‘I could take him for a walk.’
‘Maybe we can ask Ash if we can borrow him tomorrow and go for a walk up on the moor.’
‘Okay,’ she agreed, giving Bill one last pat.
Ash was waiting for me at the entrance to the park. This morning we were going to map a route that he’d been working on during the week using a phone app.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said as we set off at a gentle pace, Bill trotting along beside us with the closest thing to a doggy grin on his hairy little face that I’ve ever seen, ‘we don’t want to make the run too easy, do we?’
‘No… but not too hard either.’
‘It would be nice to feel a sense of achievement at the end.’
‘And you don’t think running 5k is an achievement?’ my voice pitched in laughing protest.
‘Yes, but I think we could put a little hill in to make it more challenging. If we take the path around the western edge of the park right up to the end and then veer north east through the wooded area, we could climb up Beacon’s Knoll for the fourth kilometre and then it’s downhill for the last kilometre and we could finish just up from the bandstand where there’s plenty of room to stake out the funnel, and it’s only two hundred metres from the start point.’
‘Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.’ I shot a suspicious glare at him. ‘Have you mapped the route already?’
‘I might have done.’ He patted the phone in his pocket.
For a moment I considered the route in my head; despite the hill, I rather liked the sound of it. We were already running towards the west side of the park. ‘I hate to say it because you’ll be all cocky, but it sounds quite good. Even with the hill, there will be plenty of flat and we’ll stay out of the way of most park users if we go up into the woods, plus there is the reward of the great view from Beacon’s Knoll.’
‘You know it makes sense.’
‘Hmm. I’ll let you know when I’ve got up the hill.’
Although running came a lot easier now than it had when I first started, I still wasn’t up to speeding up the hill. I watched Ash tackle the incline at a steady pace, Bill leading the way with the occasional diversion to sniff at exciting prospects in the shrubs on either side of the muddy track as I slowed to an almost walk but I was determined not to stop. One foot in front of the other, I told myself. My calves were aching and my thighs burning when I reached the top but it made the downhill slope to where the finish line would be all the sweeter and I pushed myself hard for that last kilometre.
Chest heaving, I sank onto the grass and put my head on my knees. Ash was sitting sprawled on the floor with Bill prowling backwards and forwards next to him looking as if he would be happy to do it all over again.
‘Well done! You were flying down the path.’
‘Mmm,’ I managed. ‘Wanted to up my pace.’ That was the problem with having an app that broke down your run and told you your pace for each kilometre. Bizarrely, given that I’d never been that sporty, I seemed determined to rise to the challenge and beat myself. Suddenly I was obsessed with my times and comparing each run I did.
‘So what do you think?’
‘I think you’ve got yourself a 5k route.’
‘Even with the hill.’
‘Even with the hill,’ I agreed.
Ash grinned. ‘I knew you’d love it.’
‘Hmph.’
‘Come on, I’m ready for breakfast.’ He hauled me to my feet and gave me a quick, sweaty kiss.
‘I’ve certainly earned it. And Hilda was promising poached eggs, smashed avocado, and bacon.’
‘What are we waiting for?’
‘You do realise that in a couple of weeks’ time, this will be us. We’ll be packing up. Sorting out the times for everyone.’ We smiled at each other. ‘We’re nearly there.’
‘We certainly are.’ Ash closed the gap between us and kissed me firmly on the lips. In just over three weeks, this would be our Saturday mornings for the foreseeable future. I couldn’t help reflecting just how far we’d all come, although there was still one thing I wanted to do for Hilda and hopefully speaking to her son this morning might help me bring it about.
Hilda and I discreetly withdrew from the kitchen, leaving Ash in charge of washing-up, ably assisted by Ava, while Poppy sat with her new best friend, Bill. After Hilda had explained the situation, she handed the phone over to me and sat down on one of the pale blue sofas and pretended to be fascinated by the view out of the window.
‘Well this is an interesting one,’ mused Farquhar, ‘but you don’t need to worry in the short term. Social services are all about the best interests of the child. Leaving children with immediate family is always preferable to taking them into care… always assuming you’re happy to keep the children.’
‘Well, of course I am.’
‘What about your parents?’
‘I think they’d be willing to take the children but…’ I stalled for a second. Much as I loved my parents – and they weren’t particularly old – I felt I could care for the girls better. ‘I think I’d be a more appropriate carer. For the long term at least.’
‘I’m inclined to agree. Do you think it might become a permanent arrangement?’
‘A month ago I’d have said no but… my sister hasn’t been in touch at all.’
‘Are you able to contact her?’
‘Yes. I’m assuming she’s getting my messages. She has a phone and it rings out and I can see from Messenger and WhatsApp that the phone’s still active.’ I’d left messages on every damn platform going in the vague hope she might respond.
‘Hmm… this is a tricky one. It sounds like abandonment. If you feel that Alice is derelict in her duty and that you want to make a provision for the children, my best advice for their sakes would be to apply for a Special Guardianship Order. That then gives you some legal rights and enables you to make decisions for the girls about their health, medication, education, all sorts of things. At the moment, as it stands, you have no legal rights with regard to the children at all. And if the authorities felt that Alice had abandoned her children without proper arrangements, they would get involved. To apply for a Special Guardianship Order you will need Alice’s consent and you’ll need to make an application to the court, which of course I can help you with. Alternatively, if you feel strongly enough and that it’s in the best interests of the children, you could formally adopt them.’
‘Adopt?’ That wasn’t something that had even crossed my mind. Hilda didn’t even pretend not to be eavesdropping. She raised both eyebrows.
‘It would be relatively easy if you have Alice’s permission.’
‘God, I hadn’t…’
‘Something to think about. Remember, you always have to think about what’s right for the children. You could adopt without permission but that would get messy and unpleasant and you really don’t want that.’
‘No.’ My parents would be so upset. Although, at this present moment, if Mum had any idea what Alice had done, she’d be furious. I hadn’t dared contact her since our last conversation and Alice’s subsequent phone call. I was hoping that if Mum did get hold of Alice she might talk some sense into her.