‘Will you stay, Mummy?’ Maddie asked.
‘Yes,’ I sighed.
‘Till I’m asleep?’
‘Yes. Now be quiet.’
I closed my eyes and let my mind flow around the day’s work. Images floated into my thoughts and away: Agnes’ fireplace, Tina shopping, Dr Chattaway rolling his pen…
I jerked awake, a sour taste in my mouth. I could hear steady breathing from Maddie. I got up and bent over Tom, no sound at all. I touched his chin, he shuffled and sighed. I let my breath out and left them to it.
In the lounge with a fresh cup of tea I dug out my gardening books and spent an hour gazing at glossy pictures and looking up various species. In the depths of February it was hard to recall the scents and colours of the summer, to remember exactly how it felt when the sun went down four hours later and washing dried on the line. Of course, living in Manchester summer could often feel like February but we did have glimpses of the seasonal changes the rest of the country took as read.
I could hear Ray messing about in the cellar, fitting in a bit of his furniture making. When he’d a building job on everything else got postponed, so if he’d said yes to a few orders he’d soon have impatient customers ringing up wanting to know when the chest, table or chair would be finished.
He popped his face round the door to tell me he was taking Digger out for his walk. I was in bed and fast asleep before they came back.
After leaving the children at school I spent most of the money that Agnes had given me on food. I raced round the discount supermarket plucking cereal boxes and containers of milk and juice, toilet rolls, tins of beans and tomatoes, mini yogurts, crisps, rice, cheap cheese, tea and coffee. In the vegetable shop opposite I picked a selection of vegetables and a bag full of fruit. I unloaded the lot on the kitchen table, stuck the cheese, yoghurts and milk in the fridge. The rest I’d sort out later. It was time for work.
Jimmy rang as requested just as I’d settled at my desk. ‘I’m ringing from work,’ he said. ‘We’re not meant to make private calls. I can’t talk for long.’
In the background I could hear the sound of vans and a Tannoy.
‘I watched Tina yesterday,’ I said. ‘And she didn’t go anywhere but the local shops. Do you want me to try again today?’
‘Yeah.’
‘OK. Ring me again tomorrow, same time.’
I didn’t want to alert Tina by using the old wrong number call again so I just drove over to Levenshulme as soon as I could. After an hour sitting in the car my left buttock had seized up. I was getting hungry too. I’d demolished my apple and banana in the first half-hour. My stomach was growling. A light rain finally made it down from the clutches of the clouds. Fine as a sea fret and bringing with it the scent of sewage, not brine.