Rising to her feet, she put her hands on her hips and surveyed the three of us with a shake of her head. ‘I can’t take him, I’m afraid. We’re full as full can be. And I’m struggling to feed this lot as it is.’ She waved her hand towards a row of stone buildings from which emanated a range of barks and yips.
‘There’s three of you.’ Now her smiley face had morphed into that of a stern slightly disapproving head mistress.
Ash and I both shifted our feet like a pair of naughty school children.
‘I’d have him like a shot but they’re not that keen on pets at Drearyside, you know that, Melanie,’ said Hilda, smugness radiating in her voice as she beamed at Ash and me.
‘Yeah, real shame. They’d do some of those inmates the power of good. That Elsie Goodman actually smiled when I brought the little black and white terrier in three weeks back. Miserable old crow hasn’t cracked her face in years.’
‘That one was born like that.’ Hilda’s slightly plummy voice had suddenly adopted a distinct touch of Yorkshire. ‘I hear she had a fearsome reputation when she ran the haberdasher’s in the High Street.’
‘I remember it well. Me mam used to send our dad to buy her wool because she was so flaming scared of her.’
‘And look what one little dog can do. They bring so much joy.’ Hilda levelled another of her overbright smiles our way. Conniving old bat.
‘Aye. What about you?’ She turned her eyes on Ash. The dog was leaning against his leg.
‘I don’t want a dog,’ said Ash. ‘I’m just the taxi driver.’
Melanie raised a supercilious eyebrow. ‘With a vehicle like that you can afford to feed him.’
‘Happy to make a donation,’ said Ash with the hopeful look of someone who’d just seen a way to slip the leash.
‘Happy to take one but I can’t magic up another run.’ Her eyes narrowed with the cunning of a fox. ‘If you can house him temporarily, I might be able to see what I can do.’
Before Ash could say anything, Hilda jumped right in. ‘You could do that. You said you were between jobs, so it’ll be perfect. And he really likes you. And I can dog-sit if you have to go out for any length of time. Besides, you need a dog more than Claire.’
At that, Ash and I exchanged startled looks.
‘That’s sorted then.’ Mel beamed as Ash realised events had escaped him and started to splutter objections but she talked right over them. ‘I can sell you some dog food, a collar and a lead, and a dog bed, if you want one.’
‘Done,’ said Hilda, turning back to Ash and patting his shoulder. ‘That’s helpful, isn’t it? We don’t have to go shopping.’ She followed Mel who bustled away to an office building on the other side of the flagstone courtyard.
Ash frowned and then lifted his head my way. ‘How did that just happen?’
I lifted my shoulders trying to hide a smile, relieved that I’d escaped the Hilda treatment.
‘I’m not sure.’
I was dying to ask what ‘between jobs’ meant. Gardening leave? Annual leave? What had reduced the arrogant, super-confident Ashwin Laghari to the sullen, bitter Ash in his grubby grey sweats. Although, as I glanced down at what had quickly become my uniform of leggings, T-shirt and navy sweatshirt with a big Superman S emblazoned on the front, I wasn’t much better. Funnily enough though, I didn’t miss my little suits with their neat lapels and nipped in waists half as much as I’d thought I would.
Chapter Eleven
Four o’clock in the morning phone calls never bode well and, as I ran down the chilly wooden stairs, my brain quickly jumped to a million conclusions. My parents.
Oh God, please let my parents be all right.
Fear clenched at my heart as I grabbed the receiver.
‘Why don’t you answer your mobile?’
Alice’s petulant voice came down the line, tinny and aggrieved.
‘What?’ Bleary-eyed and forcefully ejected from sleep, my brain hadn’t quite caught up with my feet.
‘Your mobile. You didn’t answer.’
‘I left it downstairs,’ I finally managed to muster the words. ‘How are you? Have you had a great time? What time does your flight leave?’ I assumed she was just about to board the aeroplane. ‘The girls are very excited about coming to pick you up.’ They’d missed her so much. It would be just like that Love Actually sequence that never failed to make me cry, the one with the people being met by their loved ones at the airport. We were planning to make a hasty exit from school, drive to Manchester and meet her flight which was due to land at five-thirty.
‘Thing is Claire, I’ve… erm… well there’s been a bit of… I missed the internal flight. There’s been a landslide.’
‘What?’ Missing a flight was one of my worst nightmares. ‘Oh my God. Are you okay?’
‘Calm down, Claire. I knew you’d be like this. You really do need get your chakras realigned, you know.’
‘But you missed your flight. What are you going to do?’ My voice pitched with the anxiety that my sister should have been feeling.
‘Well there’s not a lot I can do but it’s all fine. It is what it is.’ Her businesslike tone was suddenly replaced by a far dreamier one. ‘Oh God, Claire, you should see it. It’s so beautiful here. I’ve never felt so much in touch with my life-force. The resort is just amazing, you know, and the people and… I love India. It’s so spiritual; I feel like me again. Cleansed and whole. I can breathe again. Like I’ve been in an iron lung or something for most of my life, you know, and now I’m free. Released like a butterfly from a cocoon to taste the nectar of life. I’m all gossamer wings and floating free. It’s the most amazing feeling.’
‘The girls are going to be gutted,’ I said, swallowing a lump in my throat. Ava would be devastated, with lots of tears and drama but far worse, Poppy would be stoic. I could picture her fine-boned, impassive little face. Poppy did stoicism a little too well. ‘So when’s the next flight?’
There was a too long pause.
‘The thing is… well, not until… next Sunday.’
‘Next Sunday? Not this Sunday?’
‘Yeah, well, like I said, the landslide…’
‘So are you stranded there?’
‘Yes,’ she seized on my words with undue relief. ‘But it’s okay. It’s only another week. I think I’ll be back next Sunday. Can’t guarantee it but I’ll call you. Besides, with school and their friends, the girls aren’t going to miss me. And this really has been a life-changing trip. I’ll be able to give them so much more as a person when I get back.’
‘Can you really not get back any sooner?’ I asked, my mind racing through the practicalities. ‘You’ve got parents’ evening and stuff next week.’
‘Claire, you can manage all that for me standing on your head. Besides, it’s always the same old lecture about not doing homework or reading with Ava.’
‘But—’
‘Claire, chill. The girls will be fine with you.’
Would they? I could do the practical stuff but… they needed their mum, and even I knew I was a pretty poor substitute.