‘It’s for charity. Not only that, but Aleksy and Connie are kids, and they are doing something so, so great. For a grown-up to try to ruin that for them and for the homeless shelter is just unimaginable.’
I was tempted to add my two tails’ worth but I kept quiet.
‘I know, I know. I wasn’t thinking straight. I think it became an outlet for my anger. I’m going to see my doctor, tell him how I haven’t been sleeping, or feeling like myself at all. Look, I can’t tell you how embarrassed I am. I behaved in a totally unacceptable way and I don’t expectyou to forgive me but if you could just understand that I actually do need help.’ Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Claire, Vic, and Heather moved away from the doorstep and gathered in a huddle. Salmon and I joined them.
‘I think we should let her go on the understanding that she gets help and stays away from the show,’ Claire said. ‘I don’t think arresting her would be the right thing. It’s nearly Christmas, after all.’
‘You’re right. As much as we never condone breaking the law and we always like to see justice done, you can tell she’s really not in a good way,’ Vic agreed, which surprised me. He normally loved having people arrested.
‘It’s agreed then,’ Heather said. ‘We will give her the chance to get help but not let her near the show. We can’t risk that.’
‘No and I don’t think Aleksy and Connie would be able to forgive her so easily. Right, let’s tell her,’ Claire added.
We returned to the doorstep.
‘We’re not calling the police this time,’ Vic said.
‘Oh thank you. I am sorry.’ She sounded sorry, she looked sorry, but I still didn’t trust her.
‘But you have to stay away from the show and I think it would be good if you wrote a letter of apology to Aleksy and Connie,’ Claire added.
‘Yes, yes I’ll do that. And I’ll keep away from the show. I think the idea of Christmas without my husband also hit me very hard.’ I saw tears streak down her face, but again, she could have been acting.
‘We are sorry about that,’ Heather said. ‘But for now, I think you need to figure out how you are going to live on this street with people like us and not want to do anything to hurt us.’ I didn’t often say it but I did agree with Heather.
‘You have my word that I am genuinely sorry. And I know if you hadn’t caught me I might have done something again, which is such a horrible thought but I really am not myself, I think I might have been temporarily insane or something.’
‘I hope the doctor can help,’ Claire said sadly, and we all turned to leave.
Salmon and I stopped by the recreation ground where Nellie, Elvis, Rocky and Oliver sat. We told them all about the confrontation that had just taken place.
‘And what do you think?’ Nellie asked.
‘I’m confused,’ I admitted. ‘She sounded sorry, and she seemed to have realised how deranged she was being but then she is an actress, as she keeps telling us.’
‘I think she was sorry though,’ Salmon said. ‘I think she meant it.’
‘Only time will tell,’ Rocky said. ‘Last night, when she was chasing us all over the stage, I really thought she would try to kill us.’
‘Well maybe not kill us,’ Elvis said. ‘But she definitely wasn’t playing tag.’
‘People are funny,’ I mused. ‘Anyway, I must go and see Snowball, she’ll want to hear the latest.’
‘See you later, Alfie. And you’re right, people can be funny. If only they were more like cats,’ Oliver said.
Chapter Thirty
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Iwas so ready to welcome family day at the end of one of the most stressful weeks of the year. It felt as if it might be the last one before Christmas Day, what with the show and everything. The house was looking amazing, fully decorated with tinsel, lights, and of course our wonderful tree. Claire had put candles around, which had Christmas trees on them, but she wasn’t going to light them – she had done that once and poor George caught his tail on fire, so they were now purely for decoration.
I was still a little tired, having had barely any time to catch up on sleep between seeing Snowball and then my friends, rehearsing for the show, and looking after George and Pickles, although George wouldn’t take kindly to me saying that. And I wasn’t without worry, even though we’d saved the show.
George said that Hana was still very tired and lethargic, barely able to muster up enthusiasm for the show. I knew she was having a tough time sleeping– she was a light sleeper and woke whenever she heard Theo – but it had been going on a while now. George was unable to get her to come out on their usual walks, and he said when he visited the last few days she just fell asleep. I told him he needed to be understanding, which he agreed with, but I could see he missed the fact they used to have more fun together. I knew that it was hard for them both. I just hoped it didn’t ruin their relationship. Marcus and Sylvie had had a few more rows than usual when Theo arrived, because they were both tired, but they had worked it out and I hopedGeorge and Hana would do the same.
In light of everything, family day– which was again at our house – was a welcome day without any show rehearsal, and with the people we loved the most. Our house was a fair size but with us all there it seemed small, and I loved that. Harold and Snowball, Sylvie, Marcus, Connie, Theo, Polly, Matt, Henry, Martha, Franceska, Tomasz, Aleksy, and Tommy – oh and Pickles, of course – all crowded in our kitchen for lunch. Hana didn’t come because, as George said, having a quiet house was important for her to catch up on her rest, and he did seem to support her in that, which made me proud and also a little relieved. We putall the Christmas lights on, and the children chose Christmas music to play, which they insisted on singing along to. It was a very, very noisy house today so Hana certainly had the right idea.
After lunch, the children went upstairs and the adults, and the older children, went into the living room. Pickles and George went upstairs to play, but Snowball and I stayed downstairs.
‘So, now the younger ones are upstairs, can we talk about Barbara?’ Polly asked.
‘I was so mad at her, but she sent us a letter saying sorry and, well, I don’t know why but it made me sad,’ Aleksy said. He was a sensitive boy. He really did have a big heart.
‘I would have called the police,’ Tommy started. ‘Locked her up, thrown away the key.’
‘Tommy, you more than anyone know about giving people second chances,’ Franceska admonished.
‘Yeah, but I didn’t do … OK, fair enough, but what if she is just pretending to be sorry?’ Tommy did make a good point.
‘She wasn’t that good of an actress, not if that audition we all had to watch was anything to go by,’ Jonathan said.
‘The letter said that she was going to get help – some counselling for her grief – and also the doctor had given her something to help with her depression, so she was taking steps to feel better and behave better,’ Connie explained.
‘But she’s not in the show, right?’ Tommy asked.
‘No, I can’t cope with re-making anything else,’ Tomasz said, but with a laugh.
‘You’ve all worked so hard and we’re not doing anything to jeopardise that. We are pretty sure she won’t do anything else, but just in case we have three checks a day at the hall and this time we’re making sure the back door is locked,’ Claire said.
‘Oh goodness, I think that was my fault; I didn’t check it,’ Polly said. ‘I feel awful.’
‘Me too,’ Tomasz added.
‘I should have known. You are terrible at locking up, always losing your keys,’ Franceska said to her husband.
‘No need to blame anyone; it’s over now,’ Sylvie said. ‘And, thankfully, nothing that we couldn’t fix happened. I’m just glad the cats are alright.’
That was a matter for debate, George’s tail was still a bit pink and no one moaned about that more than him. Especially as he said it hindered him being a realistic sheep.