I didn’t know what to say. Could I explain to Ava that the smells from the kitchen had spurred me on and made me run the last few steps faster, so I hadn’t been concentrating on where I was going? But what came out instead was just a mumbled, ‘Sorry.’
‘Maybe slow down just a little?’ She cocked her head ever so slightly to one side. I looked up and felt relief to see Mum had appeared at the doorway with a pair of riding boots in her hand, she was about to open the door to the boot room.
‘Oh, Sasha, love, there you are.’
Ava turned on the step and faced Mum who was standing in the open porch by the back door. ‘Hello, Darcy,’ she said brightly.
Mum’s smile wavered. I looked down at my feet. ‘Everything okay, Ava? My Sasha’s not causing too much trouble, I hope?’ I looked up to see Mum giving me the glare. ‘Are ya, girl?’ Although it wasn’t a question.
Whereas Dad had spurred me on to spend time with Caitlin, I had felt nothing but bad energy from Mum whenever I mentioned I was going out to play. I was certain she thought me forging a relationship with Mrs Clemonte’s granddaughter was a very bad idea. She valued her job and from what I could gather she was worried boundaries were being crossed.
‘Not at all, Darcy,’ Ava sang, her tone of voice had changed dramatically from the one she had just been using with me. ‘I was just giving your young girl a little bit of a history lesson about the house.’
‘Well, good luck with that, Ava. Can’t say history is her strongest subject, is it, love?’ Mum let out a hollow laugh and I thought I saw Ava wince at the noise. I checked to see if Mum had noticed. She hadn’t.
‘Well, if there’s anything else you need to know, Sasha, don’t hesitate to ask.’ Ava stepped gracefully to the side. I looked at her black ballet-style shoes, knee-length blue pleated skirt and light blazer as I passed her and arrived next to Mum who shot me another look.
‘I love that jacket – you look like the spit of Princess Di.’ Mum chuckled as Ava descended the steps to the bottom. Ava turned slowly – the turn appeared forceful – and looked up towards Mum. When she finally met Mum’s eyes, only then did she let her lips form a smile.
‘You mean this old blazer? Why, thank you, Darcy, how sweet of you to say so.’ Ava smoothed the bold striped fabric. I noted how she had rolled the sleeves up slightly, I thought it looked quite trendy and perhaps I could do the same with my school blazer and then I might be one of the coolest-looking kids in my school.
‘Behave yourself,’ Mum hissed at me. She opened the boot room door which was just off the porch and it closed loudly behind her. Ava flinched ever so slightly, then her eyes were back on me again, steely and unwavering.
I turned and walked through the door into the hallway and turned left into the kitchen where Judith greeted me with a huge smile.
‘Hello, my love. Now, I’ve just the thing for you, I need a taster for my angel cake. Sit down and I’ll cut you a slice.’
I sat down at the long wooden table where my mum had been sat rubbing the silver when I first met Caitlin. Judith put a plate in front of me that had three tiers of sponges: pale pink, cream and yellow, with cream in between each layer and topped with a white-and pink patterned icing.
‘Oh, wow, did you make this?’ I said to Judith.
‘Course, I made it – it’s what I do,’ she said as she headed to the other end of the kitchen.
She came back a few moments later, carrying a large jar of pickles.
‘Got to make some tartare sauce for supper – Mrs Clemonte has some of her bridge friends coming over this evening and they want fish and chips, mushy peas, the lot! I suggested I drive into the village to the chippy, but you know what madam is like – she wants it all home-made. Don’t make no difference to me either way, but there’s nothing better than the taste of them chips straight out the paper.’ Judith stood still and looked off into the distance. ‘It’s making my mouth water just thinking about it.’
I could hear Judith talking but all my concentration was on the cake. I took one, two, three bites, it was sweet, light, fluffy, moist – everything I imagined it would be.
‘Cait’s just along in the drawing room once you’ve finished your—’ Judith looked at my empty plate and then my very full mouth. I gave her a crumby smile.
She let out a belly laugh. ‘I’ll put you down as a happy customer then. Go on, off you go.’
I got up, handed my empty plate to Judith, who was still chuckling, and thanked her. Outside the kitchen, I walked carefully along the hallway. I had never once run inside the house but with Ava’s words still ringing in my ear, I reminded myself to take it slowly. So far since we had lived at Saxby, I had only been along to the drawing room, peeked inside the main sitting room and the laundry room with Mum. I knew there was more to this house, and I knew it would be the most exciting adventure to explore it from top to bottom. I had never even been in Caitlin’s room – she’d never suggested we go up there either. I asked Mum why she thought that was, and she told me it was because the Clemontes saw bedrooms as a place of rest and sleep, not for playing in. There were so many other rooms to relax in: playrooms, the drawing room, the library and the huge garden, that to sit
