The Library of Lost and Found(66)

25


House

On Saturday, Rose and Will wandered into the library without their mother. They stood in front of the desk, both wearing bewildered expressions. “Mum made us walk here on our own,” Will said to Martha. “She said she didn’t want to see anyone, and we had to pack our own bags.”

Martha wondered if the anyone she wanted to avoid was Zelda.

“She’s in a weird mood,” Rose added. “She said you were lurking in our back garden at night.”

As she stored their overnight bags under the desk, Martha’s neck grew a little hot.

“I was merely returning Will’s trousers. Next time, I’ll teach the pair of you how to sew, so you can do it yourselves,” she teased. “Then I won’t have to visit your house at midnight.”

Rose and Will stared at her.

“I can’t do sewing,” Will said.

“I’m scared of needles. And pins.” Rose narrowed her eyes. “Are you wearing makeup?”

“A little bit…”

“It looks nice. Your lips are all pinky.”

“What are we doing this afternoon?” Will asked.

Martha wasn’t sure what to tell them. Lilian had forbidden her from introducing the kids to their great-grandmother, but she didn’t have a choice. “A, um, family friend is joining us,” she said. “We might all have a nice, quiet afternoon, down at the beach.”



* * *



While Will and Rose squabbled over which letter the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone DVD should be filed under, H or P, Martha took the job application form out of the drawer. She read through it again, refreshing her memory of the headings and what she had to complete.

“Are you finally going to fill that in?” Suki peered over her shoulder. “There’s only a few days left.”

Martha nodded. She wrote down her name and address then set down her pen. She wanted to share her story of what the library, and doing things for others, meant to her, but her discussion with Lilian made it difficult to concentrate.

“Just think of your Cumulus Vitae,” Suki prompted.

“Cumulus is a type of cloud,” Martha replied. “It’s a Curriculum Vitae, and I don’t have one.”

“Right.” Suki laughed. “I usually write notes down first. Then I copy them into the form. I make sure my passion shimmies through.”

Martha agreed this was a most proactive approach. She mused for a while, then took up a blank piece of paper. She picked up her pen again and waited to see if her words would start to flow.



* * *



The library started to fill with parents and children. Most of the Saturday morning crowd were usually well behaved, but some rolling about on the floor always took place, mostly by children and occasionally some adults, too. Martha smiled with encouragement as Will stepped in to separate two young boys who were hitting each other over the head with the beanbags.

Three mothers brought a rug, which they spread on the floor, and proceeded to lay out a picnic of carrot sticks, hummus, sausage rolls and crisps in the fiction section.

“Can they do that in here?” Rose asked Martha. “It is allowed?”

“It’s never happened before,” Martha said. “Please ask them to move to the edge. And tell them not to leave any rubbish behind.”

Rose shrugged and meandered over to the group. She pointed towards the other side of the room and the mothers nodded and gathered their things together.

Later in the morning, Clive strolled through the door. He carried a coffee in a large cardboard cup, from a posh coffee shop in Maltsborough. He sipped at it rhythmically with loud slurps. “Everything under control, Martha?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

It was the first time she’d encountered him since she fled from the reading group. She was determined not to show any weakness and sat up a little taller in her chair. “Yes. All is fine,” she smiled. “I’m taking a look at my application form. It’s all looking very, very positive.”

She watched Clive’s Adam’s apple dip as he swallowed his coffee. “Fantastic,” he said flatly. “I, um, look forward to reading it.”



* * *



After the library closed, Martha walked back to her house with Will and Rose. She made cheese sandwiches for their lunches, served with crisps and big mugs of tea. Then she explained that an old friend was going to be joining them that afternoon. “Her name is Zelda and I think you’ll like her.”

Rose gave a small wrinkle of her nose. “But me and Will thought we’d go for a mess around on the beach.”

Martha looked out of the window. The sun shone on the waves, making them sparkle. Perhaps it might be better if her niece and nephew were out of the way when Zelda arrived. “That’s fine. The two of you can go there now, if you like,” she said. “I’ll wait in for my, um, friend. Be back here in forty-five minutes.”

“Okay.” Will nodded, then paused with his hand in his pocket. “There is Wi-Fi down there, isn’t there?”



* * *



Twenty minutes after Will and Rose headed out, Gina knocked on the door. She carried Zelda’s turquoise suitcases into the cottage, a large one and an extra large. After that, she headed back to the car, then hoisted a fold-up wheelchair inside, too.