Chapter 2 #2
Billie looked up now with a frown. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Nothing,’ Zoe said. ‘Flo’s just saying goodbye.’
‘But—’
Zoe closed the window. Flo stared at her and then, with a huff, tottered away.
‘What’s the matter with her?’ Billie said as they watched her go. ‘I mean, apart from the fact she’s still breathing.’
‘Billie!’
Despite Flo’s cantankerous, blunt and gossiping ways, it was still shocking to hear Billie talk about her like that.
‘What? You think she’s a pain in the arse as well.’
‘I know she can be, but I don’t think that’s fair.’
‘I was only joking.’ Billie turned back to her phone. ‘No need to get all outraged; it’s not that deep.’
Alex came back with the milk. ‘We can have a cup of tea now.’
‘Yay,’ Billie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘It’s so good to be home.’
The rest of the day had passed in much better spirits, with Billie still catching Alex up on all the latest back in Spain, referencing people they’d known when they’d all lived there and what had changed in the town.
Zoe had listened with interest because it was a part of their lives she knew very little about, but she couldn’t help feeling like someone who was on the sidelines.
From time to time, Alex would start a conversation about things that had happened in Thimblebury while Billie had been away, or news he’d heard about someone or other who lived in the village, and Billie would address it with what sounded to Zoe like impatience, as if she saw no value in that information and that her news from Spain was far more interesting and important.
Zoe tried not to read too much into this either because she supposed there had been a welcome novelty for Billie in her trip, and welcome reminders of a time in her life that was far simpler than now.
She’d been happy back then, with her mum and Luis both still alive, and so perhaps it was only natural she’d turn the memories of that time into something brighter and better than they might have been, and that she’d want to talk about somewhere that made her so happy.
‘I’m going to put Louisa to bed, and I might stay up there myself,’ Billie said once they’d cleared up the remnants of a late tea. ‘You don’t mind, do you, Dad?’
‘Of course not. I imagine it’s been a long day.’
‘Yeah.’
‘It’s good to have you home,’ he added.
She went to kiss him on the cheek and then held up Louisa for him to kiss, but she didn’t reply to his comment.
‘I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Zoe,’ she added, bringing Louisa over for Zoe to kiss too.
‘Goodnight.’
Billie took Louisa to the door. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’
Alex waited for the door to close and for the sounds of Billie’s footsteps to reach the top of the stairs before he turned to Zoe. ‘It is good to have her home. I knew I’d miss her, but I’m shocked at how much. Louisa too. It’s been so quiet here without them, hasn’t it?’
Zoe nodded as she gathered the cups and took them to the sink. ‘Really quiet. Louisa seems to have grown loads, even in just one week.’
‘We’re so lucky we get to see that,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine if we didn’t have them living here and only saw her every few months – we’d miss so much.’
Zoe turned on the tap. Didn’t he sense what she did? They’d tentatively brought up the subject of Billie feeling bored at Hilltop, and though he’d acknowledged it, Zoe wasn’t sure he was taking it seriously enough. She hoped that wouldn’t come back to bite him, but she had a feeling it would.
The following morning brought steely skies, and though she didn’t say anything as they got into the car to visit Maisie and Fern, Zoe could almost see the sparkle of the Spanish sun leave Billie’s soul right before her eyes.
Trees swayed and shivered at the side of the road as Zoe drove them to a small council estate outside the village.
‘It’s getting so windy.’ Billie peered out at the sky where clouds stuffed full of rain were swept along. ‘Do you think there’ll be a storm? Maybe we should turn back.’
‘There’s nothing terrible in the forecast. We’re almost there now; we might as well visit. We can keep an eye on the weather, and if it starts to look worse, we’ll cut things short and try again another day.’
‘Dad said that tree fell into the road last week…’
‘There’s nothing too close to the road on this stretch; I’m sure it will be fine.’
‘But I know you get stressed driving around here anyway…’
‘Only the bit going up to the house because it’s so narrow and remote. I’m getting a lot more used to that now, though. I’ve started to wonder what I was making all that fuss about, to be honest.’
Billie settled into her seat again. She’d been keen enough to make this visit when she’d appeared in the kitchen this morning, but now that she was out, she seemed unsettled.
‘Are you still tired from yesterday?’ Zoe asked.
‘I’m not too bad. How much further is it?’
‘Not far. In fact, I can see the estate now… look.’
Ahead was a row of boxy houses, rendered in rough plaster, the shades of the paint ranging from putty to grey to linen and off-white.
They were all relatively well kept, though it was obvious this wasn’t an affluent area from the dated garden furniture and broken fencing.
There were children playing in front of the first one they passed, a girl on a rusting swing and a boy racing round in circles on a pedal car.
The next one had two neighbours chatting over a low fence, and the windows of a third were being cleaned by a woman who looked far too old to be on top of a set of stepladders.
Zoe was tempted to stop and offer some help, but it was none of her business, and the offer probably wouldn’t have been welcomed anyway.
‘Looks as if someone has been in the garden since I was last here,’ she said as she slowed down in front of a house that looked identical to all the others except that the rendering was painted a delicate sage green.
‘I’ll bet it’s Fern. She said she was going to cut all the shrubs back; they were growing wild.
I think they still have wild raspberry and gooseberry bushes from the people who were here before.
Fern was quite excited about that. She’s planning to grow some of their own food when the weather gets better again. ’
‘I suppose she knows loads about it because she lived at the commune. They did all that, didn’t they?’
Zoe pulled on the handbrake and then erupted into laughter as her gaze caught something in the garden. Billie saw it at the same time, and she started to laugh too.
‘Oh my God! I bet Maisie put that there!’
‘I don’t know about that, but I bet she got the clothes.’
‘I bet they’re her mum’s old ones. Bridget would totally wear stuff like that.’
Zoe got out of the car and went to take a closer look while Billie took Louisa out of her seat.
Next to a patch of garden that had been dug up, perhaps ready for planting, stood a home-made scarecrow.
It had a body made of plastic shopping bags, stuffed with other shopping bags to pad it out, a doll’s head stuck on an old broom handle, and it was dressed in a glittery vest and silver leggings.
She wore a broad smile as she turned to see if Billie was ready.
‘I wonder what the neighbours are making of it,’ she said as Billie fastened Louisa’s coat and came to join her.
‘God knows. I bet they’re all old. That woman on the ladders looked ancient.’
‘I saw some children playing down the road, though. I think it’s a nice mix, actually. It’s a good place for Maisie and Fern to be. I really think they got lucky. There aren’t many council houses around here, after all. Must have been a long list waiting for one on this estate.’
‘Having two babies must have helped, especially one with special needs.’ Billie threw Zoe a sideways look. ‘And maybe a certain midwife put in a word with someone at the council?’
‘I didn’t need to,’ Zoe said. ‘Fern took care of it, and as you say, they had enough of a need that I didn’t have to get involved. She’s really capable, you know. She’s like a different person since she left the commune.’
‘In a good way?’ Billie asked. She hadn’t really known the woman Zoe had helped escape a life she’d found stifling back then, and it was only more recently, through their mutual friendship with Maisie, another of Zoe’s mums, that they’d become acquainted.
‘I suppose, the way you say it, she must be. I’m being stupid. ’
‘Not at all!’ Zoe angled her head at the door. ‘Come on. Much as I’m enjoying admiring their scarecrow, this wind is freezing, it’s making my nose run!’
Billie followed her up the uneven path. She stumbled on a broken section and cursed under her breath as she righted herself.
‘I think there’s quite a bit to be done,’ Zoe said, turning with some concern.
Billie waved it away. ‘I’m all right, just thought for a minute I was going to go flying with Louisa in my arms.’
‘I’m sure Fern said they were waiting for someone from the council to make some of it safer. I suppose that must be one of the things they’re going to get done.’
‘I hope they don’t take too long. Imagine your kids playing out on this.’
‘I hope they don’t take that long!’ Zoe agreed. ‘Considering both Ezra and Benji are both too little to even be walking yet.’
Billie gave the front of the house a swift once-over and then grimaced. ‘You’d have thought they’d have done all the stuff before Maisie and Fern moved in.’
‘I think they did,’ Zoe said with a light laugh.
‘The urgent structural things, at least – that’s why it took so long to be ready for them.
I would imagine they don’t consider painting the rendering a nice colour to be a priority.
And I think Maisie and Fern were pushing to move in – I doubt they care if the front is freshly painted or not. ’
‘I’m not saying I would; I’m just saying you’d have thought the council would have sorted it. Like you said, they had long enough.’