“There’s not much room,” pointed out Carrie. The garden’s small lawn couldn’t really be considered big enough to play football on.
“I happen to know of a rather large beach just a few minutes’ walk away.”
Half an hour later the party moved from the garden down to the beach. For some reason it was decided that it was necessary to have several footballs and that Monty would join in. Carrie was worried he’d get stepped on, bless him. He was a sweetheart, and so gentle with Poppy, but he wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the box and she wasn’t sure his survival skills were up to staying out of the way of people’s feet.
Michael announced that Layla and Poppy would be team captains and they took turns picking their teams, with Poppy choosing first. Poppy pointed to Michael straight away.
“Oi,” said Carrie. “I’m your mother!”
“But you’re not very good at football,” explained Poppy, honestly, making everyone laugh.
“You can be on my team, Carrie,” said Layla.
Carrie heard Michael murmur, “Pity choice!”
“We’ll show you!” declared Carrie.
“Yeah,” agreed Layla.
* * *
An hour later and everyone was covered in sand. Carrie’s throat was sore from laughing and shouting so much and her thighs were aching from running on the sand. Her team hadbeen what could only be termed annihilated by Poppy’s, much to her daughter’s delight.
The three footballs they’d been playing with at once — and which had definitely added to the mayhem — were gathered up along with the hoodies used to mark out the goals. The exhausted players traipsed back up the hill and round the back of the shops to Michael’s garden.
“Poppy and I will head into ours now,” Carrie said to Michael. “If she gets back playing with the other kids in your garden, I’m not sure I’ll ever get her to leave.”
“OK. Thanks again for coming. It’s been a lot of fun.” Michael moved forward and gave her a gentle peck on the cheek. Colour rushed to Carrie’s face and she found herself speaking far faster than usual.
“It has. Thank you for inviting us. Poppy! Time to get ready for bed now, Pumpkin. Say goodbye to your friends.”
It was well past her bedtime and Poppy really must have been tired because she agreed without hesitation, and they left with Carrie giving a last glance over her shoulder at Michael as they went out of the garden gate. Their eyes met and he gave her a wave before he was called away by Layla.
Poppy showered the sand off and was tucked up in bed ready for her story mere moments later. They were nearly at the end ofThe Enchanted Woodand debating whether to continue the series or start something new when Poppy fell asleep mid-sentence.
Carrie tidied up the flat and gave her mum a call to fill her in on all they’d been up to, before having a shower herself and settling down to read in bed. What a lovely evening. She’d felt really welcome and it had been great to get to know people better. It had been a long time since she’d laughed so much with a group of people. And she could hardly believe how well Poppy seemed to be settling in to this friendly community. Who knewthat agreeing to her aunt’s slightly crazy request would have turned out quite so well.
Chapter 8
It was beautiful weather again on Monday. Carrie and Poppy ate their lunch outside in the garden and then Carrie smothered her daughter in sun cream before walking her to holiday club. A couple of the children had clearly been waiting for Poppy to arrive so they could start a game which made Carrie smile.
She gave Davina a quick call on the way back to the bookshop to check how her friend was doing. It sounded like mayhem in her house, so they decided to speak properly another time.
The afternoon passed quickly, as it tended to do in the shop, and Carrie and Poppy took a detour on the way home from holiday club to the park, where Poppy had a quick play in the playground before they climbed up the hill to the castle in order to investigate it properly.
“I’m still not sure this is a proper castle, Mummy,” Poppy said. “It’s a bit small.”
“Maybe whoever had it built didn’t need a very big castle,” Carrie suggested.
They wandered around the ruins and then Poppy had an ice lolly from the little café near the park’s entrance which they caught just as it was about to close.
The bookshop’s garden was looking a bit overgrown and needed a tidy up and the day had cooled down enough to deal with at least some of it. Carrie changed into shorts and a vest top and got the broom out of the garden shed. She put Poppy in charge of wiping down the tables and chairs.
The courtyard garden wasn’t big and it didn’t take long to sweep up. When she was putting the collected debris in the compost bin, she heard voices in Michael’s garden. She sent Poppy in to wash her hands in the shop’s kitchen and put the broom back in the shed. A voice called, “Well, hello there!”
She turned and laughed as she spotted Dylan’s head poking over the fence dividing the two gardens.
“Michael bought way too much food and drink for the barbecue on Saturday. Do you want to come round and help us finish it off?”
