‘I’ll leave it to you to settle,’ Able said and went off with a smile and a wave.
Peggy turned as the sound of the fight increased in intensity.
‘It’s mine!’ Fay screamed as Peggy walked into the room and pulled at something Freddie was holding.
‘I made it, it’s mine,’ Freddie replied, stubbornly holding on to what his sister was trying to wrench from his hands. It suddenly ripped and Fay retreated triumphantly with the largest piece of what appeared to be a calendar. ‘You’ve ruined it,’ Freddie looked at his twin accusingly. ‘I spent hours making it and you’ve torn it in half…’
‘You should have let me see…’ Fay said but looked a bit shamed as Peggy gave her a hard stare.
‘Give it to me…’ Fay handed over the torn cardboard and Peggy saw it was a calendar decorated with drawings of girls ice-skating on their own or with a partner. Her gaze moved to Freddie. ‘Were you making this as a gift for your sister?’
Freddie nodded. ‘I didn’t want her to see – it was a surprise…’
Fay suddenly realised what she’d done and her big blue eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was for me. I just wanted to see…’
‘You’ve spoiled it now and it took me ages to make,’ Freddie said. ‘I copied the pictures from a book and was making it for you for Christmas…’
Now the tears were dripping off the end of Fay’s nose. Peggy handed her a tissue to wipe her face and picked up the piece of the calendar that Freddie had thrown down in disgust. She looked at it for a moment and nodded.
‘We can fix this with some glue. It isn’t ruined, Freddie. If I put a strip of blank paper along here and glue both pieces to it, the jagged edges will disappear and you can draw some more figures or some holly on the blank paper. It will look pretty.’
Freddie looked, saw what needed to be done, and hesitated. ‘What’s the point if Fay is going to tear it again?’
His twin sidled up to him, her small hand on his arm, her look pleading. ‘I’m sorry for what I did, Freddie. Please mend it and make it nice for me – I love it.’
He looked at her for a moment and then smiled. Freddie’s smile was the mirror image of his father’s and made Peggy’s heart catch with love. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘Now I shall have to think of something else as a surprise – but you’re not to peek or try to steal whatever I make, Fay.’
‘I won’t. I promise.’ Her face was earnest, trusting, as she looked up at him. ‘You’re the bestest brother in the world and I shouldn’t have teased you.’
‘Right, put this away for later and let’s get off,’ Peggy said firmly. ‘Get your coats on while I just pop next door to Sandra and ask her if there’s anything she needs while we’re out shopping. I know she has visitors this morning so she’ll be busy…’
‘Yes, Mum,’ the twins chorused, looking like the angels they most definitely were not.
Peggy popped her coat on and went out of the back door and up her neighbour’s garden path. It was strange how forlorn most gardens looked at this time of year, trees bereft of their leaves and the roses straggling unless they’d been pruned in the autumn, which Sandra’s hadn’t for some reason.
Sandra saw her coming and opened the back door with a big smile. ‘Have you time for coffee?’
‘I haven’t come to hinder you,’ Peggy told her. ‘We’re off to the skating rink and then Christmas shopping after a snack in the café. I just wondered if there was anything, I could fetch you from town…’
‘No thank you, Peggy. I shopped yesterday,’ Sandra said and wrinkled her brow. ‘Oh, yes, there was one thing – I could do with some sugar. I have some coupons somewhere…’
‘It’s all right. I’ll bring you a bag and you can pay me back another day,’ Peggy offered. ‘You know we get a bit extra because of the café and I always scrounge some for us if I can, so I can manage for a few days.’
‘Don’t let me forget then,’ Sandra replied. ‘I’ve been a bit here and there recently. What with John’s work at the office going on for hours after it should and me trying to catch up with Mum and Dad’s problems…’
Peggy nodded sympathetically. Sandra was coping with her work, a home, children and a busy husband, as well as a father who had been diagnosed with early-onset brain syndrome, another name for senility, or the curse that often came with old age, and a mother who was increasingly fragile due to a weak heart. She spent hours helping them when her husband and children were out, which left her busy all the time at home. It was mentally hard, as well as physically, and her husband couldn’t help because he was struggling to keep his business on an even keel. Even so, Sandra was a good friend and picked the twins up from school when asked, delivering them either to the café or taking them to their club when she knew Peggy was working late. In return, Peggy cooked for the elderly couple, taking Sandra’s parents casseroles and apple pies and offering to do whatever she could to help.
‘What’s a pound of sugar between friends?’ Peggy said, but she knew Sandra would return it anyway when she was ready. ‘I’ll see you later then – I hope you enjoy your visitors.’
‘I shall – Millicent is my sister-in-law, but you haven’t met her. We lost touch for a while, because they’ve been overseas. Richie is still in the Army; he’s a career soldier and has recently been promoted to Major. They’re back in England for a couple of years now, so I hope to see more of them and their children – they have two boys, six and seven.’
‘A bit younger than yours then,’ Peggy said. ‘I’d better go or the twins will be in trouble again. I’ll call round later.’
Waving goodbye to her friend, Peggy returned to the house, collected her twins and popped them in the little Morris car that Able had bought for her when she had passed her test a few years back. It was nearly new then and she had it serviced regularly so it kept going and was fine as a runabout for the children and Peggy. Able wanted to buy her a new one, but he had many calls on his purse so Peggy didn’t push for a new car. She was content enough with the one she had, even if she had spotted a bit of rust on the rear bumper.
As she was about to drive away, the postman arrived and Peggy took the letters from him. She saw from the handwriting that one of them was a bill and there were two postmarked London – one from Pip and one from Maureen. Smiling, Peggy popped them in her coat pocket. She would read them while the twins were enjoying themselves on the rink. They were both pretty good so she didn’t need to watch the whole time and she would enjoy her letters from her eldest son and her friend.
5
Maureen replaced the phone receiver and went into the kitchen, where Gordon was sitting with the evening newspaper and a cup of tea. He looked up and smiled at her, indicating the pot.
‘I’ve not long made it – would you like a cup?’ he asked.
She nodded and sat down next to Shirley, who had her nose in a medical book. ‘Still working, love?’
‘I want to learn all I can before I go to med school,’ Shirley said. ‘You know I’m going to specialise in children’s medicine, Mum. I’ll need to pass lots of exams and so I’d rather read this than fashion magazines.’
‘You used to enjoy reading history and all sorts…’ Maureen was slightly wistful, because sometimes Shirley seemed a little too serious.
‘I still do when I have time,’ Shirley replied and smiled. ‘Don’t worry. It’s important to me to become a doctor, Mum.’
‘I know.’ Maureen leaned towards her and kissed her hair. She smiled as Gordon put a cup of tea in front of her. ‘Lovely. Well, it