Daddy’s Little Princess and Will You Love Me 2-in-1 Collection. Cathy Glass

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СКАЧАТЬ finished taking off our coats and shoes and I made us a hot chocolate. Then, after lunch, I covered the table with old newspaper and arranged paints and water in the centre. I gave the children an apron, paintbrush and a stack of plain paper each and they painted lots of wonderful pictures: of cats, dogs, themselves, each other, birds, fish and swirling geometric designs. Eventually we ran out of space to dry any more pictures and we cleared away the paints and got out the play dough. When they tired of modelling the dough they helped me make some biscuits to take with us to Nana and Grandpa’s the following day. We had dinner and then watched a film on television. When Beth telephoned her father that evening she told him about all the things she’d done. I thought he must be relieved and pleased that Beth was enjoying herself and not upset and pining for him. I also thought it was a pity I couldn’t talk to Derek, as I usually did with the parents of children I fostered. I could have reassured him that Beth was doing well and he shouldn’t worry. But after I’d upset him with the unfounded allegations, Jessie had said that I shouldn’t speak to him, and I had to accept that.

      Sunday was grey and overcast to begin with. A thick blanket of cloud stretched as far as the eye could see, but as I drove to my parents’ (with Beth uncomplaining in her blue tracksuit), the sun came out, which caused Adrian to burst into song:

      The sun has got his hat on,

      Hip-hip-hip-hooray!

      The sun has got his hat on,

      He’s coming out today.

      ‘That’s Grandpa’s song,’ Paula said.

      ‘Grandpa sings it, yes,’ I said. ‘And you know the words too.’

      ‘So do I!’ Beth said and began singing.

      All three children sang the chorus about six times. None of us knew any more of the verses; I don’t think my father did either.

      ‘I know other nursery rhymes,’ Paula said when they’d exhausted this one. She began singing, ‘Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?’

      Beth joined in and when they’d finished Adrian began a rousing chorus of ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’, which we all joined in with, laughing. We headed down the motorway singing and laughing and only stopped as I pulled into the driveway of my parents’ house. My parents must have been looking out for us, for as I cut the engine their front door opened and they came out to greet us. I let the children out of the car and then introduced Beth to Mum and Dad.

      ‘Hello, love,’ Mum said, welcoming her. She hugged and kissed us all, while Dad hugged and kissed Paula and me and then shook hands with Adrian and Beth. My parents have a gift for making new children feel at home.

      Once inside we presented Mum with the biscuits and then I went with her into the kitchen to help make coffee for the adults and pour juice for the children, while everyone else went into the sitting room. We set the drinks and a plate of the biscuits on a tray and I carried it into the sitting room. Mum told everyone to help themselves. Paula had already found a place on Grandpa’s lap and was looking very comfortable. Beth and Adrian sat in easy chairs to have their drinks and biscuits, and when they’d finished Adrian showed Beth the toy box, which had been Mum’s idea so that I didn’t have to keep packing bags of toys to bring with us to keep the children amused. She’d added to it over the years, so there were toys for boys and girls of most ages. The two of them began doing a jigsaw puzzle together, while Paula stayed snuggled on her grandpa’s lap. Mum and I sat together on the sofa and chatted as delicious smells drifted in from the kitchen.

      ‘Dinner won’t be long,’ she said. ‘Grandpa and I thought you might like to go for a walk after we’ve eaten.’

      ‘Can we go to the dark woods?’ Adrian asked eagerly, glancing up from the puzzle.

      ‘Yes, if you’d like to,’ Mum said.

      ‘I would!’ my father put in.

      Adrian grinned. ‘The woods are very spooky,’ he told Beth. ‘And they’re very dark – that’s why I call them the dark woods. You can hide and jump out at people. They are full of scary monsters.’

      ‘I don’t like the woods,’ Paula said, snuggling closer to Grandpa.

      ‘We’ll stay together,’ my father reassured her. ‘You can hold my hand, like you did last time. There aren’t any monsters.’

      Once we’d eaten – a full roast with all the trimmings – my father suggested we went for our walk while the sun was out and then return for pudding later. We all helped clear away the dirty dishes, and then put on our coats and shoes.

      The Great Woods, as they are really called, are about three miles from my parents’ house and too far for the children to walk, so we took both cars. We parked in the small visitors’ car park; there were only two other cars. The Great Woods are more popular in summer and some visitors take picnics. My father opened the wooden gate that led to the track that ran through and around the woods. The woods are very atmospheric or, as Adrian said, ‘spooky’, because of the hundreds of very tall pine trees growing close together. Not much light comes through the branches, even in summer, and now in winter it was very dark in places. The density of the trees also magnifies the slightest sound in an otherwise eerily quiet wood, so that a twig crunching or bracken snapping makes you jump. It was easy to see how some of the locals believed The Great Woods were haunted.

      ‘Remember, you must be able to see us at all times,’ I called as Adrian and Beth ran ahead. This was a rule I’d started after one of our visits when Adrian had become too adventurous and had got lost for a couple of minutes. I think it had scared him as much as it had us, so I knew he would do as I’d asked, and Beth was keeping very close to him.

      The rest of us followed in the direction Adrian and Beth had gone – along the single track flanked by trees and bracken. Every so often they’d disappear from view and then spring out from their hiding place, making grizzly noises to scare us. Dad always warned Paula when we were about to be scared, so that when they did spring out she wasn’t too frightened; indeed, she often laughed. It was great fun. The track took about forty-five minutes to walk and then we returned to my parents’ house and enjoyed Mum’s wonderful homemade apple crumble with lashings of custard. As Beth had to telephone her father at seven, we left at six. My parents stood on the doorstep, waving and blowing kisses until we were out of sight.

      ‘They’re very nice people,’ Beth said. ‘I’ve had a lovely day.’

      ‘Good, love. I’m pleased,’ I said. ‘We’ve all enjoyed ourselves.’

      The children were quiet on the way home, exhausted from their day out. That evening when Beth spoke to her father I heard her telling him all about the great time she’d had at Nana and Grandpa’s, including a description of our walk in the scary woods. Beth then asked her father why she didn’t have a Nana and Grandpa. I couldn’t hear Derek’s reply as I was in the bathroom helping Paula, but I knew from Jessie that Derek’s father was in a care home and that he had no contact with his ex-wife’s family.

      That evening, once all the children were tucked up in bed and asleep, I sat in the living room with a cup of tea feeling a lot more positive than I had the evening before. Although John hadn’t been able to come home for the weekend, we’d made the best of it. The children had enjoyed themselves and hadn’t missed their fathers too much, and I’d enjoyed the time I’d spent with them and the day at my parents’. In the weeks that followed, I came to view that weekend as a small oasis of calm before the storm hit and life changed irrevocably for us all, СКАЧАТЬ