“Ah, that’s a great idea!” She beams. “Ravenswick is a lovely place! Good pub. It’ll be good for you to let your hair down. You have been such a help here, Harri. Go and have fun with the girls!” She winks.
I pull myself away from the table and stand with her in the kitchen. I help her add labels onto the empty jars as she stirs her large cast iron pot making the rest of her mixture.
“So, what does this do?” I point at the bubbling yellow liquid.
“This is a natural arnica ointment. It helps with aches, pains, bruises, muscle aches, insect bites and even swelling. Made from all natural ingredients.” She taps the side of the pot and adds in some more of the bright yellow petals that sit in a bowl next to her.
“Why don’t you just use your powers to just stir them all the time?” I ask, sticking another label to another jar.
“Lots of questions today, I like it.” She smiles at me and adds in something that looks like honey.
“Sorry,” I mumble.
She ignores my apology like it’s not needed. “I like stirring them. Do not get me wrong, my power is great for some things, but it can be tiring to use, and I like to do things myself while I still can.” She opens a pot of dried herbs and adds them to the pot, continuing to stir it with her large wooden ladle.
“Will you lose your powers then?” I ask, still unsure of how it all works.
“No, my darling, but I’m not getting any younger.” She tries to reach up to a shelf, standing on her tiptoes. “Can you pass me that red pot please?” She points to a small red pot filled with red petals on the highest shelf.
I help her and watch as she carefully decants that into the pot. I watch her work. The concentration in her face. I think about what she has just said. She is right. She is not getting any younger and I feel like I have missed so much.
I study her face in the light of the candle she has lit around the Aga on the dark and gloomy October morning. I study her lines and wrinkles, and her sun-kissed skin. I can see pain in her, feel it in the back of her eyes when she looks at me. She has been through it. Maybe it’s missing my life, maybe missing my mother’s. But deep inside my granny I can see she will never forgive herself for the time that has passed. And even though itwasn’t my fault, I can’t help but feel guilty for not being around too.
The emotions hit me, and I quickly wrap my arms around her to cuddle her close, making her jump.
“Thank you for letting me stay,” I whisper, leaning into her.
She relaxes and leans back into me, her arms wrapping around my back. “Thank you for coming to stay, Harri,” she says and strokes my hair. “Now…” She straightens me up. “What is today going to bring? Another book? Maybe a walk and some fresh air?”
“That sounds good.”
She squeezes my hand, and I head upstairs to put on my thermal leggings and thick woolly jumper. The temperature has really dropped in the last few days.
My phones rings. Unknown number. I let it ring out before it calls again.
“Hello?” I answer tentatively.
A stern female voice on the other end speaks. “Harriet?”
“Who is this?” I ask, puzzled by a somewhat familiar voice, but one I can’t quite pinpoint.
“It’s Mrs Belfour.”
My body freezes.
It’s Greg’s mother. Like my mother, but worse. She once fired her home help for having an epileptic seizure and spilling water not on, butnearher shoes. She is not a nice woman.
“Oh, Mrs Belfour, what can I do for you?” I say in my most polite voice.
“I think you know why I am calling, Harriet.” Her voice would make stone feel soft.
“Look, Mrs Belfour, I appreciate you reaching out, but I… there’s nothing to say.” I try my best to be as sunny as I can with the Ice Queen.
“There is a lot to say, Harriet. Now, you’re not a stupid girl.It’s one quality I like of yours. You’re not like the others around here and you know that. However, right now, you are acting very, very stupidly.”
“Maybe speak to Greg about why we broke up. Then we can see who has been acting stupidly.” OK, no more being polite.
“Oh, Harriet, Greg is an absolute idiot. No doubt about that. He’s been so foolish.” Wow, I didn’t see that coming.
