Finding Home by Kate Field

Author:Kate Field [Field, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008439439
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

A dry spell of weather was forecast and Bobby decided that it was a good time to work on the exterior of the caravans. It wasn’t a straightforward job, as he explained when a group of volunteers met up on Monday morning. There would be a lot of preparation work first, including smoothing the surface of the caravan walls and applying masking tape around the edges and windows. They would have to be patient before they could move on to the fun part of painting and seeing the caravans transformed.

There were some changes to the group of volunteers this time. One of the previous couples was on holiday, but three new women had arrived in their place, thanks to Heather promoting the project with her book group. Karen had started a different shift pattern at work so couldn’t make it, and Lia was inexplicably absent too. The plan was to paint one caravan first, as a test run, and so everyone set to work on the caravan closest to Mim’s, dividing into teams to cover each side. It was harder graft than Mim had expected, as she buffed the exterior wall to remove cracked and peeling paint, old stickers and uneven ridges. How could the walls be so huge when the interiors were compact? After a couple of hours, her arms ached more than after the most gruelling swimming session.

She was perched on a ladder to reach the top of the wall and she paused to roll her shoulders back and ease some of the tension. She hadn’t realised that the others had stopped work. Most of the volunteers were sitting on rugs on the grass – the book-club ladies had come well prepared – and only Mim and Bobby were still hard at it.

‘I can’t believe they’ve all buggered off,’ Mim said to him. She laughed and pointed down to the rest of the group. ‘We’re mugs still being up here. It’s obviously tea-break time.’

Bobby checked his watch.

‘It’s well past that. I reckon it’s lunchtime.’ He knelt up on the roof of the caravan and looked across the field. ‘There’s a car coming this way from the house. Perhaps Mrs Dennis has made sandwiches again.’

‘Enough to fill a car? Sounds about right. I’m starving.’

Mim scrambled down the ladder, followed by Bobby, and they met the car when it pulled to a stop at a strange angle half on, half off the gravel road. Lia jumped out of the driver’s seat, followed at a more sedate pace by Bea from the passenger side.

‘Happy birthday!’ Lia called, and before Mim could wonder at the coincidence of someone else also having a birthday that day, Lia dashed over and kissed her on both cheeks. ‘Isn’t this the best surprise, darling? Mrs Dennis has made a special picnic and we even have birthday cake. I picked it up from the cake shop this morning and they’ve done an amazing job. You’ll love it.’

‘But who told you it was my birthday?’ Mim asked. She was sure she hadn’t mentioned it.

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