He clearly decided against it, shaking his head, and clambering into the tub, the philosophical train of thought forgotten.
The smell of tagine suddenly caught her attention. ‘Did I turn the hob down?’ she wondered aloud. ‘I’d better quickly check.’
‘‘kay,’ Raffy said, pushing his speedboat through iceberg shaped mounds of bubbles.
Helena ran down the stairs, realising she had left it on too higha heat. She added some water to the pan, gave it a quick stir and turned the hob to its lowest setting.
As the knob clicked into place, she heard a shriek and a loud splash. ‘Raf?’ she called as she ran up the stairs, ‘Are you okay?’
Her heart lodged in her throat as she flung herself through the bathroom door to find Raffy half in and half out of the bath, blood pouring out of his mouth, clearly shocked and trembling with panic. Sobs racked his body as he clutched his mouth and tried to find the words to tell her what had happened. She grabbed a towel to stem the bleeding and pulled him out of the water and onto her lap. She hugged him close as he tried to get the words out.
‘I slipped… hit my tooth… I was trying to get the sailing boat…’
‘It’s okay. It’s okay darling. Don’t worry. You’re okay.’ She realised she was reassuring herself as much as him. She checked his teeth, they were all still there, and didn’t feel loose. Blood was trickling from the surrounding gum of his front tooth, which had hit the side of the tub, but there was no swelling. The shock soon passed and the bleeding had stopped; he seemed to calm down. ‘Do you want to get back in?’ she asked.
Raffy nodded. She held his hand as he climbed in. She passed him the boat and he played happily for the remainder of bathtime. Helena’s heart rate returned to normal as she tried her best not to think about what could have happened. Stories of children drowning in minutes in mere centimetres of water raced through her mind. She would never forgive herself if something happened to him.
12
HELENA TWISTED THEmop head into the draining section of the bucket, watching with satisfaction as the last droplets of filthy water squeezed out. She sloshed the dirty water down the sink, rinsing the mop one more time before swilling out the bucket. With a sigh of relief, she took off her marigolds and ceremoniously dumped them in the tub of cleaning products. ‘And that… is that!’ she laughed, beaming at Margery who was walking around the house with a goofy grin and the dazed expression of a contestant on a household makeover show. They had finally finished.
‘I can’t believe we’ve done it!’ Helena looked around, buzzing with satisfaction. ‘You wouldn’t even know it was the same place!’
Margery was beside herself with gratitude. ‘You are a wonder dear, a true wonder. I am so lucky to have you as my neighbour. There is no way on earth I could have done something like this without your help…’
Helena wrapped her arms around Margery and gave her a hug. ‘We did it together!’
She was annoyed that she hadn’t taken any before and after photographs. She knew that no one would ever believe the transformation. No one would ever see the state the place had been in before, which was probably no bad thing.
‘So, are you still up for a trip into town tomorrow to have a look at mattresses?’ Helena asked, glancing at her watch and realising how late it was.
‘Yes please. Shall I drive? It’s definitely my turn!’ Margery’s three-wheeler hadn’t quite had the required storage capacity.
‘No, no, don’t worry, it’s too easy for me. I’ll come and get you after I drop Raffy.’
‘If you’re sure?’
‘Absolutely.’
As Margery walked her out to the front door, Helena noticed a spring in her step. She could see why: if the practitioners of Feng Shui had a point, then the feel of Margery’s living space had gone from the most negative of states to the most positive. Even Helena could sense a sort of lightening in the mood of the place, accompanying the actual lightening due to the removal of objects blocking the windows. She laughed to herself as she imagined her mother smudging the place with sage and waving her crystal wand about to cleanse the energy of the house.
She dashed back across the road and stashed her cleaning supplies in the cupboard. Raffy had stayed late at school for a sports club, but time had got away with her and she was cutting it fine if she was going to make it for pick up. She pulled into a parking spot and raced to the front gate, where the group of remaining children were gathered, glad to see that Meg and Maisy were there too: it wasn’t only Helena who was running behind schedule. As she chatted to the PE teacher about Raffy’s prowess in athletics she saw Nathalie coming towards her. Too embarrassed to face her in person in case she questioned her refusal of the birthday invitation, Helena cut the conversation short and pulled Raffy away. She whipped her phone out of her pocket and pretended to answer a call, realising as she did so that her phone was not on silent. She crossed her fingers that it wouldn’t ring at the moment Nathalie passed by, thereby destroying her pretence. Luckily it didn’t. Helena talked away to a pretend friend, mouthing sorry and pointing to her phone to explain why she couldn’t stop and chat. Nathalie, dressed in a fabulous red skirt that wouldn’t look amiss on a Flamenco dancer, with large wooden hoops in her ears, gave her a cheerful wave. Helena was pleased to see that she didn’t appear to be holding a grudge, and berated herself for overthinkingeverything. If only she didn’t have such an overactive imagination. If only she could be a bit more like Nathalie. She bet she didn’t give a toss what other people thought.
The lateness of her arrival home meant that she was running a bit behind schedule with dinner. Raffy didn’t settle easily, wanting extra time in the bath and extra stories at bedtime. Helena then had to shower herself, keen to erase the traces of her hard day’s work, before she got started on dinner. As she was putting some pork chops in the oven Noah walked in.
Helena could feel his rage even though she had her back to him.
‘Well. I’ve just been having the mostdelightfulchat!’ he sneered.
‘Oh yes?’ Helena turned and smiled, determined to keep her cool.
‘With the old bat next door.’ Helena felt a surge of protectiveness over Margery.
Despite her determination, her heart started to pound a little faster, her palms began to sweat. Had he found out what she’d been up to?
She nodded mutely and swallowed, her mouth suddenly unbearably dry.
‘Apparently you have been “ever so helpful.”’ His fingers drew quotation marks around the words.
