by Ali Gardner
Not long after the skirt incident, Dad started advertising for a childminder. In his advert, he described Libby and Janey as two boisterous girls aged seven and nine years old, in need of some care after school each evening for 3 hours. The person would be expected to collect the girls from school, take them home and give them tea. At first, Libby was a little put out when she saw the advert, protesting that they did not need any help. Dad said that it would be nicer to have the same person each night, and that it was unfair to expect friends and neighbours to keep looking after them for free.
Chapter 3 - Curtain Twitchers and Kitty
A week later, Dad had arranged for a woman called Kitty to come and meet him and the girls at home. As she walked through the door, the first thing the girls noticed was how young and pretty she looked. Both girls had been dreading meeting the childminder, as Libby had warned Janey that she would probably be old, strict and mean. Libby had told Janey that the childminder would try to take Mum’s place.
Kitty introduced herself to the girls and gave them both a wide, warm smile. Janey thought Kitty had the happiest face she had ever seen. She had long, dark, silky hair that fell perfectly around her face. During this first visit, Janey had to stop herself from stroking it to see if it felt as smooth and velvety as it looked. To make it worse, Kitty seemed to play with her hair constantly, twiddling the ends as she spoke quickly about all the exciting things she could do with the girls after school. She told them how she loved to make things and that she had lots of materials, hats and costumes that she could show the girls. Kitty was just so kind and enthusiastic about everything, and kept apologising for talking so fast. She explained that she was quite nervous, but that she really wanted the job. Every so often, she would turn to the girls and smile or giggle before looking again to Dad to answer his next question.
It was agreed that Kitty would start the following day by collecting the girls from school and bringing them home to the girls’ own house. Dad said, “Don’t worry, Kitty; Libby will show you the ropes, won’t you, love?” Janey shot one of her mischievous glances towards Libby, who quickly replied, “Of course, Dad, you can trust me.”
That evening, Libby and Janey hatched a plan to put into action straight after school the next day. It involved a little preparation, some props and a quick role play to run through the scenario. As they were so excited to put their plan into action, Dad had no trouble getting the girls tucked up in bed ready for school and to meet their new childminder Kitty the next day.
The school bell rang to end the day, and Libby and Janey set their plan into action. As agreed, Libby would go straight to meet Kitty, whilst Janey would stay behind in search of a school jumper. Libby let Kitty know that she had just seen Janey, and that she would be out as soon as she had found her jumper. The girls both knew that a new childminder would attract attention, and that the Casserole Brigade mums would want to meet Kitty.
Unfortunately for Libby and Janey, they were well known by most of the mums – firstly because they were pitied for being the young children without a mum, and secondly because Janey in particular was known for her cheeky, sometimes naughty behaviour. Stalling Janey’s exit from school was intended to give Libby a chance to move the Casserole Brigade along. Two of the mums, Sue and Tina, had been good friends of Mum, and had promised her in her last weeks that they would look out for the girls when she passed away. Whilst Dad had been truly grateful for their friendship and loyalty, he was also aware of an ongoing feud between Sue and Tina, and noticed that they sometimes appeared to try to outdo or compete against one another in their attempts to support Dad and the girls. Sue and Tina lived directly opposite each other on the same road, and Dad could always guarantee that a visit from one would soon be followed by a visit from the other. Sometimes, both arrived with dishes; other times, it would be offers of help, or they would invite Dad and the girls over. Dad sometimes called them “the Curtain Twitchers”, because he thought they must spy on each other by peeking out from the edge of the curtains. Libby and Janey loved Dad’s funny names for people and would giggle when he referred to them in this way, but Dad was always sure to follow it up by saying, “That is family business, not to be repeated outside the three of us.”
Anyway, it was the Curtain Twitchers who held back to check that everything was all right with Kitty and the girls. Sue had offered to wait to make sure that Janey had found the jumper, and Tina suggested that Sue watch all the children whilst she went to the school to look for her. Libby had been adamant that she had just seen Janey and that there was no need for anyone to wait. Meanwhile, Janey was keeping watch from inside the school, jumping up to catch a glance through the window, which was slightly higher than she was. If a teacher walked past, Janey pretended to tie her shoelace or search for something in her bag.
Eventually, Kitty thanked the mums for their help, but assured them that she would be fine and said she didn’t want to hold them up. Tina’s youngest son was kicking up a fuss about having to wait and Sue, although reluctant to leave, knew that she was on a tight schedule and that she had to get home, feed the children and then set off for gymnastics club. The two left at the same time, glancing back every few steps until they turned the corner and Libby and Kitty were no longer in view. Seeing that the coast was clear, Janey skipped out of school, apologising for being late and explaining that she had to get something from Lost Property. Libby was desperately trying to nudge Janey to indicate that she had forgotten the part of the plan where she was to come out swinging the spare jumper that Libby had sneaked into Lost Property at the start of the day. Kitty asked where the jumper was. Janey, ever forgetful and easily distracted, replied “What jumper?”
Libby, slightly embarrassed, chirped, “The one you were going to get from Lost Property.”
Slightly stunned and unsure how to recover the situation, Janey just said, “Oops, I must have forgotten it again! Silly me, I will get it tomorrow.” Kitty thought that this behaviour was slightly odd and was suspicious for a moment, but decided to let it go as this was her first day and she was keen to make it work with the girls. Libby just raised an eyebrow to Janey and, when Kitty turned her back, she wound her finger around in quick small circles whilst pointing at her head.
“OK, girls, lead the way,” said Kitty. As planned, Janey asked to be reminded of which day it was. “Monday,” chirped Kitty. The girls instantly clapped their hands with excitement. Libby explained to Kitty that each Monday, they would always go to the sweet shop on the way home. Kitty, surprised that Dad hadn’t mentioned this, hesitated – but then she had to admit the girls had been pretty spontaneous in their chants of “Sweet day!” when they realised it was Monday. She had thought that the first day of the school week seemed a strange day to be a treat day. Nevertheless, the girls confidently guided Kitty to the sweet shop, trying their hardest to stifle triumphant giggles and appear as normal as possible.
Their second favourite sweet shop, after Grandad’s, was called the “Ye Olde Sweet Shop”, and it sold traditional sweets in big jars as well as sweets in tubs that cost five pence each. Once inside the shop, Libby explained confidently to Kitty that Dad always allowed them to take a small paper bag each and choose twenty sweets. Libby explained that this would cost two pounds in total, and asked Kitty if she had the money to pay for the sweets.
As they emerged from the shop, they bumped into Sue, who had nipped in to buy a newspaper to read whilst her daughter was at gymnastics. The girls quickly hid their sweet bags behind their backs and tried to swallow the sweets they had already tucked in to. Kitty greeted Sue and explained that they were on their way home after buying sweets, what with it being “Sweet Day”. Sue’s warm smile faded into a scowl as she explained to Kitty that the girls had tricked her and that there was no such thing as Sweet Day and, in fact, that Dad was very much against the girls having treats during the week. This was very true, as Dad had fought hard since the girls were little to convince Mum t
hat sweets and chocolate should not be part of a child’s daily diet. As Grandad owned a sweet shop nearby, treats had always been readily available to the children. Last Christmas, Grandad had made the girls the most fantastic present a child could ever wish for; he had made them a wooden sweet shop tall enough to stand behind and serve from. From his shop, he had provided six jars of the girls’ favourite sweets. The jars were the very same size that you would see in a real sweet shop on the shelves behind the counter. The girls were very popular after receiving this special Christmas present, and there was one game everyone always wanted to play when they visited the house. Grandad used to take the girls with him to the big wholesalers who sold food and goods for people who own shops and restaurants. There were more sweets in that one building than most people would see in a lifetime. Everything was sold in bulk, and each car or van left with enough sweets to keep a child satisfied for at least ten years. Grandad would always let the girls choose one jar of sweets to take home. He joked that it was important as a shop owner to keep on top of one’s stock.
The continuous stream of sweets coming into the house had been a constant source of tension between Mum and Dad. Having been brought up in a sweet shop, Mum didn’t have such strong feelings or concerns about this indulgence, but Dad had often tried to put limits on how many sweets the girls ate. He couldn’t deny, however, that the sweet shop had been the perfect present for the girls’ first Christmas without Mum, and had been a welcome distraction. Dad also knew that Grandad’s love for his shop, and all his stories about Mum when she was a little girl growing up there, were an important connection for the girls and helped to keep their memories of her alive.
Grandad often babysat for the girls and, after pinning down Janey and getting Libby to hold her arms tight, he would tickle her knees until she cried with laughter. Janey would beg her grandad to tickle her and he would pretend he was not interested and say, “Not tonight, I’m too tired.” Janey would plead and plead as Grandad moved nearer and nearer to her. When Grandad knew that he could catch her, he would suddenly reach out and grab her onto his knee and the tickling episode would begin. Once the girls had calmed down, Grandad would make them hot chocolate and tell them stories about the sweet shop. He told them all about the different sweets and would bring new ones for them to try.
Their favourite story, however, was the one about their mum falling through the ceiling of the sweet shop right onto the counter, knocking all the sweets flying all over the shop. Grandad had been working in the shop, and had sent Mum upstairs to collect some more jars to refill the ones behind the counter. What they called “upstairs” was really the loft. There was a stepladder to climb, and then, once in the loft, long wooden planks were placed across the soft insulation so that you could walk across it and get access to the jars stored on shelves on the loft wall. Grandad explained that you had to be very careful, as one wrong step could be very dangerous. Mum, who was light on her feet and able to balance with ease along the narrow beams to retrieve stock, was regularly sent up by Grandad to avoid him having to make the trip himself. What Mum didn’t admit until later was that she often used the wooden planks as a gymnastics beam, and would try out moves such as a plié – a movement that involved bending your knees out whilst keeping your feet together – or a jeté, a small jump. Sometimes, when she was feeling very brave, she would change direction during the jeté. Her footwork had never failed her until this point. She had decided to change direction from a jump with just a little bit more height on this day. As she landed, she wobbled and landed on her bottom, with her legs astride the wooden plank. About to let out a sigh of relief with her heart beating fast, she suddenly tipped sideways, falling through the spongy insulation. From the shop, Grandad had heard a loud thud, followed by a creaking noise spreading above his head. He and the customers in the shop looked up to see patterns rippling across the ceiling like you might imagine cracks appearing in an earthquake. Grandad dropped the jar he was holding as he saw his daughter falling from the ceiling. As she fell, Mum’s instinct had been to reach out and hold on to something. That something happened to be a shelf with a dozen or so jars of sweets on it, all of which toppled over in a domino fashion, showering jelly babies, dolly mixtures and chocolate éclairs on top of Mum as she landed on her back on top of the shop counter. One last jar was wobbling on the edge of the falling shelf; Grandad tried to grab it but missed, and the jar fell and landed right on Mum’s head, leaving her unconscious with blood spurting from her nose. It had been quite an event for the sleepy village of Greenwood. An ambulance was called and Mum was taken to hospital, where she was treated for a broken nose, concussion and bruises to several parts of her body. A few days later, the local newspaper had come to take a photo of Mum in the shop with all her injuries. Although it had been traumatic and not without cost for Grandad, he had enjoyed the attention, and still carried the newspaper article entitled “Sweet Dreams for this Jelly Baby’s Landing”, to show people after he recounted the story. The girls never tired of the story, and always looked forward to Grandad pulling out the crumpled newspaper article from his wallet and stealing a glimpse of Mum, as a young girl, lying across the sweet counter.
Kitty had felt very foolish that she hadn’t spotted the plot. Of course the girls would test their childminder. Her own mother had warned her of this only the night before. How had she missed it? She felt momentarily angry, but her anger was soon forgotten as she saw the looks of despair on the girls’ faces when Sue grabbed the sweets from them and said that she would show Dad exactly what they had been up to. Kitty kindly thanked Sue, but plucked up the courage to inform her that she would deal with this herself, and she took the sweets straight back out of Sue’s hands. She couldn’t quite believe she had been brave enough to do this, and Sue, also taken aback by this confidence from such a young woman, tutted and swept past the three of them, muttering something about being late.
Kitty hurried the girls out of the shop and down the street. Once around the corner, she sat the girls on a bench and, thinking quick on her feet as she had never been a childminder before and didn’t have children of her own, she explained to the girls that tricking her and lying to her were not acceptable. At the same time, Kitty had seen the funny side of it and wanted the girls to trust and like her, so, after a stern talking to, she said with the most serious face, “Now, remember; I make the rules around here, and the first rule I am going to make is that Monday is officially Sweet Day – but it is a special Sweet Day as it is Secret Sweet Day, and the code for that is SSD and it is never to be referred to in the presence of anyone other than those here today.” And with that, the serious mask disappeared and a huge grin and twinkling eyes lit up Kitty’s pretty face. The girls laughed with relief and quickly hugged Kitty. The sweets were given back to the girls, and both girls offered Kitty a sweet as they walked home, chatting all the way. Janey, the cheekier of the two girls, amused Kitty and Libby with her impressions of Sue and stories about the Casserole Brigade.
Chapter 4 - Headstands and Happiness
Dad was so pleased with the way things were going with Kitty, especially as his job was becoming more demanding. He had recently taken over as the Deputy headteacher of Milton High, following the retirement of the previous post-holder. It was no easy job. The school was tough, and some the children who attended had problems. Dad often told the girls about children fighting, swearing and throwing desks at teachers, and even the parents themselves fighting in the school playground. The girls found it hard to imagine that children could behave in this way, and Libby often worried that Dad might get hurt, but Dad was absolutely committed to his job. It was hard to know whether his obsession with work was a distraction from his recent sorrow, or whether it was just the way he was. Either way, it meant that Dad would stay at work each night until the job was done. He would not leave a situation unresolved, and often took children home himself to talk to their parents, or stayed late to support other members of staff who had had a
difficult day. It was a good job that Kitty only had her fiancé Nick to worry about, and didn’t mind staying late. On the nights when Dad was late, Nick would come round to the house to keep Kitty and the girls company. The girls loved Nick. He was a musician, and played the piano and guitar. He could not read a note of music, but he could hear a melody and play along to almost any song. If there was one thing Libby and Janey really enjoyed, it was performing songs and dancing. Any visitor to the house would have to be prepared for an impromptu show involving song, dance, some form of gymnastics (usually headstands), and audience participation. The format of the show rarely changed.