It was one thirty when she came out. The photo I had was a good likeness. She was short and slight. She walked down to the main road and turned left towards the shops. Once she’d passed the bus stop I slipped my camera in my bag, left the car and followed her at a safe distance.
Tina bought fresh milk and bread, a chicken, vegetables. She called in the hardware shop and browsed and did the same in a cheap and cheerful clothes shop. Then she walked back home.
Some you win, some you lose.
Sheila was on the phone, the woman about the room. I told her what we’d got available and what it cost, a bit about the setup (two adults – not involved with each other – each with a child, one dog, shared kitchen and bathroom, no smoking). She was still interested but would be away for a few days on a field trip. I told her I’d check when Ray was in and fix a time for her to come and meet us. I took her number.
I rang Swift Deliveries and left a message for Jimmy Achebe to ring Kilkenny’s after ten the following morning.
Moira’s books were still in their carrier bag in the corner so I stuck them in the car ready to drop off the next time I passed her house or the surgery.
Over tea I got some times from Ray when we could both be in to see Sheila. I rang her back while he was washing up and fixed for her to call Wednesday next week after tea. We wanted her to meet the kids but not until they’d been fed. Maddie in particular was capable of horrendous behaviour. I thought of it as attention-seeking in my better moments, and I didn’t want to give her a chance to display it with food at hand.
That evening it was my turn to get the children to bed, a long process that included baths and books and stories. I also had to arbitrate in the many disputes that arose between the pair of them. Maddie and Tom were virtual opposites in looks as well as temperament. Tom had inherited Ray’s dark curls, brown eyes and olive skin, while Maddie was dirty blonde, blue-eyed and pallid. Tom had a cheerful lust for life and experience, a sensuality that led him to wallow in mud and chuck himself all over the place. Maddie found the world an unnerving place, was cautious, suspicious of the new, and a borderline hypochondriac. She could be infuriating but I loved her with a passion that continued to startle me.
Once I’d got them in pyjamas and persuaded them to their beds, I had to check under beds, in drawers and behind curtains for scary things. Maddie was in an anxious phase and every shadow and sound had her gasping. When I’d done my atheistic version of casting out the devils and blessing the bedroom I sat in the old rocking chair in the corner of the room and began a story. They were both still awake when I finished.