‘Did you feed them?’ asked Tom, marching into the kitchen.
‘Yes. Savage rang. Gregory is bringing Rusty back after surgery closes tonight. She’s doing fine.’
He pushed his hands deep into his jeans pockets. ‘They’ll be going back then?’ His face was so glum.
‘Actually. As Savage is busy right now and Mac is a bit boisterous I offered for Rusty to stay here for a few days.’
Tom almost fell over his own feet as he dashed forward and hugged Maggie. The spontaneous action caught her off guard and she swallowed hard. ‘A few days,’ she repeated, trying to keep the emotion out of her words. He let go and straightened himself out, looking suddenly self-conscious.
‘Thanks, Maggie. You’re the best.’
‘Well that’s as may be. Now fill me in on book group and all the library gossip. I’m desperate for an update on Audrey’s swollen ankles.’
Tom made drinks and they adjourned to the sitting room where the puppies were wriggling around and getting ready for their next feed. ‘Farah was awesome,’ said Tom. His eyes fixed on the puppies. ‘There were like eight kids and to start with they were all hyper and running around and stuff. But Farah kept telling them she knew a real fairy and a real dragon and if they sat down she’d tell them stories about them. Then she read this kids’ story and she did the voices and stuff. The children loved it. I think the council bloke was impressed too.’
‘Which council bloke, I mean, man?’ asked Maggie.
‘Not the one from before. This was someone Christine knew. Christine was in like proper meltdown mode. She didn’t know he was coming. She wasn’t that pleased that you weren’t there for book club…’ He cocked an eyebrow.
‘And whose fault was that?’ She pointed a finger at Tom and the puppies in turn.
‘I said you had an emergency but there were ten people for book club so it was fine.’ Tom picked up the red merle puppy and gently stroked her head.
‘You mean they didn’t miss me?’
‘I didn’t say that.’
‘Anyway, this council person. Did you speak to him?’
‘Yeah. I didn’t want to, like, but Christine introduced me. I think she was trying to get the heat off her. I told him about the silver surfer classes and he asked if I’d do that at the library in town.’
‘And what did you say?’ Maggie leaned forward in her seat.
‘I said he could do one.’ Maggie tilted her head in a disbelieving fashion. ‘All right. I said the village library was my priority until its future was secured.’
Maggie’s mouth actually fell open. ‘Well, that was the perfect thing to say, Tom.’
‘Yeah. I thought so too.’
He really was full of surprises.
31
TOM
I didn’t sleep that well on Saturday night. I kept coming down to check on Rusty and the puppies who were totally fine. Although the little brown spotted one kept blending in with Rusty’s fur and I panicked because I thought she’d escaped. I ended up sleeping on the sofa, but I didn’t mind. I could stare at those dogs for hours. Actually I did stare at them for hours. Who needs TV when you’ve got puppies?
Once I heard Maggie was awake I went and had a shower and put my best top on and clean jeans because Farah was coming for Sunday lunch. I know Maggie noticed because she smirked as I came in the kitchen. She thinks I fancy Farah, which I do. Who wouldn’t? But I’ve been doing some serious thinking over the last few days. Maggie was right when she said Farah was a good friend. Maggie is usually right about most things.
Farah’s dad dropped her off and he and Maggie had a chat at the door about the library and agreed that Farah would call on Maggie’s phone when she was ready to be picked up. I took Farah on a guided tour of the farm. She’d brought her own wellies – pastel stripes. They were like the cutest boots ever. Her feet are tiny. I’d never noticed before.
‘I’ll be back in a sec,’ I told her and I jogged off to the barn. She was looking at the view when I rode the quad bike across the yard and she turned around. I could see she was well impressed. Her mouth actually dropped open and she squealed. I knew exactly how she felt, I’d felt the same when Maggie had driven it out that first time. Farah got on and I gave her the tour of the land. She asked loads of questions and was seriously interested about Maggie’s self-sustaining lifestyle – those were Farah’s words not mine.
I stopped by the henhouse. ‘Do you like eggs?’
‘Yeah.’
I handed her the wicker basket. ‘Then let’s get you some fresh ones.’
I loved how much Farah was grinning. It reminded me how much I adored it at Maggie’s. I opened one of the hatches on the henhouse and a chicken was sitting there roosting, which made the chicken cluck and Farah jumped backwards. It was real funny.
‘How are things with your dad?’ she asked, as we were dodging the chickens.
‘All right.’ She was watching me closely. ‘Well. Not great.’
‘You know you can share stuff. I won’t blab.’ She looked at me and waited.
‘Yeah. I know that but…’ What was I meant to say?
‘I might be able to help. I’d like to if I can.’ She was lovely – how could I not tell her?
I took a deep breath. ‘He’s an alcoholic.’
‘Oh, Tom.’ She looked shocked.
‘He’s getting some help now. Hopefully he’ll be able to kick the booze.’
‘And will you go back home then?’
I chewed my lip. ‘I’ve gotta go back sometime. But look at this place. It’s like being on holiday all the time.’ I splayed my arms out and spun around. Farah laughed, so I did it some more but then I had to stop because it was making my head spin.
The lambs were on form and did a series of lamb races for her like they were showing off. Daenerys and Tyrion ate grass out of her hand and I swear if bluebirds had come and plaited her hair and squirrels had tied her laces she couldn’t have looked more like Snow White. I retold the story of their birth, leaving out my screaming and retching and she looked suitably awed.
‘I totally get why you love it here. And Maggie…’ She looked back at the house. ‘She’s off the scale.’
‘True dat.’ We both nodded our agreement.
We called on Colin whose aggressive attitude I had bigged up but he stood there mildly chewing grass and looking calmer than a kitten. I swear he did it on purpose. At least I could show her the repairs I’d had to do to the gate. I think she believed me.
When we got back Maggie was putting in the Yorkshire puddings. I’d timed it perfectly, saving the best for last. We washed our hands and I took her through to the living room where Rusty came to meet us in the doorway and then went straight back to her pups.
‘This is Rusty. She’s staying with us for a while because she had a difficult birth. There were six puppies but she lost four.’
‘Oh, you poor thing.’ Farah knelt next to Rusty; the dog licked her hand and gave a thump of her tail. ‘Can I touch the puppies?’
‘Sure. Go ahead.’
‘What are they called?’
‘They don’t have names. Do you want to name them?’ It wouldn’t do any harm. Maggie said they can’t even hear until they’re two weeks old. Farah beamed a smile back at me. ‘The black and white one is a boy and this one’s a girl.’
‘How about Sheldon and Penny? I love The Big Bang Theory. Do you?’
‘Oh yeah. I used to watch it, like, all the time.’ Possible slight exaggeration but I have seen it. Farah eyed the black and white photo on the table.
‘Is that Maggie?’
‘Yeah. The baby she’s holding, that’s her son. He died.’
‘That’s so sad. How old was he?’
‘I dunno. It’s not something we’ve talked about.’ There was a long pause where I didn’t know what to say and I think Farah felt the same. She was petting the puppies when Maggie called us through for lunch.
*
Maggie’s Sunday r
oast was ace as usual. Farah asked loads of questions about how she grew her own veg, which Maggie seemed pleased to answer. Apparently, we’re eating seasonally – who knew? I don’t have anything to do with the allotment or veg patch, as Maggie calls it, but now I think about it she must dig up quite a bit of stuff every week.
Maggie offered us Coke or apple juice and Farah went into a bit of a speech about how bad Coke is for your teeth so we both had juice. I might cut down on the Coke.
After we’d wolfed down a rhubarb and strawberry crumble, which was without doubt the best crumble on the planet, I cleared the table and brought my schoolbooks down to the kitchen. Farah pulled out the latest iPad – it was my turn to be awed.
Then I remembered. ‘Sorry, Farah, there’s no Wi-Fi here.’ I was a bit gutted.
‘It’s okay, it’s got built-in 4G.’
‘Mobile signal sucks too. Although I did once get one bar at the top of the stairs.’
‘Can I try?’ Farah looked at me.
‘Yeah.’ I pointed up the stairs like a goon.
The next hour was possibly the best I’ve ever spent. We sat side by side on the stairs looking up revision stuff on the internet with the occasional divergence into ‘something she had to show me’ which was generally some YouTuber doing something brainless.
‘Right,’ said Maggie from the bottom of the stairs. ‘Will one of you show me how that tablet thingy works because I fancy getting myself one.’
‘Of course,’ said Farah. I moved up a step and Maggie took my place. I don’t think Maggie realised how mega expensive they are but there was nothing stopping her having a go with Farah’s. The three of us stayed sitting on the stairs while Farah walked Maggie through the basics and then handed it to her.
‘Try Google Earth. It’s brilliant,’ I said hitting the app icon.
Maggie typed in her postcode and after three failed attempts it zoomed in from the whole world to Furrow’s Cross.
‘Zoom in more, like Farah showed you,’ I said. Maggie stabbed a finger at it. ‘Two fingers,’ I said.
‘I’ll give the bloody thing two fingers in a minute,’ said Maggie, thrusting it back at Farah and we all belly laughed. Maggie left us and we went back to studying.
Farah’s phone pinged and we both looked amazed that she’d received a text. We were sitting close enough for me to see who it was from when she pulled the phone out. Josh Kemp. Of all the people. What the hell was he doing texting her?
She fired off a quick reply and put her phone away but I was tense. ‘Look, Farah. It’s none of my business but Josh Kemp – he’s not cool.’
She tipped her head at me. ‘Are you warning me off him?’
I held up my hands. ‘No way. You go out with whoever you like but…’ Something struck me. Farah was way too good for Kemp. ‘Actually yeah. I am warning you off him. He’s a thug. You deserve way better than him.’ The words just fell out.
‘What, someone like you do you mean?’ She was frowning.
‘No. Not like me.’ But it didn’t matter what I said because the flush of colour to my cheeks was always going to give me away.
Farah didn’t reply. She looked furious. She snatched up her things and tore downstairs. I almost fell after her in my panic.
‘Farah. Look I’m sorry. I was out of order.’
She ignored me. ‘Maggie, please can I ring my dad? I’m ready to go home now.’
Well done, Tom, you’ve ballsed your life up again.
32
MAGGIE
A couple of weeks later the ankle was almost fully mended and Maggie was able to focus more attention on her yoga. She had in mind that her own style of physiotherapy would strengthen her leg and enable her to pick back up her martial arts. And slowly she was building strength, which proved it was working. Tom was keen to learn more martial arts but there was a limit to how much instruction she could give from her armchair.
Tom’s yoga had improved. They were meditating together daily and he was catching on with the different poses. His core strength was rubbish, which was odd because most men Maggie knew were adept at sucking their stomachs in, especially if a young female was in the vicinity. Maybe it was a skill that came later in life or with the advent of a paunch?
One evening she had spent hours trying to teach Tom how to do a headstand and after many failed attempts they had eventually achieved a wobbly version but they had laughed a lot on the way. It was lovely to hear him laugh. The first few days after the falling out with Farah he’d been quiet and she’d left the subject alone. Eventually he’d opened up about the quarrel.
It was hard for Maggie not to take sides but she did momentarily try to take an unbiased view. As a woman she could completely understand Farah’s stance. On the other hand this Joshua Kemp sounded like a right little toerag and if Farah hadn’t spotted this herself then a warning to the wise was to be praised. Sadly Farah had taken umbrage and was ignoring Tom at school and had not been to the library since. Both of these facts troubled Maggie. Tom was short of friends – something they’d had a long discussion about while in the plank pose.
‘You’ll meet people throughout your life, Tom, and some will become friends but most will not.’
‘You must have loads then.’
‘No. Not really. I’ve never been that good at… keeping in touch.’ The truth was she always kept her distance. It was a conscious thing and a form of self-preservation but not one she would recommend.
‘Aren’t the people at book club your friends?’ Tom relaxed his muscles and flopped onto his stomach.
‘Hmm.’ It was a reasonable assumption but while the book club ladies were lovely and a vital source of human contact she didn’t know any of them well enough to invite them round for a coffee. ‘There’s nobody I particularly click with.’
‘I know what you mean.’ Tom sat up and crossed his legs. ‘Sometimes you think you have loads of friends. I did when I was at primary school. I thought all the boys in my class were my friends. And then stuff happened and I realised they weren’t friends, they were just boys in my class.’ Tom’s sad eyes stared unblinking at the window. It was one of the many moments she wished she could erase all of his pain. She came out of the plank and mirrored his position.
‘Friends aren’t merely the tumbleweed of faces that roll in and out of your life. Friends are the ones you connect with and who last a lifetime. You’ll pass a million people on your path and just a few will be worth spending time with.’
‘Choose wisely, says Yoda.’ Tom gave a huge grin, but what he’d said was spot on.
*
Saturday morning had been a struggle to tear Tom away from the puppies and onto the bus. The trip to the library would do him good and he had a number of silver surfer sessions booked in so she wasn’t going to let him wimp out. If Farah was there then it would also be a good opportunity for them to face each other. In Maggie’s experience the sooner issues were tackled the better. Those left alone festered for a long time, sometimes even a lifetime.
‘Do you think Penny’s okay? I don’t think her hearing’s as good as Sheldon’s.’ Tom was looking longingly up the driveway as the bus pulled away.
‘I think you’re fussing over those pups. They’re fine when you’re at school all day. Their eyes have just opened and hearing is the last sense to fully develop so their ears are only now starting to work. She’ll be fine.’
‘Have you thought any more about keeping one?’ he asked.
She didn’t need to face him to know he was making eyes bigger than the puppies did. ‘I didn’t think about it in the first place. I don’t need a dog.’
Tom huffed and slumped against the window. Maggie quite liked it when he behaved like a teenager. He’d had to grow up too fast after losing his mum and everything that had happened recently with his dad, so it was good to see him acting his age.
He perked up when the bus pulled into Compton Mallow. His head was on a swivel. She knew who he was looking for, but there was no sig
n of Farah. Tom slunk inside the library and switched on the PCs.
‘Is he all right?’ asked Christine.
‘Girl trouble. How are you?’
‘I’ve been looking for new jobs.’ Christine gave a weak smile.
‘But we’re fighting for your job here.’ Maggie tried hard not to show her frustration.
‘I know but I think I need to keep my options open. They’re closing two other libraries in the area and both of their staff have already got other jobs.’
‘That’s playing into the council’s hands.’ Maggie straightened her shoulders. Sometimes it felt like she was fighting the closure single-handedly.
‘Hmm,’ was Christine’s non-committal response. ‘I’ve not applied yet but I’ve got all the forms. It’s for an administration assistant at a company in town.’
‘Right. Well, let’s consider that your backup plan. Plan A is to save the library. Yes?’
‘Oh, of course. I made more posters this week.’
Heaven preserve us, thought Maggie, as she feigned interest in the bland A4 sheets Christine waved excitedly under her nose. What they needed was something to grab the headlines. The piece in the local press had generated a couple of letters to the editor in support but had soon become lining for cat litter trays all over town, taking the local reporter’s hopes of hitting the big time with them. Maggie needed to have a think.
The council had gone very quiet, which worried her. Her suspicious mind had conjured up all kinds of theories but she had no way of investigating if there was any dodgy dealing going on. That would be her prime angle to blow the whole thing open and save the library in the process. But that would only work if there was something juicier than the council trying to save money. She suspected they were simply biding their time until the twelve weeks were up and then they’d swoop in and close them down anyway. Well, not if she still had a breath in her body.
33
TOM
I sort of dipped in and out of the book club meeting. We’d read Behind Closed Doors by B A Paris and I’d liked it but it was the bit at the end of the session where people suggested books we should read next that I was interested in. I’d been thinking about it a lot and I wanted to share some of the books I’d enjoyed. It was a bit daunting because the other book club members were all quite opinionated and sometimes they talk over each other.
The Library Page 20