Chapter 72
Joe: The Reviews Are In
It’s a nice place, this. Up on the hills, really pretty countryside all around us. We’ve come down for Mum’s birthday, and Aunt Poppy made us a cake.
The cake was pretty disgusting – I suppose she’s still learning – but we all pretended it was lovely. Especially Lewis – he talked about that cake like it was the best thing he’d ever eaten.
Now we’re out here, with him and Mum and Poppy and Betty.
It’s the middle of October, and the sun is still shining, but it’s a bit chilly.
The apple trees in the cottage garden are drooping with fruit, and there was a frost on all the gnomes’ heads this morning when I woke up and looked out of the window of Poppy’s old room.
That’s my room now, when I come and visit, and she’s said it’s fine if I want to leave stuff there, or get rid of her things.
I quite like it though – there’s a lot of books, and the other day I found a packet of Rizlas hidden inside a copy of Bridget Jones’s Diary.
I can’t take the mickey out of her for it, though, because then I’d have to admit I was reading Bridget Jones’s Diary in the first place.
And, knowing Poppy, she’d post that on my Facebook page, and that would be social death.
Poppy and Mum have gone on ahead, and are dancing around the stone circles singing some kind of chant. I can’t hear what it’s about, but it seems to involve a lot of arm waving and jumping.
Mum started her teacher training this term, and she seems to be enjoying it.
The house is full of files and colour-coded charts and highlighter pens, so I guess she means business.
She also seems to mean business about her new health regime, which is great.
She’s even been coming to the gym with me and Simon.
I’m starting to think maybe she’s doing other stuff with Simon as well, but that’s none of my business.
He’s certainly round at the house a lot more, and they’ve had a few nights out at the cinema and the pub quiz.
She goes a bit giddy when he’s in the room, which is weird.
But, I suppose, nice. Simon never looks giddy – he probably had it trained out of him when he was in the Marines – but he definitely looks happy when he sees her.
Hey, maybe I’ll have a new stepdad one day, who knows?
I’m not so sure about a new granddad though – she’s been emailing him in Blackpool, and they’ve talked about meeting up, but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s a good job I’m already used to strange-shaped families.
Poppy is still at the cottage, where she tells me she is writing a ‘bonkbuster’.
I didn’t ask too many questions about that – I’m a bit scared she’ll answer them.
The boxes – the ones covered in pretty flowers – are there too; Mum said it was their spiritual home.
I’m not so sure boxes have spirits, but these are pretty special boxes.
Lewis is lagging behind us, further down the hill, mainly because of Betty, I think, who moves about as fast as a snail.
It’s nice that he’s here, though. I think he’s been a bit lonely without Granny, and I get the impression that Poppy has kind of adopted him.
They’re really rude to each other, but in that way that says they like each other?
I catch them up, close enough to hear that they’re going on about goddesses and Mars Bars. Nutters.
I still miss Gran myself, but I think she’d be made up to see this.
In that card she left me – the one with the fox on the front – she told me how much she loved us all, as well as giving me some advice.
She said I should learn to recognise true gold when I saw it, and to treasure the things that matter in life.
It was all a bit heavy for me – I’m still trying to get my head round Physics A-level – but I won’t forget it. I still have that card, and I always will.
I miss her. I wish she was dancing round those stones with Mum and Poppy. It feels weird that she’s not here – that all this stuff has happened without her being here to see it.
Though who knows, really, I think, looking at the way those two are hugging that giant stone – the Witch Stone. Maybe she is?