The Kindness Club on Mapleberry Lane - Part One: A Summer Surprise

with her childminder, Bea, and as usual held up both hands so Veronica could see as she looked out of the window. She held up ten fingers, clenched them into fists, then flashed another ten, scrunched them again and did it a third time. That meant she’d be over in thirty minutes. Veronica put up a thumb and went into the kitchen. She’d got some chocolate milk delivered as a treat for Layla as well as the Bourbon biscuits that were her all-time favourite. Her late husband Herman had disapproved of treats, so Veronica used to prepare vegetable sticks with homemade dips for after-school snacks, but when Herman was away she would make pancakes sprinkled with sugar and drizzled with lemon juice. She knew the importance of healthy eating – she’d been a nurse once upon a time before she’d been forced to leave the career she loved – but Herman had always thought he knew best and Veronica had done her best to keep the peace as much as possible. Now she was free to do as she liked, so she set out a few chocolate biscuits on a plate in readiness for Layla. Everything in moderation, she thought.

‘How was your day?’ she asked when Layla finally joined her.

‘Fun.’ The little girl smiled, skipping inside with the usual pink backpack on. ‘And Bea says I can stay for an hour before we have to go to my swimming lesson.’

‘Then you’d better eat quickly so you can digest them and not have your tummy too full. You’ll sink otherwise.’ Veronica ushered her towards the table and the awaiting plate of biscuits.

Veronica approved of Bea, at least from everything Layla and Charlie had told her. She was living at home with her parents while she studied through the Open University and so she was flexible when it came to Charlie’s shifts, an essential job requirement for whoever he hired. He’d been caught out once and it was the reason Veronica had met the pair of them. Charlie and Layla hadn’t been living in Mapleberry for long when Charlie came to the front door. Veronica had peeked through the shutters in the lounge and seen a stranger, and so she ignored the knocks at first, hoping he’d go away. But when she looked again and saw how frantic the man was and that he had a small child in tow who was sobbing by that point, she unlocked the door and opened it with the chain on. Charlie’s account of the problem had come out garbled in his panic. His phone line still hadn’t been sorted, he was late for his shift at work and he was desperate to get hold of the childminding agency to tell them that his regular childminder was sick and couldn’t make it today. Charlie had asked to use Veronica’s telephone and she’d let them in to do so. Layla had been so upset, clutching at her daddy’s leg as he made the call, but it was easy to see that this was a man managing the best he could. He made his frantic call, Layla begged him not to leave her, and he briefly explained to Veronica that their lives had been chaotic for a while, that his wife had died when Layla was a baby and so now it was just him, and Layla sometimes took a while to trust anyone new.

They hadn’t stayed long, but the following day Layla knocked on Veronica’s door clutching a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies to say thank you. Charlie was with her and had noticed Veronica’s front gate still didn’t shut properly. He’d offered to fix it there and then, they’d had a cup of tea, and rather than counting the time until they’d leave her alone, Veronica had found herself warming to the pair. Ever since that day, the three of them had formed a friendship that felt like family, and now, when Charlie had childcare problems, Layla came to Veronica’s. She even stayed for the odd sleepover if Charlie was working a night and Veronica thrived on the company.

Layla slurped her chocolate milk sitting at Veronica’s table, her legs swinging from the chair as she drank. ‘My teacher showed us how to smash up a plate today,’ Layla beamed, wiping away her chocolate moustache.

‘You smashed up a plate?’

‘Yes, it’s for the community flower wall.’

‘Ah, that makes sense now. I read about the flower wall on the local news website this morning.’ The community centre past the big field in Mapleberry had a wall separating it from the road and the council had given their approval for a community project to add flower mosaics as though it was an upright garden. To do this, they’d need lots of coloured china smashed into pieces.

How Veronica wished she could be a part of something so significant in Mapleberry. Once upon a time she might have been.

‘It’s on the kindness calendar,’ Layla smiled. ‘We can do it as part of the class in a group or with family or friends outside school. Our teacher says it will make people who don’t normally talk to each other, more friendly.’

‘I can see how that would work.’

‘The class is having an after-school club to come up with a flower design for those who want to.’ She shrugged as though unsure.

‘And you don’t want to do it?’

‘The club is on a day I have Brownies.’ Her spirits fell. ‘I can’t be a part of it.’

Veronica almost blurted out that she’d do it, she’d form a club with Layla instead. But how could she?

‘Daddy said he’ll go to some second-hand shops and see if he can find some colourful old plates or china for me to break up, but he doesn’t know when he’ll have enough time to work on the wall with me. He says he doesn’t have a creative bone in his body. Is it true? Do we have a creative bone? And where is it?’

Veronica grinned. ‘We don’t have a special