‘Just in time for the party it seems,’ he said, waving a hand at everyone around us, as they uncovered plates of food and poured drinks ‘but what happened to you?’ he asked.
‘I got trapped up a tree,’ I said, and then I had to explain to everyone exactly what had happened.
We sat, ate, chatted, and laughed, celebrating everyone’s safe arrival and new homes. Taz had found some more unbroken doors, and with Alex’s help, they had prepped a couple more bungalows. Everyone seemed settled and happy. I found myself sitting with Nina, watching the kids.
‘They seem to be doing much better,’ I said, as we watched William laughing, as he was chased by Leila and Taz. I looked at Rachel, playing quite happily with Liam on the floor.
‘I’ve decided to stay with Leila and Taz,’ said Liam, looking up at us, ‘I like it there and I can babysit William and Rachel.’
I nodded, Liam was only ten and needed someone to look after him, Leila and Taz would be perfect.
Later I sat beside the piano, watching Matty play. The kids always surprised me. I had no idea that Matty was an accomplished musician, playing almost anything that was requested, even some Taylor Swift for people to bounce around to. He had woken up on Wednesday immensely hungry and very weak, but by the next day, after a good couple of meals, had been almost back to normal.
‘I found a bungalow with a piano,’ he said, ‘and I want to thank you for the peppermint tea, I remember you feeding it to me.’
I nodded as I tapped my feet to the music.
‘Could I get a piece of the plant to grow?’ he asked, ‘I seem to have developed a taste for it.’
I smiled; it sounded like we had another gardener on our hands.
Eventually the kids started to get tired and the party died down. Leaving Mark and a few others to do the final tidy up, with Matty still quietly playing in the corner, the groups separated, taking the empty dishes and glasses back home. I walked back to my bungalow with Nina, carrying the children who had fallen into an exhausted sleep, but at my driveway she paused.
‘Whilst you were out, I moved into the house next to the girls,’ said Nina, ‘now that William and Rachel are so much better it was time to get our own place.’ We walked into the very bungalow I had earmarked for them and lay the children gently on the beds inside.
‘I can’t thank you enough,’ said Nina, wiping the corner of her eyes as she looked down at them sleeping peacefully. ‘You took us in when I was lost and utterly desperate.’
I looked at her… this was why people had opened their doors to the knockers; I felt I finally understood.
‘It was my pleasure,’ I said, ‘see you in the morning.’ I hugged her, then walked back out onto the street. The night was cool and clear, the good weather holding. As I ambled up my drive, I could see an envelope, pinned to the wooden sign I had hung from the door. I reached out in hope and opened it.
‘Z, we came by, but you weren’t here, will phone soon,
So typical of Vik; the briefest of messages… where were they? I would have to wait for him to call. Or go searching, they couldn’t be far.
I unlocked the door, and stepped into my bungalow. The electricity was off, and as I switched on the solar lamps scattered around the house, I could see that everything was sparkling clean. Matty and Nina had obviously tidied before they left. I walked into the front room and flopped down into my armchair with a contented sigh. Feeling a poke from my back pocket, I reached back and pulled out the card Peter had given me. It was blank except for a single uninformative email address. I flipped it over; in the centre of the card was a small x in a square. There was a mystery there, but I was content for the time being to let it be. I was home.
Characters
Zoe, (alias: Zara Ball)
Vik
Nadia (Mum)
Maria
Jenny
Garden Centre
Ben
Catrina
Daisy
Toby
Lucas
Carpenders Park residents
Frank Tipson
Cathy
Beryl & George
Helen & Brian
Robert & Sheila
Nina, Rachel & William
Amin, Rabia and Adam
Richard, Elizabeth
Heather and Andrew
Croxley Green
Anne
John
Tony,Anita,Judith
Wendover/Chiltern camp residents
David
Dr Peterson
Receptionist
Gordon, James
Jonathan, Malcolm
Stephen
Sophie & Imara
Olivia & Millie
Escape Kids
Ruth Sanders
Mark
Leila
Taz
Jack
Alisha Gill
Jasmine Gill
Kai Perth
Eddie Leathers
Drew Taylor
Liam
Alex
Freya
Mateusz (Matty)
Potters Bar
Tanya
Peter
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to my family, who provided encouragement and sustenance, whenever it was needed.
Also thanks to Elizabeth and her wonderful charity: the Community Learning Partnership.
Thank you for all your excellent work, for allowing me to sit and write during crafting sessions, and for all the fabulous suggestions.
And finally,
thanks to the Tai Chi Friday Lunch Club,
for all your unstinting support.
About the Author
Emma Zeth is a pseudonym I created when I was twelve and bored in school.
I am an ex-science teacher, who likes gardening and who used to live in a bungalow in Carpenders Park.
In 2019 I had a whole summer free, so I wrote the book that had been bouncing around in my head for the last ten years. It came out nothing like I had expected, but I had fun writing it anyway.
If you would like to know what the x on the business card symbolises and whether Zoe finds her mum and Vik, please let me know in an amazon review, or on my facebook page, and I’ll start writing book 2.
Copyright
First published in Great Britain in 2019
Copyright © 2019 Emma Zeth
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, businesses, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events, or to real persons, living or dead (or imaginary), is purely coincidental.