Sophie’s stomach clenched. She could already see where this was going.
‘Some time last week, the box at St Barnabas was broken into,’ the vicar went on. ‘It’s made of wood with a padlock and regrettably someone had forced it open and taken the contents. We don’t know how much money was in there, but we usually empty it once a month and the contributions can range from twenty to thirty pounds. I expect you’re wondering why I’m telling you this.’
Neither Marcus nor Sophie answered
‘There’s a lady – you don’t need to know her name – who lives in the row of terraces opposite St Barnabas. She does some cleaning in the church and arranges flowers. She was in there one afternoon sweeping between the pews and she was surprised to see a young man come in. He just stepped inside for a moment and took a lot of interest in the box, tapping it with his hand and rattling the padlock. Then he saw her and went away. But an hour later, she was at home and saw the same young man enter the church and come out a few minutes later, looking furtively to right and left before walking quickly away. Suspecting something was wrong, the lady went back and discovered the box broken and emptied of money. I suppose I should have gone to the police as soon as she phoned me, but I didn’t. Sometimes the Lord has ways of rectifying transgressions. I spoke to the lady, of course, and promised to investigate. She said she was sure she would recognise the young man if she saw him again.’
‘Is this why you’re here?’ Marcus asked.
‘I’m afraid so. I believe you have a son by the name of Rick.’
‘I do.’
‘The lady identified him as the thief and I don’t think there’s any question she is mistaken. She’s reliable and has no axe to grind. Let me say at once that I believe in second chances. If you can persuade Rick to return the money and give an undertaking that he’ll never steal again, I’m prepared to forgive and forget. This, I think, is a watershed moment and he must understand why I’m being lenient. I don’t wish any young lad to start on a life of crime. I fear that’s what will happen if he goes through the penal system.’
‘That’s very understanding,’ Marcus said.
‘I thought perhaps you wouldn’t believe me.’
Sophie said, ‘If we can’t believe a man of God, who can we believe?’
‘Shall we see if we can help him between us?’ the vicar said.
‘You mean, convert him?’ Marcus said.
‘Not at all. That’s far too much to aim for at this stage.’
‘You’d just like the money back?’
‘Not from you. That would be too easy. I’d like Rick to return it in person to me. He’ll surely see the sense in doing that, rather than being up before the courts. Then I’ll have a chat with him about his future. If you can do the same, we may set him on a better path. He’ll need much support and encouragement from you both.’
‘We appreciate this,’ Marcus said, ‘and I hope Rick will, as well.’
Rick returned from the nightclub too late for a fatherly chat and was still in bed at noon the next day, but as soon as he appeared, bleary-eyed and unshaven, in the T-shirt and shorts he’d obviously slept in, and told Sophie he was hungry, she offered to cook for him and left the room as if to collect something from the freezer in the garage and instead called Marcus at work. He took a lunch break and came home.
They had agreed that this would come best from both of them, so Sophie stayed in the room when Marcus told Rick about the visit from the vicar.
At first, Rick appeared to ignore his father, staring at a music magazine as he ate the last of his late breakfast. But when Marcus spoke about the collection box, Rick looked up and said, ‘So what?’
‘So you could go to prison,’ Marcus said.
‘Not for that,’ Rick said. ‘I might get community service.’
‘What you’re getting is a second chance.’ Marcus went on to explain the vicar’s offer. ‘Considering that you stole the money – you did, didn’t you?’
A nod.
‘Considering it’s a criminal offence, you’re being treated with exceptional consideration.’
‘He wants the money back?’ Rick said. ‘He can’t have it. I spent it.’
‘Then you’ll have to find thirty pounds from somewhere else.’
‘Only twenty-three fifty.’
‘That’s not the point. You’ll find thirty and go and see him with it. He’s got to have the box repaired or buy a new one.’
‘Haven’t got it. I’m skint,’ Rick said.
‘Then you can spend a few evenings at home instead of paying to get into the nightclub.’
‘I don’t pay. One of the bouncers lets me in. I happen to know he’s gay and he hasn’t come out yet, so he does favours for me.’
‘That sort of thing’s got to stop,’ Marcus said. ‘If you stay at home and do a few jobs round the house, I’ll pay you, and then you can go and see the vicar when you’ve got the money to return to him. It had better be this week. Shall we call him now and make an appointment on Friday?’
Rick shrugged.
Marcus passed his phone across. ‘It’s pre-dialled. All you have to do is press the key.’
Rick stared at the phone and did nothing.
‘But if you’d rather not, I’ll phone the police,’ Marcus said.
Sophie was proud of him.
Rick pressed the key.
‘But has he learned his lesson?’ Paula asked when Sophie told her about the incident.
A sigh. ‘If I’m completely truthful, I doubt it. The vicar talked to him about mending his ways. But since then I’ve noticed more money missing from my purse. Dishonesty seems to be ingrained in him.’
‘That’s awful.’
‘It’s an awful thing for me to say it, but I see no prospect of him changing his ways.’
‘Does Marcus feel the same?’
‘He’s never said so. The boy’s his flesh and blood. But deep inside, he knows, I’m sure.’
‘This puts such strains on your marriage.’
‘You don’t have to tell me, Paula. I’m in despair.’
Silence took over for a time.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this,’ Paula said. ‘It would be a long shot, but there is a local woman who is said to have had remarkable results in turning people’s lives around. I’m not entirely sure how she does it. Some homespun psychology, I suppose, force of personality and a bit of witchery for good measure.’
‘Witchery?’
‘There are white witches, aren’t there, who do good deeds? Wise women, they are sometimes called. They have some sort of power that can’t be explained.’
‘Is that what this woman claims?’
‘No, it’s more of what people say about her. She’s a little eccentric. But she seems to know what she’s doing.’
‘Is she expensive?’
‘I don’t know about that. You’d have to ask.’
‘I bet she’s never had anyone like Rick to deal with.’
‘Probably not, but I heard she’s straightened out several young people going through crises in their lives.’
Sophie wondered what Marcus would think of this suggestion, let alone Rick himself. ‘What’s her name?’
‘Angela. I don’t know her surname.’
‘Nice name.’
‘Yes, I’m sure she’s on the side of the angels with a name like that. She’s only about twenty-six herself, but she has a successful business in the town. She took over that tiny little shop where the cobbler used to be, next to the optician.’
One of the difficulties with working in the High Street was that Sophie didn’t get to see changes in the other shops. ‘What sort of business?’
‘Altering clothes. You want a hem turned up or a seam put in – let out, in my case – and she does it on her sewing machine, while you wait, sometimes. It’s a useful service, especially when new clothes are so expensive.’
‘Does the shop have a name?’
‘Angela�
��s Alterations.’
‘Nice idea, but he’d never agree to anything like that,’ Marcus said. ‘You saw how difficult it was getting him to see the vicar. I had to twist his arm, really.’
‘We’d go and see Angela ourselves, in the first place,’ Sophie said, refusing to have the suggestion brushed aside. ‘She’d need to know what the problem is.’
‘What the problems are, you mean. Thieving, shoplifting, blackmail, pestering girls, drugs, drink and defying his parents. She wouldn’t know where to start.’
‘Sometimes a fresh approach can make a difference. Let’s at least go and see her, Marcus. If she thinks he’s a lost cause, I’m sure she’ll tell us.’
He agreed to take an hour off work on Saturday morning and so did Sophie.
While waiting in the tiny shop, they watched Angela attach a new zip to somebody’s skirt. She completed the job remarkably quickly, handling the garment with total confidence. She looked younger than either of them expected, with a streak of bright green in her dark hair and silver clippings in her nose and ears. She wasn’t good-looking in the model girl sense, but she had an intelligent, open face with wide brown eyes that took in her visitors in a way that made them feel as if they were kids themselves. ‘What can I alter for you?’
Marcus explained, with some prompting from Sophie. They didn’t actually name Rick, but they covered his story comprehensively.
When they’d finished, Angela said, ‘So it isn’t a sewing machine job,’ and they all laughed. The tension eased.
‘I’ll need to know his name,’ she said. ‘I can see why you haven’t mentioned it so far, in case I don’t take him on.’
Marcus exchanged a glance with Sophie. It sounded as if Angela hadn’t been put off. ‘He’s called Rick. I’m sorry to be so direct, but what would it cost us?’
‘The same rate as all my alterations,’ she said, ‘but you wouldn’t have the cost of materials. Ten pounds an hour.’
‘I doubt if you’d fix him as quickly as you did that zip.’
‘No, but I don’t charge unless the job is completed to my customers’ satisfaction.’
Marcus did a double-take. ‘No success, no fee?’
Angela nodded. ‘But you must allow me to go about this in my own way, with no interference. Don’t ask Rick to visit me. I’ll make sure we meet. If he speaks about me – which is unlikely – treat it as if you hadn’t heard about me. And of course don’t let him know you’re paying me.’
Marcus cleared his throat. ‘I’m sorry to insist. We ought to put this on a businesslike footing. We’re not terribly well off.’
‘From all you told me, I would think five weeks might do the trick. I wouldn’t charge you all those hours, of course. I have a business to run. To give you a general idea, two hours a day would be the maximum. I work a six-day week.’
‘That’s about six hundred pounds,’ Marcus said.
‘Maximum,’ Angela said.
Marcus turned to Sophie, who nodded eagerly. She’d been impressed with what she’d heard. Witch or wise woman, Angela radiated confidence.
They left her reaching for another garment and giving it a shake. With the sewing machine on its table, the ironing board and the racks of clothes under alteration, there was scarcely room to shake anything.
Three days later, Rick said, ‘I’m going to learn to drive. I’ve applied for a provisional licence. Before you freak out, I won’t be paying for lessons. A friend is going to teach me in her van.’
‘That’s nice,’ Sophie said before Marcus could speak, just in case he hadn’t cottoned on. ‘You’ve always wanted to get behind the wheel.’
‘It’s on the level, Dad, I promise you.’
Marcus said, so smoothly that Sophie knew he’d worked out what was happening, ‘Go for it, son. When you’re ready to take the test, we’ll pay for it.’
After Rick had gone out, Sophie said, ‘Angela’s on the case, then. What a clever way of getting his confidence.’
‘I hope he doesn’t crash her van.’
‘He won’t. She’ll see to that.’
At the end of the week, Marcus returned from work and said, ‘I had a chat with Angela today. She stopped by at the garage to fill up. She has this little white van with Angel’s Alterations on the side in large lettering. And she has L-plates fitted front and rear.’
‘What did she say?’
‘It’s going well. He’s a confident driver and he’ll soon pick it up. She thinks the lessons are bringing something positive to his life, a sense of achievement.’
‘Did she say how they met?’
‘No, and I didn’t ask. She seems to have her own way of doing things and prefers not to say much about it. I get more impressed with her each time we meet.’
Paula from next door said, ‘Angela seems to have taken your stepson in hand. I watched him reversing round a corner in her little van this morning. He looked different to me, much more at peace with himself and the world.’
‘Yes, we’re so grateful for your recommendation. She’s a miracle worker. He’s better at home, gets up earlier in the morning and even helps a bit around the house.’
‘Speaking of helping, has he stopped helping himself from your purse?’
‘He has. What is more, he’s on better terms with his dad. They actually talk about music and football.’
‘I’m happy for you all. At what point can you say the alteration is complete?’
‘I don’t know. She’ll tell us, I expect. She promised it wouldn’t make paupers of us.’
‘I’ve heard her terms are reasonable. And she takes on all kinds of work. It isn’t just the troubled teenagers.’
‘Such as?’
‘I think she cures warts and chilblains and stuff like that. Folk medicine, she calls it. More alterations really.’
‘Things witches are traditionally supposed to do?’
‘Right, but I wouldn’t mention witchcraft if I were you.’
Sophie laughed. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it. We want to keep on the right side of her while she’s altering Rick.’
Marcus, too, was altering. He was becoming more relaxed as the days went by and his relationship with Rick improved.
‘Don’t ask me how she managed it,’ he told Sophie, ‘but it seems to be permanent. He and I are going for a drink on Saturday. The first time!’
‘I noticed he tidied his room and threw a lot of old junk away. It’s remarkable. There must come a point soon when we settle up with her.’
‘She said five weeks. We’re not there yet.’
‘How will you do it when the time comes? We don’t want Rick to find out.’
‘God, no! She knows where to find me. She’ll come to the garage, I expect. I’m going to feel like hugging her.’
‘Have we got six hundred in the account? That’s the figure she mentioned.’
‘I think so. I’ll make sure. She may prefer cash.’
The transformation in Rick continued. Instead of being so secretive he announced over breakfast one Sunday morning, ‘That woman I mentioned, who is teaching me to drive, is called Angela. We met by chance in the street. Actually I was having a bit of a run-in with a copper who said I’d been shoplifting. She came right up and said it was a misunderstanding and she’d sort it out.’
‘Were you shoplifting?’ Marcus asked.
‘That was then,’ Rick said. ‘I don’t do it any more. Any road, she took me for a coffee and we got on really well. She has a small business in the high street mending clothes and that. She’s in her twenties, I think, and she has a van and she offered to let me drive it round the car park. I must have done all right because she offered to teach me. She says when I pass the test she’ll let me do deliveries for her and she’ll pay me.’
‘That’s terrific,’ Sophie said. ‘Isn’t it wonderful, Marcus?’
‘Brilliant,’ Marcus said.
‘I’d like you to meet her some time,’ Rick said.
‘Actually, if she’s t
he Angela of Angela’s Alterations, I have met her a few times,’ Marcus said. ‘She fills up sometimes at the garage. And I agree – she’s a super person.’
The five weeks were up and Sophie reminded Marcus. ‘As far as I’m concerned, she’s turned him round. He’s a reformed character. He doesn’t swear any more. He’s given up the nightclubbing. I feel safe with him for the first time since we married.’
‘Do you think we should pay her the six hundred?’ Marcus said.
‘That was the understanding. We must keep our side of the bargain.’
‘Shall we see her together?’
‘It looks a bit heavy, both of us. Why don’t you call in at the shop with the money and tell her how grateful we both are?’
‘Good idea,’ he said.
‘Be careful, just in case Rick is somewhere in the shop. It would be dreadful if he ever found out the truth.’
‘It’s such a poky little place he couldn’t possibly be hiding there. Just to be sure, I’ll go at a time when I know he’s somewhere else. He’s much more open these days about how he passes his time.’
‘It was all a bit strange,’ Sophie told Paula when she went in for a coffee three weeks later. ‘Marcus withdrew six hundred from the bank and went to the shop and said what a difference there is in Rick and how grateful we both are, and what do you think Angela said?’
‘The money wasn’t enough?’
‘No. She said rather than taking the cash, she’d like to be treated to a day’s shopping.’
‘I don’t follow you.’
‘It was “treated” that was the operative word. She could easily have spent the six hundred on herself, but she wanted someone – a man – to take her shopping and buy everything for her.’
‘Weird.’
‘I thought so at first, but then I saw it from Angela’s point of view. She works really hard, stuck in that shop all week and doing things for other people. She’s not used to having a man take her shopping. It was a one-off opportunity, so I don’t begrudge it at all.’
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