Lorna Fielding, Phoenix’s mum
Did you get their company details off the side of the van? Email their boss! 16:52
Sarah Ramsay, Noah’s mum
Oh that’s not good. What if an ambulance needed to get through? 16:54
Erin Mackie, Tilly’s mum
I’m guessing they were going to Willow Barn. You OK, Imogen? 16:54
Imogen Wood, Rosie’s mum
Yes, why wouldn’t I be? 16:55
Lorna Fielding, Phoenix’s mum
Has everyone got their uniform ready for tomorrow? Phoenix has grown out of his school shoes! Argh! 16:59
Erin Mackie, Tilly’s mum
I have some news...can’t hold it in as I’ve just heard. You guys are looking at the new editor and owner of the Ripton Gazette! 17:00
Lorna Fielding, Phoenix’s mum
OMG congrats! I can’t believe you’re going to be in charge of our local paper. We’d all better be on best behaviour in case you run a scoop on us 17:01
Sarah Ramsay, Noah’s mum
Could I get some church events advertised? Mates rates? 17:02
Erin Mackie, Tilly’s mum
Am happy to help where I can but even God needs to understand I have to make a profit. 17:02
Imogen Wood, Rosie’s mum
Huge congratulations, my friend. At least we know the news around here will be covered fairly and in an unbiased way. 17:03
FOUR
Friday 4 September
The first day back at school was always nerve-racking but even more so when it was your first day at a brand-new school. Nancy glanced at Lara. Her daughter had always been confident at school. She’d thrived in lessons and had lots of friends, being gentler than some of the other more outgoing children. She was a normal kid with normal interests and normal friends. Then tragedy had struck and Lara had retreated into herself for months. Her teacher would pull Nancy aside at the end of the day saying Lara had spent the breaks wandering listlessly around the playground by herself. Her friends had tried to get her to join in the games, but Lara had shaken her head so many times, they’d drifted off. She’d been the same at home, spending hours gazing out of the window of their second-floor flat. It was only when they were making plans to move to a new house and get out of the city that Lara started to show tentative hints of her old spark.
Nancy squeezed Lara’s hand. Lara smiled nervously then extracted her hand from her mother’s as they crossed the road into Ripton Primary. Nancy hid a smile. This was agood sign. Lara was embarrassed to have her mum hold her hand. It meant she wanted to make a good impression on the other kids and get to know them quickly.
Nancy gazed across the playground. It was like a reunion of long-lost friends. Squeals of recognition as parents and children were reacquainted with those they hadn’t seen for weeks. Nancy watched as women threw their arms around each other, faces aglow with the remnants of summer holiday suntans. Conversations were held at rapid speed, news was exchanged, all against the glossy backdrop of the first day of term. The kids in their brand-new uniforms, their shoes shiny and unscuffed; refreshed mums having made an effort with their clothes and make-up. There was an energy that Nancy could feel in waves but which she wasn’t a part of. So engrossed was everyone in each other that she couldn’t even catch anyone’s eye and give a friendly smile.
She watched as the head teacher, James Whitman, toured the grounds in his suave suit, being welcomed like a revered leader as he approached each group of parents. The tight circles of mums would break open to let him join them, and they would stop talking and listen, basking in his charm. Nancy had had a Zoom call with James when she was applying to Ripton Primary back in the early summer. He’d had an impressive energy for a man in his late fifties and had made the school sound like a progressive establishment full of enthusiasm and opportunity. He’d let slip during the conversation that he advised government on education policies, had the ear of the Education Secretary herself. Nancy admired his achievements but also had an underlying sensehe thought a lot of himself. She got an image of him in her mind, in an expensive suit, his sandy hair combed back, accepting an MBE from the King for services to education, and she stifled a laugh. She looked over at him again – he was deep in conversation with a cool blonde woman. Then he glanced up and she was caught in the full beam of his smile and – more cheeringly – his look of recognition. It only lasted a moment before his attention was taken by the cool blonde again and Nancy was returned to the role of Billy No-Mates.
Nancy suddenly pitched forward, open-mouthed with shock. A football had hit her on the head.
‘Are you OK, Mum?’ asked Lara, alarmed, as the ball, launched by Nancy’s skull, bounced across the playground.
‘Phoenix!’ admonished a short woman but half-heartedly. ‘I’m so sorry,’ continued the woman, coming up to Nancy. ‘He’s mad on football, absolutely obsessed with it, and I do try and tell him to be careful. Are you all right?’
Nancy mustered up a smile. ‘Yes,’ she lied. Her head felt as if it was still vibrating.
