Ninja School Mum

by Lizzie Chantree

  Zack picked up the small piece of wood and placed it onto his work desk. He loved his new app-designed workroom, in the old library. Other than walls of books and a few items of furniture, it was completely empty. He had a huge leather lounge chair, an indecently-sized flat screen television which could be hidden behind a sliding panel on the only blank wall, and three computer screens which were linked up on one side of his solid oak desk. He didn’t need fancy art or vases bursting with oversized flowers, as the room was on the right of the manor house and had huge picture windows on both sides. The stunning views of the gardens and fields beyond were nature’s paintings and the sight lifted his black mood slightly.

  His daughter was crying again and Zack couldn’t seem to soothe her tears this time. Her mum had walked out of their lives when Emmie was two and he hadn’t been able to refuse his daughter anything since then. He knew he was an idiot who spoilt her and she was turning into a demon child, but she could be so sweet and a complete angel when she wanted to be. Attending the local school had helped to ease her violent tantrums somewhat. She was perfectly well behaved with other adults and children, she just directed her anger towards him, shouting and generally using him as a verbal punch bag. Zack threw his arms wide in frustration before hunching down in front of his daughter and enveloping her in a warm hug, which was not gratefully received. She looked at him mutinously.

  ‘Look, Emmie,’ he explained carefully. ‘We can’t get another puppy.’ Zack looked over to where their two dogs were flopped out on the floor in exhaustion after two hours of playing with Emmie in the extensive grounds that encompassed their sixty-acre estate. ‘I don’t think even a puppy would have enough energy to play for this long. Buzz and Poppy might be a bit old…’ he gestured towards the panting dogs which they had inherited when they moved there. He knew they would need dogs with a property this size, but didn’t have the energy to train puppies as well as Emmie, so it had worked out okay in the end. ‘But they do run around with you as soon as you get in from school. They’re so excited to see you when you arrive home. How come you aren’t tired after a long day at school anyway? I’m exhausted,’ he sighed, rubbing his sore back from where he had helped Mike build a new lower walkway for the tree business that morning. Zack’s muscles had certainly developed since they had moved there, but boy, did he ache all over. Emmie wiped away her tears and hugged her dad fiercely, making him rock back in shock at the sudden burst of emotion.

  ‘Is there anything else bothering you?’ he asked, pulling away slightly, but loath to break the contact completely and dreading the ‘M’ word.

  ‘It’s Miles,’ she sniffed, wiping her nose on his arm, as he tried desperately not to scold her for being so disgusting or to stamp his feet at the mention of Miles. ‘He says that my dogs are old and useless and that his puppy, Roseby, wins rosettes at the Puppy Club.’ Emmie raised watery eyes to his and Zack’s heart melted. He pulled her in for another hug and she snuggled into his arms. Maybe he should be thanking Miles for making his daughter want to hug him, but he couldn’t quite be that gracious to the little horror.

  ‘Well,’ Zack said carefully, trying not to squeeze the life out of his daughter, grinding his teeth and wishing that Miles would stop bragging and go and find other friends. ‘Miles doesn’t know everything and his dog has a stupid name.’ He saw Emmie smile at this and Zack laid his head onto her soft hair for a proper cuddle. Miles was probably only being friends with Emmie because her dad ran the local tree climbing centre.

  The centre was situated in the wood surrounding their home, on the side of the main road. The back of the house had a formal kitchen garden with an abundance of vegetables, if Zack ever had time to pick them. To the right were fields, which ran across to the last two cottages on the estate. Zack had never invited Miles round, as the boy was a menace, but his mum kept booking him onto the training sessions that Zack ran up in the trees and she insisted on standing underneath and taking surreptitious photos of her son, but only when Zack was working.

  Zack was a workaholic who always ran the safety checks personally before any paying guests were allowed onto the site, so he was often around. He really didn’t like people sticking their noses into his business, which was why he restricted the site to one side of the estate, where the cottages were. Only one of the more isolated cottages was rented out at the moment, by a reclusive author and her family, although all of those on the main road were full. The last cottage by the fields was still a bit of a mess, as Zack hadn’t had time to refurbish it yet.

  To access the estate, you had to travel via a grand driveway to the house; the cottages acted as a barrier to the estate and then the tree climbing business nestled in the trees along the drive. It meant that Zack could see the hustle and bustle of people, but not get involved if he didn’t want to, and Emmie had kids to play with occasionally. Zack didn’t have time to be lonely with this place and Emmie, but he wondered if his ex, Kay, would come crawling back if she realised how well things had turned out.

  The problem he was finding was that Emmie was old enough now to start asking him for sleepovers and friends to tea. He was quite domesticated, through necessity, but he would rather pull teeth than have a house full of gossiping women and their messy brats. He bet they would love to find out he had been dumped by supermodel Kay Idol, as she self-deprecatingly called herself. Dumped with a baby and left for another man with a bigger wallet. Not that they had lived here then. He bet she would have hung around if they had. She left him for the guy who had hired her to model his diamond jewellery collection. The enticement of the material things he could offer her, draping sparkling stones around her wrist and throat, was too much to turn down and she hadn’t looked back, not even for her child. The family had lived in a small flat at the time. Kay was just becoming well known and Zack was struggling to get his first phone app working. She lost her patience with him and the responsibilities of having a child, leaving Zack devastated and Emmie distraught. She was such a selfish witch. He tried to think what he had ever seen in her, then he remembered her soft skin and her taut muscles. Zack had been so besotted by Kay that when she had decided her career wasn’t taking off and they should have a child, he had been sceptical, but happy. After despairing of him ever making a success of things, and tired of a squawking baby, Kay had landed herself a job abroad, met the diamond dude and called him to say she was never coming back.

  Zack had struggled to make ends meet and look after a demanding child, but he had done it, and just look at them now. He couldn’t quite believe his life had turned out like this, but he was glad that it had. His grandfather was well known in affluent circles and had owned this estate, but had let it pretty much run into the ground. He had tried to offload it on his son, Peter, but Zack’s dad was swanning around the Med and ignored his old man. It was just another crazy whim as far as he was concerned. Peter had saved carefully to be able to spend his retirement travelling with Zack’s mum. Although the family had good bloodlines, Zack’s grandfather was on a mission to spend all their money. Zack’s parents had become proficient at being frugal, even though his granddad was sometimes quite wealthy. He could be at rock bottom, then some bond or deal would work for him and he’d be rolling in cash again.

  Peter had grown up on large estates like this one, but seeing his dad fritter away the family money on his latest fads was soul destroying. He’d distanced himself from him, even though he loved him dearly, and let him get on with whatever interest currently held his attention, learning the hard way not to get involved, when his own trust fund had dwindled to nothing through constantly bailing his father out. Zack had a similar view of his granddad, although he did admire his free spirit and joie de vivre. Zack had not had any money for his granddad to ask for until recently and, even now, he kept his newfound wealth close to his chest.

  This time, though, Zack had grudgingly taken the opportunity to help out. Gramps was incorrigible and Zack didn’t want to be asked to extricate him from mountains of d
ebt, but Gramps had finally abandoned somewhere that had potential as an investment and Zack had some money to pay the creditors and could keep the building. The main house on the estate was a bit of a mess, but five of the cottages had been easy enough to renovate and rent out to pay for themselves. The woods had been turned into a valuable business with the tree-walking and adventure trails, which Gramps had started and got bored with, or ran out of money for. Apparently, his previous inamorata loved nature and wanted him to make a business out of the trees, but she hadn’t accounted for his short attention span and had to be practically dragged out of the wood when Gramps had swanned off to Italy with a darling woman he met while walking his miniature pet pig. Zack had found a new home for that before Emmie had a chance to fall in love with it. Apparently, ‘miniature’ pigs could grow to the size of a house.

  The new business was easily accessible from the main house, but far enough away for Zack to have privacy from prying eyes. The house would cost hundreds of thousands to renovate and keep up, but Emmie loved it here. They had found a great local school and she had a nice group of friends, Miles notwithstanding. With the basic business model Zack had implemented for the tree climbing, and by selling off the horrendous antiques Gramps had amassed then dumped all over the house, he was able to turn a profit fairly quickly. He hired a firm of specialists to come in and complete the trails in the woods, and finish securing the tree-walking ropes and walkways and, before he knew it, word of mouth had got round that the old man had moved on and his grandson had started a new place for kids and adults to blow off steam. It had been an almost overnight success. Zack couldn’t add to the place fast enough.

  The shock of losing his wife and bringing up a toddler on his own had been enough to turn a fun-loving guy into a virtual recluse. His own business had been in its infancy then and he had buried his bitterness and broken heart in long hours at home with his little daughter, praying that her mum would return. Zack had tried calling her endlessly, and left humiliatingly awful pleading messages saying how much they both missed her, but she ignored them all. Kay sent a quick note to say that she was sorry, but she wouldn’t be back. Zack’s heart broke for Emmie and he dreaded the day she asked him more about her mum. The few tentative questions Emmie had asked had been stilted, as if she was frightened to cause him pain. Zack didn’t know if Emmie remembered her mum but, as she grew older, he was sure she would want to know more. He sometimes wondered if this was the trigger for her tantrums. How could he tell a child her mum had abandoned her? The thought made him shatter inside and burn with uncontrollable rage.

  Zack knew that they were better off without Kay, who was now regularly featured in magazines. Luckily, she lived abroad, but a tiny part of him knew Emmie would crave a woman’s guidance one day. Better his influence than a woman like her mother, Zack thought bitterly, as he released Emmie to go and sit on the floor with the dogs now that she was calmer. He smiled as he watched her lay her head on Poppy’s chest while the dog didn’t budge an inch, she was so tired.

  Zack thought how lucky he was that the endless hours of hard work, in the flat where they had lived previously, had paid off. He designed colourful applications for phones and computers from the library in the main house now, although he did occasionally like to wander over to the separate office he had built by the side of the CloudClimb reception building. The phone app he’d designed wasn’t meant for children as, although he was a dad himself, he couldn’t stand most other people’s kids, but he had been totally astounded when the bestsellers’ list came out and his game was top of the rankings. Kids had told their friends and everyone was playing his game. No one outside the industry would know Zack had designed it, but he found that he had a talent for connecting with children through play. Who could have guessed?

  Zack now had enough money to rebuild the house and grounds and, if his programs kept selling the way they were, he would never have to worry about paying for anything again. He had originally thought that he would dump the tree climbing business, as it would be too much trouble, but he had decided to see if it could work, for Emmie’s sake really. Having a business that brought children to the estate, and didn’t leave her as isolated as his app design business did, could only be a good thing. Also, it meant he wasn’t a sad loser who sat in a big house on his own all day with just a small child and two old dogs for company. Zack wouldn’t have minded this, but he knew Emmie would. He didn’t want to be compared to her vivacious mother and come out lacking. He tried his best not to hate Kay, but it was an ongoing daily battle that he was losing. It was exhausting, carrying so much hatred around after all these years, but he couldn’t seem to shake the resounding sense of failure that followed him everywhere, however much he tried to build something new for them and paper over the cracks in their family life.

  He might be a bit grumpy and have taken time to establish himself, but Zack always knew he had skills in design and could maximise an opportunity when it fell into his lap. CloudClimb paid for the estate grounds to be kept in order and the app business sated his craving for technology and meant he could easily afford to update even a house this size. He had been looking into ways to bring the two businesses together and was actually quite excited about the possibility of using his latest app design outdoors. He was planning interactive games that began the moment a child, or adult, stepped onto the adventure trail, which wound its way through the woods and ended back at the entrance to the tree-walking site. The app would work via people’s phones and he was excited at the thought of installing video cameras on all of the safety helmets for the tree walkers, so that they could livestream their adventure to friends or parents on the ground.

  While he had been drifting off and dreaming of his expansion plans, Emmie had wandered somewhere. Zack assumed she had gone upstairs, but seeing the tail of one of the dogs disappearing behind a tree leading to the fields, he got up and started after her. Emmie was allowed to play in the fields, but now that someone was occupying one of the cottages beyond the farthest field, Zack quickened his pace. He hadn’t met the tenant yet and didn’t like the idea of his daughter coming across a stranger without her dad being by her side.

  Chapter Seven

  ‘Right,’ said Skye to her two new pupils as she crouched down in front of them and beckoned conspiratorially for them to lean in, much to the amusement of Thea who looked on from her vantage point at the little garden table by the back door.

  The children had scoffed down two huge bowls of spaghetti Bolognese, a whole loaf of garlic bread, plus almost half a bowl of grated cheese. Thea and Skye had managed to eat a small bowl each too, but the children had vacuumed the food up as if they had never been fed in their lives before. Thea had woefully said that her sister would berate her when they got home, as Allie had a beautiful splotch of tomato sauce right down the front of her pristine school blouse. Maybe next time, she should bring a change of clothes? Skye thought fleetingly, before forgetting it, as any pain Thea’s sister gave her over the stain must be worth it for the amount of fun they were having.

  ‘Okay, you two,’ Skye whispered theatrically. ‘You are now part of a very secret and elite team. Do you understand?’ Both children giggled into their hands and nodded solemnly. Skye placed her palm on her chest and the children followed suit. ‘Do you swear to keep our club a secret from people whose names begin with the letter ‘M’ and all other grumpy children?’ Allie and Leo fell about laughing until Skye gave them a hard stare and they got up and held their hands to their chests again, still offering muffled giggles, making both Skye and Thea exchange grins. Skye raised her eyebrows at Thea who promptly stood up and put her hand on her chest too, noticing another milk stain on her top the same time as Skye did and openly cringing at Skye, who smothered a laugh.

  ‘Right then,’ Skye said, loudly now as there was no one else for miles around, ‘you are all part of Project Ninja!’

  Thea gasped. ‘Project Ninja?’

  Skye laughed at her friend’s alarmed fa
ce. She supposed she secretly enjoyed shocking people. She had got used to having the element of surprise in her last job and it had stuck with her. ‘Isn’t that what they call people who stand on their heads and jump off high buildings?’

  Skye gestured to the climbing apparatus she had built with planks of wood and rope bought from the local DIY shop. The children had been climbing up and jumping off onto the yoga mats placed on the other side, which she and Leo had bought to try and find some Zen-like calm but had just used for dozing sleepily on the lawn. ‘They will learn to balance five spinning circles on their arms,’ she nodded towards the heap of hula hoops that would help with balance and timing. ‘These,’ she winked at Thea, ‘are ninja skills.’

  Leo rolled his eyes at his mum but seemed to be enjoying himself and kept quiet. Skye knew he was used to his mum’s theatrics and wacky behaviour but wouldn’t want her to scare his new friend away. ‘The way to beat the more forceful kids,’ continued Skye, as if she hadn’t just seen Leo’s response to her little speech, ‘is to avoid them, have no reaction and not care about their actions. Once a week at Project Ninja, we will learn skills to get out of the way when a naughty child approaches, have quick responses when they launch something at us and outsmart them at every turn. Are we all in?’ she asked, looking earnestly at the group. She was interested to see what Thea’s reaction would be, although she seemed to have been stunned into silence. Skye had only just finished building the course earlier today and had thought that only she and Leo would ever see it.