The Wicker Slippers

by Jon Jacks

  Max instantly relaxed. Turning to Lee, she chuckled wickedly.

  ‘So Lee, it’s not just fairies,’ she scoffed. ‘You’ve got witches here too, eh?’

  *

  Chapter 6

  ‘Hello; what’s going on here then?’

  Hearing the voice at the doorway, everyone turned.

  ‘Greg!’ Max cried out excitedly.

  She excitedly rushed over to Greg as, ducking to avoid the doorway’s lintel, he strode into the kitchen.

  ‘Greg! We weren’t expecting you just yet!’ Max trilled happily, slipping an arm around his waist and hugging him tightly.

  I wasn’t expecting you at all, Lee thought bitterly.

  He smiled grimly.

  ‘Yeah, what’re you doing here, Greg?’

  ‘How could I resist seeing what this wonderful cottage looked like in reality?’

  ‘Well, it’s not finished yet; there’s still a bit of work to be done.’

  Lee glared at the surrounding workers, daring them to even so much as smile at the embarrassment he was suffering as Max adoringly looked up at Greg.

  ‘It’s a house of witches Greg!’ Max rested a hand on Greg’s chest, winking at him conspiratorially.

  ‘Witches? I thought it was fairies!’

  Greg glanced at Lee with a wry grin.

  Max slapped his chest playfully.

  ‘Oh stop it Greg! Poor Lee!’

  Lee realised he was still holding the filthy slippers. He threw them onto the pile of rubble, giving his hands a hard wipe to try and remove some of the grime he’d picked up off them.

  ‘I think we should move outside,’ he said, moving towards the door, ‘and let these guys get on with their job, yeah?’

  Max and Greg, their arms still wrapped around each other’s waists, turned and stepped out of the kitchen.

  ‘Get back to work,’ Lee said with a scowl at the men, trying to reassert his authority as he shamefacedly followed Max and Greg outside.

  *

  They could have been the happy couple, looking on at the beautiful cottage they’d be moving into as soon as it had been adequately restored.

  That’s what Lee thought anyway as, from a suitable distance, he enviously watched Greg’s easy manner with Max.

  Greg still had his arm around her as, arms waving, Max explained how she thought the house should be dressed to get the best photos; some climbing roses strewn over the doorway, a purple clematis intermingling with the jasmine around the left window. A mix of plastic and cloth false flowers. Mature, potted plants bought from the nearest garden centre.

  She’d done it a number of times now. Each time a picturesque cottage was purchased to serve as a prize in the biannual competition held by the newspaper they all worked for: Win A Dream Cottage!

  Max had an ability to dress any house so it suddenly looked like everyone’s idea of a dream cottage. The climbing roses were a must, the wisteria clinging to the gutters an even better touch. If necessary, she’d even construct a winding path leading to the door, lining it with colourful flower borders.

  What’s she going to do to my old house? Lee anxiously wondered once more.

  It was his fault she was here, of course.

  He’d suggested to her that Apple Cottage was a perfect contender as the next house to be offered in the competition.

  As soon as she’d seen the photographs he had of the house, she’d excitedly agreed.

  ‘Oh Lee, it’s delightful, a delightful little house!’ she’d said enthusiastically.

  And that’s what he’d wanted, of course. He’d wanted something they could both share an interest in.

  Something that would be the perfect reason for them to have regular chats and meetings and, hopefully, draw them closer together.

  Naturally, he’d told himself at the time that he’d mentioned the house as a way of finally getting it off his hands.

  His mum had no longer wanted anything to do with it, she’d said.

  It brought back too many painful memories.

  His own memories of the house weren’t painful however.

  He’d been raised here, after all.

  He couldn’t remember anything about the explosion that had killed his gran. The damaged areas of the kitchen and bedroom above it had been completely rebuilt, so that there wasn’t a single reminder of the destruction the explosion had caused.

  That’s how his mum had wanted it.

  Well, she would have preferred to move out. But she couldn’t afford it at the time, not after leaving Lee’s dad.

  And no one was prepared to buy a house with such an unfortunate history.

  So if she was going to have to live there, she would only do it for as long as she had to. And only if any signs of the accident had been completely removed.

  ‘Lee! Oh Lee!’

  Max was shouting out to him. Waving to get his attention.

  Greg wasn’t with her anymore. While Lee had been daydreaming, Greg must have wandered off somewhere.

  ‘Yes Max?’ he said, drawing closer to her. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘Could you just help Greg unload the sleeping bags from his car please?’

  ‘Sleeping bags? What’s he brought sleeping bags for?

  ‘So we can stay the weekend here of course! I thought we could make a holiday of it.’

  ‘Holiday?’ Lee said edgily. ‘But…but the house isn’t liveable in. It doesn’t have water or elect–’

  ‘Yes it does, silly! I told the workers to make sure it was all installed so me and Greg could try the house out.’

  ‘You and Greg? But I thought you’d be going back to–’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry, Lee. Of course, you can go back! Obviously, I wasn’t expecting you to stay!’

  *

  Chapter 7

  ‘Lee’s going to give you a hand unloading the car before he goes,’ Max said as Greg appeared in the garden once more, this time with two sleeping bags slung across his back and wheeling a travel bag behind him.

  ‘This is more or less it,’ Greg replied. ‘I take it you’ve got your own travel bag?’

  ‘It’s in the back of Lee’s car.’ She turned to Lee, gently touching his shoulder as she gave him a beaming, pleading look. ‘Lee, would you be a dear and–’

  ‘Don’t you think all this is just a little crazy?’ Lee interrupted anxiously. ‘You don’t know anything about the village, or where the shops are. Perhaps I should stay as well to–’

  ‘Oh don’t be silly Lee! It’s hardly the Outer Hebrides, is it?’

  ‘But I mean I know the people here so–’

  ‘So you could introduce me to the pretty little thing I saw walking away from this house as I drove here Lee.’

  As Greg casually and lithely set his load down between them all, he seemed unaware of Max’s irate glares.

  ‘She was crying too, poor little thing.

  ‘Crying?’ Lee was concerned. Greg had pulled up outside the cottage not long after Janet had walked away. ‘What did she look like?’

  ‘Long red hair. Long legs. And as I say, very pretty. So, do you know her?’

  ‘Janet; if it’s who I think it was. It was Janet.’

  ‘Ahh, so you do know her! Perhaps you could invite her along for a fourso – ouch!’

  An increasingly furious Max had finally jabbed him in his chest.

  ‘Greg! You’re supposed to be on this weekend break with me, remember?’

  Lee didn’t know whether to be happy or upset that Greg didn’t seem to be as attracted to Max as she was to him.

  He was also too confused to bother trying to work out exactly how he felt.

  Why had Janet been crying?

  She had seemed okay when she had left him.

  Janet.

  Did she still live where she used to?

  If she did could he…no, it would be too much to ask wouldn’t it, with it being so long since they had last seen each other?

  Then again – hadn’t
they seen each other only moments ago?

  Yes, he’d ask her!

  He’d ask her if she had a sleeping bag he could borrow.

  *

  ‘Lee, what did you do with the witch’s slippers?’

  ‘Witch’s slippers?’

  As Max had hoped, she had drawn Greg’s interest away from this ‘poor little Janet’.

  ‘They’re not witch’s slippers, Max!’

  Lee was exasperated. He knew the slippers would just be another excuse for Max and Greg to make fun of him, like they did with the story of the fairy.

  He turned to Greg, hoping he’d be more sensible and understanding.

  ‘They were placed in the chimney breast to keep witches out.’

  ‘Hmn, that sounds like witch’s slippers to me. You are a surprise Lee; fairies and witches! Let’s have a look at them then!’

  With a happy giggle, Max reached for and took Greg’s hand. They rushed towards the house, an embarrassed Lee following on behind.

  ‘No wonder you found them in the chimney!’ Greg laughed when Max picked up and showed him the slippers. ‘Someone was probably trying to burn them!’

  ‘That’s what I thought too!’ Max giggled, playfully stroking Greg’s chest as she handed the slippers to Lee. ‘But they were even worse before! Someone must have tried to clean them up!’

  Lee studied the slippers curiously.

  Yes, it did look like someone had given them a clean.

  Even stranger, they didn’t appear anywhere near as threadbare as he remembered them either.

  *

  Chapter 8

  Even as he knocked on the door, Lee regretted coming here.

  This was crazy!

  How could he just turn up on her doorstep like this, asking if he could borrow a sleeping bag?

  Thing was, though, it was either this or leave Greg and Max in the cottage together for the weekend.

  He didn’t have much of a choice, did he then, when you took that into account?

  ‘Ohh, Lee! What are you doing here?’ Janet said in surprise as she opened the door.

  ‘Ohh, er, hi Janet!’

  Lee put on what he believed was his most charming smile.

  Hadn’t Janet had a thing for him at one time?

  He couldn’t quite remember. Perhaps he was a little confused, mixing up the times when they used to play as friends at his house with the times they hung out together now and again as teenagers.

  ‘Er, look, I know this is a bit odd, us only having just met again after so long, but, er…’

  He was faltering as he realised how strange all this must look.

  Janet smiled.

  ‘Yes?’ she said hopefully.

  ‘Well, I, er, was wondering if you had, er, something like a sleeping bag I could borrow?’

  ‘A sleeping bag?’

  She couldn’t hide either the disappointment or the annoyance in her voice.

  ‘Yeah, I know it’s an odd thing to ask for, but, see, it looks like we’re going to have to stay the night down at the cottage.’

  ‘Really?’

  She crossed her arms.

  This wasn’t going well, Lee realised.

  Suddenly, he had an inspiration.

  ‘And look, see, I was wondering if you’d like to join us down at the cottage for tea or something, you know? For old times’ sake? See how the cottage looks, now we’re doing it up again a little bit?’

  ‘Well, I’m not sure, what with you and, you know, your girlfriend…’

  ‘What? No, no, it will be fine, honest! Please come; I’d really like you there, Janet, I really would!’

  And he really did want her there too.

  Because that had been a major part of his inspiration.

  Greg had been quite open about his interest in Janet.

  And that had upset Max.

  Either way, Janet’s presence down at the cottage was bound to work to Lee’s advantage, wouldn’t it?

  *

  The workmen had left by the time Lee had arrived back at the house with Janet.

  ‘Oh, the flowers…’

  Janet looked at the plastic flowers strewn amongst the climbing roses with both surprise and distaste.

  ‘Oh, yeah; it’s to give it a bit of colour,’ Lee explained, the sleeping bag he was carrying almost slipping out of his hands as they both stopped to look at the house. ‘You know, for the shoot?’

  ‘Shoot?’

  ‘Win a dream cottage. Haven’t you see the competition in our paper?’

  ‘Oh, you work for a newspaper? I didn’t know.’

  ‘Course you didn’t know. Sorry; I should have explained.’

  Lee smiled.

  It was the first time he had smiled so naturally, so happily, since she had come across him once more, Janet realised.

  It reminded her of how Lee used to be.

  How it used to be between them.

  ‘Then…you’re giving away the cottage?’

  Lee chuckled, failing to notice the disappointment in Janet’s voice.

  ‘Hardly giving it away, Janet! I’ve managed to sell the useless old thing at last! Though, yeah, the newspaper will be giving it away I suppose.’

  ‘But, I thought, when I saw you and the girl…’

  ‘Max? Yeah, what did you think, Janet?’ Lee asked curiously.

  ‘That, you know, you and her were…well, moving in?’

  ‘Moving in?’

  Lee chuckled again, but bitterly this time.

  ‘No, no; it’s all business, I’m afraid. No, me and Max aren’t moving in.’

  Janet realised she could be reading too much into the way Lee spoke, but she could have sworn he seemed full of regret.

  Like he would have given anything to be moving in here with Max.

  ‘Then Max isn’t your…sorry, that’s none of my business, is it?’

  Why had she gone and asked that?

  What a stupid thing to say!

  ‘No, she’s not…not my girlfriend, if that’s what you were going to ask.’

  Once again, Janet noticed the hurt and regret in his voice.

  Despite his continuous efforts to try and put on an air of ease and confidence, he seemed so much sadder than when she used to know him.

  What had happened to him to make him like this?

  *

  ‘Hi, I’ve got a sleeping bag,’ Lee said as they walked into the kitchen.

  ‘Oh, well done Lee,’ Max replied, ensuring her words were dripping with disappointment.

  ‘And I’ve brought someone back with me,’ Lee added, stepping forward so Janet could follow on behind him.

  ‘Oh, hello,’ Greg said happily, rising from his chair and, with a casual wave of an arm, indicating the opened bottle of wine on the table. ‘Could I offer you a drink?’

  ‘I think our guest is too young for that, Greg dear,’ Max observed bitterly, draining her own glass without once taking her glaring eyes off Janet.

  ‘A sausage roll then,’ Greg persisted, waving his arm once again to draw Janet’s attention to the snack food scattered around the wine bottle. ‘Or a sandwich?’

  ‘I’m not really hungry, thank you.’

  Janet smiled gratefully as Lee dumped the sleeping bag in a corner.

  Greg grinned back.

  Max either scowled or smiled, Janet wasn’t quite sure.

  ‘I just came to take a look at the house; to see what sort of memories it might bring back.’

  ‘Memories?’ Max’s face brightened, her eyes glinting mischievously. ‘Such as memories of all the fairies that used to hang around here, eh?’

  ‘Max, how many times do I have to say I was a three-year-old kid when I thought I saw a fairy here?’ Lee was helping himself to a scotch egg on the table. ‘How many times do I have to say I realise it must have just been a butterfly or something?’

  ‘Lee, whatever it was, it saved your life remember?’

  Janet frowned at Lee. How could he take something
so important so lightly?

  ‘It might not have been a fairy, but it could have been something to do with your mother’s love for you: protecting you in some way, leading you to safety.’

  ‘Do you believe in that sort of thing? That a love can be so strong, it can protect you almost magically?’

  Greg sounded genuinely enchanted by Janet’s heartfelt belief.

  Max simmered with anger.

  ‘Well, all I can say,’ Max said cattily, ‘it must have been pretty interesting living here, with all these visions of fairies and all these witches hanging around the place.’

  ‘Witches?’

  ‘Oh, didn’t Lee tell you dear?’ Max held out her empty glass to Lee with a nod to the bottle on the table. ‘He found some witch’s slippers here. I hope that doesn’t scare you.’

  ‘Scare me? No, no, of course not. It was always said that Apple Cottage was associated with witches. Even when I was child. But it didn’t stop me coming here.’

  ‘Associated with witches?’ Greg looked a little mystified. ‘But weren’t the slippers supposed to keep witches out?’

  ‘Well, perhaps in this case they were put there to keep them in, eh?’ Max chuckled roguishly. ‘You know, stop them or their spells flying up the chimney? Greg, be a dear please and fetch the slippers for our guest to have a look at. I put them against the wall out in the hall.’

  As Greg obediently headed off to the hallway, Max graciously accepted a refilled glass of wine from Lee’s outstretched hand.

  ‘We also found an old tarot pack tucked in the back of one of the cupboards while Lee was out,’ Max continued, reaching for and producing a battered old tarot pack from amongst the food piled on the table. ‘Witches galore here, eh? Didn’t you ever notice anything weird or spooky going on here whenever you came round, Janet dear?’

  ‘Well, with all the rumours of this being a witch’s house going around at the time, and a child’s imagination being pretty wild even at the best of times; well, whenever I was in Lee’s bedroom, I used to run and jump on the bed, thinking a hand might reach out from underneath and grab my ankle.’

  ‘Oh, in his bedroom, eh? Running and jumping on his bed?’

  Max eyed Lee wickedly.

  ‘Lee didn’t tell me anything about this, Janet!’

  ‘You just ignore her Janet,’ Greg said as he walked back into the kitchen with the slippers. ‘She’s knows full well that you meant when you were a kid and there wasn’t anything going on between you.’