saying his hellos in his very own way. He eyed her hand delving into her pocket, but no, she didn’t pull out any biscuits. She retrieved sunny yellow gloves with bumblebees and pulled them on.
‘Mum told me we’re digging together today,’ Shell said, and just because Jolyon didn’tquitedetect the tiny note of consternation in her voice because she’d been paired with a boy not even started school yet, he read her awkward smile as a good sign.
Chirruping with laughter just like the birds, he stuck the thingy into the dirt and flipped a big scoop of soil into the air. It plopped down heavily onto the bare bed.
Pink Wafer Girl watched him for a minute, before her eyes flashed with light, and she did the exact same thing, scooping some mud and sending it flying and whispering a naughty ‘fliiiing!’ which made them both giggle. They both did another good fling at the exact same time and not one of the grown-ups seemed to want to stop them, or were even looking their way, apart from their mums and the lady doctor way over there, and they were too busy talking to spoil their fun.
Yes, this was definitely going to be the absolute best day ever.
* * *
‘You came!’ Alice called, her heart lifting at the sight of Jolyon’s mum, Mhairi Sears, standing against the wall where the low winter sun cast a golden glare.
‘I thought we had to?’
‘What? No.’ Alice shook her head. ‘Not at all. It’s just a bit of fun, a community-building sort of thing.’
‘The letter said it was a referral.’
‘Oh, well, that’s just surgery letters, isn’t it.’ Alice made a mental note to get that sorted out ASAP. She didn’t want to scare patients away with formality before they even got a chance to look at this place.
She’d asked Gracie to send the Sears’ letter, and the receptionist had mentioned that little Shell Cooper, who’d been at the meeting that first night at the surgery, might benefit from an invitation to participate too.
‘She’ll be there anyway, given that she’s stuck to her mother like glue,’ Gracie had said. ‘But should I send her one? Make it official?’
Alice hadn’t felt so sure about making Shell an official participant in the scheme, but Gracie had really pressed the point, saying, ‘You heard about what happened with her mother with all those gangland crooks, didn’t you?’
Alice had winced at the indiscretion, but she’d still asked Gracie to elaborate, and her version of events, even while taken with a pinch of salt, had been enough to convince her that Shell and Livvie were exactly suited to the project’s therapeutic benefits.
Alice was so glad to see the mother and daughter arriving right on time this morning. She wished everyone had been so willing. She’d had to ring Clyde Forte on Friday to check if he planned on coming, and he’d said he’d go if Kellie was going, but then Alice hadn’t heard a peep from her at all and had the feeling that cajoling her over the phone could easily go the wrong way, so she’d lied and told Mr Forte she was certain Kellie was intending to come.
No one else had arrived yet, but Alice knew if they could just see the place in the low morning sun with the fresh compost and manure in the bare beds making steam rise in the chilly air, they would think it a good place to spend some time meeting other people and getting some exercise, learning some new skills, even. Granted, the grass around the beds was spongy where it held on to the winter’s rain, and there seemed to be a huge amount of work to do, but it would be lovely, come spring. For now, the beds were full of promise, like a new ward opening in a new hospital wing, everything stripped back and spotless.
Her eyes followed Mhairi’s darting to a spot across the garden where Jolyon and Shell were playing in the mud with their little trowels.
‘Someone’s having a good time,’ Alice said, though when she looked back at Mhairi there was a touch of concern wrinkling her brow.
‘Do you think they’re all right? Jolyon’s not being too rough?’ Mhairi asked Alice.
