‘You know what else youcando?’ I said, my voice tight. ‘You can speak without snapping, without sarcasm, without adding a frustratedurghat the end of your sentences.’
I could have stopped there because I’d made my point but I was sick of staying quiet to keep the peace.
‘Do you know how I know this? Because that’s how you used to speak. I understand that you’re not happy about the move –I’ve got that loud and clear from the outset – but it’s where we are and what we’re doing so you’re going to have to find a way of dealing with it. You’re nearly eighteen. You keep saying you want to be treated like an adult so I suggest you start behaving like one.’
I paused for her to retort but she said nothing, although we were back to the contempt radiating from her. Feeling stifled, I opened the window and gulped in the fresh air.
The butterflies went into overdrive as I indicated right at a sign for Hazelwick Farm and pulled onto the farm track. Maddie surely had to be feeling a smidgen of excitement by now, but I didn’t dare ask.
As I drove past the farmyard, I glanced at the clock on the dashboard – 6.21p.m. – meaning it had taken over nine hours to get here. Nine slow, uncomfortable hours with a daughter who I couldn’t seem to reach no matter what approach I tried.
I came to a stop beside Mam’s 4x4. Nova and Skye were standing up, circling round the boot, as though they knew they’d arrived at their new home.
‘There’s your nanna,’ I said as the side door to the farmhouse opened and Mam appeared, waving frantically.
Maddie opened the car door and ran up to Mam, nearly knocking her off her feet as she hugged her. It warmed my heart to see it and I just hoped that Maddie’s love for my mam would keep her attitude in check as the last thing I wanted was for the move to sour their good relationship. When we’d visited Parsley Meadows in February, Maddie had spent most of her time in her room but, when she had graced us with her presence, she’d mainly been on her best behaviour. Was there any chance of that continuing now that we were all living under the same roof?
Pressing a button to open the boot, I smiled as the dogs leapt out and raced up to Mam, eager for her attention.
‘We’ll soon get you three settled,’ I said as I opened the back door to let some air through for Clemmie, Bubble and Squeak.
Maddie had released Mam and it was my turn for a hug. I held on for longer than usual, needing to feel loved.
‘Would you like to see your bedroom first or get Bubble and Squeak settled?’ I asked Maddie.
‘The boys,’ she said, ‘although I need the loo first.’
While Mam took Maddie inside to show her where the downstairs toilet was, I reached for Clemmie’s crate, bed and a bag of her belongings and carried them into the house.
There was a utility room off the kitchen in which Mam had set up water and food bowls at one end and a litter tray at the other. Although she was an outdoors cat, we needed to keep Clemmie inside for at least three weeks to give her time to settle into her new home, to feel safe here and to leave scent markers to help her find her way back once she was let out.
I placed the igloo cat bed Clemmie favoured on the tiled floor beside her travel crate, unclipped the lid on the crate and lifted it off. With a mournful meow, she clambered out immediately. I picked her up, kissed her head between her ears and stroked her white bib, reassured when the meows turned to purrs.
‘This is your new home, Clemmie,’ I said, turning slowly in a circle. ‘I’ll give you a proper tour shortly but I need to keep you in here for now.’
I placed her down by the water bowl and she took a few laps while I removed a couple of her favourite toys from the bag along with a pouch of cat treats, which I opened. Feeding her a couple and leaving a few in her food bowl, I left the utility room, making sure the door was firmly closed behind me. The move was stressful enough without adding a missing cat into the mix.
The kitchen looked impressively tidy with the essentials like the kettle, toaster and coffee maker out on the worktops and several boxes piled neatly against the wall waiting to beunpacked. The purchase of the farm had completed on Monday so Mam had moved in then and Hope had helped her settle in. While Maddie sat her final exam yesterday, our furniture and belongings had been loaded onto a removals lorry which had travelled halfway yesterday and finished the journey today. I’d initially been disappointed that we hadn’t been able to coordinate the same moving day for us all but, with hindsight, it was probably less chaotic this way.
‘We were beginning to think you’d got lost,’ Mam said when I joined her and Maddie outside.
‘I needed to get Clemmie settled after her long journey,’ I said, instantly regretting those words thanks to the response it triggered from Maddie.
‘And I need to get Bubble and Squeak settled after their long journey,’ she snapped, stared at me pointedly before turning to Mam and sweetening her tone. ‘Where’s their new home, Nanna?’
‘That way.’ Mam pointed behind the farmhouse but, as we set off walking with the dogs, Mam turned and widened her eyes at me and mouthed, ‘Wow!’
Yes, wow indeed! So much for thinking that Maddie would contain her attitude around Mam.
‘Your Auntie Hope has been busy all day,’ Mam said, falling into step with Maddie. ‘She’s set up a new hutch with an outdoor run for Bubble and Squeak which I’m sure they’ll love.’
‘Why won’t they be in the back garden like at home?’
‘Because the back garden’s an overgrown mess and it’ll take longer than a day to sort it out,’ Mam said, ‘but they’re not far away.’
The farmhouse garden was enclosed by a stone wall at the back and fencing on either side. The wall was in reasonable condition but several of the fence panels had fallen down and a couple were missing. Thick thistles and wildflowers had beenleft to take over what had presumably once been a lawn and, while I loved wildflowers and was happy to encourage their growth elsewhere on the farm, I didn’t want them taking over the back garden. There was so much else to do around the farm that the garden would need to wait until next year. Fortunately the Garstangs had kept the front lawn mown so we could set up a patio table and chairs out there.
To our left was a row of stone barns, ahead of us beyond those was Peartree Cottage and a forge – both of which were rented out to a longstanding tenant – and to the right was The Dovecote, previously rented out as a holiday cottage. Between The Dovecote and the wall at the back of the farmhouse garden was a grassy area where Hope had set up the new home for the guinea pigs.
