Finding Grace(7)

Blake coughed. ‘The parents who come here make a point of recycling their kids’ used riding gear amongst themselves, Mum. It’s perfectly good quality, and kids grow so fast. All that fancy stuff is just a waste, in my opinion.’

‘Oh yes, recycling,’ Nadine murmured, as if the very concept of it baffled her.

Blake, as a local councillor for the Green Party, was passionate about walking the talk, and environmental living was very much part of our lives. I couldn’t claim to be the world’s biggest eco-warrior, but I had managed to absorb rather a lot of climate-change facts and figures from Blake over the years, and my opinion was that there was probably something in it. Climate change, I mean. Which always made my husband laugh.

‘I should say there is.’ He rolled his eyes whenever I said it, and teased me. ‘In one short sentence you manage to be so effortlessly reductive of the world’s finest scientific minds, my dear.’

‘Grace asked me something earlier.’ Blake interrupted my thoughts. He’d raised his voice a little, and I knew he was trying to distract his mother from saying something so offensive I wouldn’t be able to hold my tongue. ‘As she says, she’s nine now, and she wondered if—’

‘Not the walking home alone thing again.’ I scowled. ‘Why can’t she just let it go?’

Nadine had opened her mouth to speak when there was a scream from the field.

‘Grace has fallen off her horse!’ someone yelled.

I dropped my cup and rushed over to the fence. Blake was two steps in front of me, Nadine lagging behind us. When we got there, the riding instructor was bent over our daughter.

Blake scaled the fence easily and was the first to get to Grace.

‘Is she OK?’ I yelled breathlessly, clambering over after him. ‘Grace?’

‘She’s fine.’ Blake glanced up from where he was crouching next to our daughter.

I looked down and saw that her wet eyes were folded in on themselves. Her face was covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, and I spotted the telltale paleness of her skin right away.

‘She’s having a sugar low!’ I plunged my hand into my anorak pocket and pulled out the small tube of glucose tablets I carried with me everywhere. I popped one into Grace’s mouth and her eyes flickered open to look at me. ‘Chew it quickly, poppet.’

The instructor looked at me, alarmed.

‘She’s a Type 1 diabetic,’ I explained. ‘Sorry, I should have mentioned it when we booked. She’s had breakfast, but her blood sugar must’ve dropped with all the exercise and excitement.’

The instructor lightly touched her own chest. ‘Phew, that was a bit of a scare. She just turned around to talk to the group behind and slipped.’

I nodded. ‘Her concentration disappears when she has a low episode, but the glucose tablets bring her back to normal levels really quickly.’

As if to prove a point, Grace propped herself up on her elbows and gave me a weak smile.

‘Feeling better now, chick?’

She nodded, her face still pale. ‘Can I get back on my horse now?’

‘I think this might be a good time to break for party food,’ the instructor remarked. ‘Thank goodness she’s OK. Panic over.’

I smiled my agreement and watched as Blake helped a slightly shaken Grace to her feet. The rest of the onlookers had gathered behind us. When I turned, everyone looked relieved, nodding and saying reassuringly that I shouldn’t worry, Grace was fine, which was true.

Still, I felt really sick.



Ten minutes later, Grace was the one cradling a small cup of hot chocolate in her hands. It served as a pleasant way to further boost her blood sugar levels and was a real treat, as usually she had to stay away from sugary drinks and snacks.

They’d brought the registered first-aider in to check her over; she said Grace had bumped her head but she was satisfied there were no worrying signs of impact.

The girls all sat in the party lounge at a table festooned with colourful paper plates and tethered balloons bearing the number 9. Tinny-sounding party tunes played in the background. Blake and I stood next to Grace and her friend Olivia, with Olivia’s parents Bev and Mike, who also happened to be our closest friends.

‘Don’t let it spoil your day, sweetie,’ I told Grace.

‘I’ve not had a low for ages and then it happens on my birthday,’ Grace said crossly. ‘And now my head hurts and my horse will think I don’t like her.’

‘I nearly fell off last week, Grace,’ Olivia said sweetly. ‘It’s no big deal, and anyway, who cares, because we get to go to Alton Towers tomorrow!’

She managed to raise the first genuine smile from Grace.

‘After a day at Alton Towers, I’m guessing me and Bev will be in bed before these two tomorrow night.’ Mike grimaced.

‘Oh, you’ll be done for, mate. No doubt about that.’ Blake grinned in agreement.

Grace and Olivia bent their heads together for a second or two before looking up at us.

‘Muumm,’ Grace whined. ‘When we get back from Alton Towers, can I walk home from Livvy’s house on my own?’ Before I could begin my usual response, explaining all the reasons why that was still not a good idea, she continued with her bid for freedom. ‘I’m nine now, and Olivia’s allowed to the shop on her own to buy sweets, aren’t you, Livvy?’