I wished I was in the house now, hiding in a wardrobe or in the eaves, listening to the conversations of the family with their friends, which was like another language to me sometimes, but one I loved being able to witness first-hand. Despite the obvious differences that Mum was always harping on about, I always felt special in their company. I wasn’t sure if they thought I was anything but the girl who lived in the cottage at the end of the drive – in fact, I was sure that was all I was to them – but that didn’t stop the excitement and fascination I felt when I was with them. For example, I liked the way they said jersey instead of jumper, or the way one of them would come inside just as it had begun to rain and say something like, ‘I was having a perfectly lovely walk when it began raining cats and dogs – it was really rather alarming!’ I could sit amongst them for hours, just listening and not saying anything. I had been sat at the lounge window for over two hours watching more and more people arrive. The women were wearing cropped trousers, short-sleeved shirts and flat shoes, the men always had a button-down shirt on. Mum had popped into the lounge a couple of times, tutted the first time, and said, ‘Well, I suppose it’s better than watching telly,’ the second. And it was. It was like watching a real-life soap opera.
The sun was just starting to set in the sky now, a beautiful red canvas across the wildflower meadow, but I was distracted by another arrival in the driveway.
I knew it was Chuck the second he got out of the car. He had strawberry blonde hair, a tall and gangly figure and was wearing khaki shorts and a white short-sleeved shirt. He looked every inch of what a fourteen-year-old boy from a public school should look like. I saw Ava rushing out to greet him and his parents, followed by Caitlin, who ran at him as though she were trying to rugby tackle him. I felt my gut tighten at the way she threw her arms around him. I began to compare that one hug to all the times I had been at the receiving end of one of Caitlin’s embraces, trying to work out if she was as keen with her affection towards me. Although I couldn’t hear her words, I saw Ava immediately tell her daughter off for the outburst of affection. Chuck must have got his hair and height from his father, whilst his mother was petite with blonde bobbed hair. I hadn’t ever seen Ava quite as animated as she was in that moment, rushing to greet her friends. Despite remonstrating her daughter, she even pulled Chuck in for a hug, then pushed him back at arm’s length as if to get a good look at him.
Eventually, after more handshakes and backslapping between Maxwell and Chuck’s dad, the Andertons helped their guests take their bags out of the boot and began walking towards the house. I thought about what delights would greet them, the delicious foods Judith had been preparing all day that I had smelt earlier. I knew she was making a Queen of Puddings for their dessert. I had never heard of it before, but custard-soaked bread, jam and meringue layers sounded too good to be true. I hoped that she would leave me a tiny bit to try tomorrow.
As I watched their backs disappearing into the house, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. Initially, I thought it could be a deer or a fox, as I had seen many of them since we had moved here. But this figure was taller and came from the shadows of the outbuilding where lawn mowers and other heavy gardening tools were stored. I cast my eyes to the right and watched as Hackett emerged from the shadows into the last dregs of daylight in the driveway. He edged his way towards the main gate, where I could still hear the echoes of laughter and chatter coming from the assembled guests. I watched with intrigue as Hackett, too, followed those echoes until he found himself at the foot of the open gates, where he stopped, as though there was an invisible wall he couldn’t pass. Then he turned away from the gates and stood looking towards the red sky as I had been doing. His hands in his pockets, the light fading rapidly behind him.
Mum came into the lounge and gave me that look that said it was time for me to come and have my bath, so I climbed down from the windowsill, but not before taking one final glance at Hackett, who was still stood staring at the fading red light.
The next morning, I rushed to finish my breakfast so I could get out and meet with Caitlin. Mum had prepared me for the fact that she might be acting a little different today, showing off her friend to me, or maybe not wanting me to get too close to him. I had no interest in getting close to Chuck. In fact, I hoped he would have something more important to do than hang around with two twelve-year-old girls.
It was another hot day, and I wandered into the empty courtyard – neither my dad nor Hackett
