Coming Home to Jasmine Cottage by Zara Stoneley

Author:Zara Stoneley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008237981
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-08-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Lucy looked up in surprise as Maisie folded her arms and stared down at her desk, bottom lip trembling, her voice a barely discernible whisper. ‘I don’t want to be a dancing lady.’

She’d thought this would be the easy part of the Christmas festivities – assigning parts for the twelve days of Christmas, it was the actual execution of it that was supposed to be tricky. It had all seemed to be going okay, until the children had gone back to their desks to draw a picture and write a story about the part they were going to play.

‘Why not Maisie?’ She crouched down at the side of the little girl. ‘You’re a very good dancer and our class are all going to be ladies dancing, or lords a-leaping.’

‘Mummy used to take me to dancing, and now she doesn’t, she doesn’t take me anywhere. I hate dancing.’ She didn’t look in Lucy’s direction, just pressed her crayon harder against the paper, leaving a harsh red gash. Lucy knew how it felt, losing the things you used to do, little things that nobody else would have noticed.

‘Maybe we can tell Daddy, and he can take you dancing again?’ But she knew it wouldn’t be the same for Maisie. Dancing had been something her mother had done with her. Something she felt had been lost forever.

‘Dancing’s for cissies.’ Ted was busy drawing a tractor, which didn’t quite fit into any of the festive scenarios Lucy had in her head.

‘Dancing is for everybody Ted. Is that a Christmas tractor?’

He looked up at Lucy. ‘Santa should have a tractor, not a sleigh cos we don’t get enough snow. Ask anybody.’ He took the red crayon from Maisie’s hand and proceeded to colour the new mode of transport in. ‘He’d get stuck in the mud here, most years. That’s what my dad says.’

‘My mam says,’ Sophie who was sat on the opposite side of the table stared at Ted indignantly, ‘it’s too early to talk about Christmas.’

‘Well that’s cos you don’t keep turkeys, do you?’

‘I think that we’ll stick all the pictures that get finished today on the wall, what do you think Miss Jacobs?’

Lucy nodded at Jill’s intervention. ‘Definitely, they can be the first part of our Christmas display, and,’ she paused, ‘whoever finishes first can help Jill take the fireworks down.’

There was a sudden rush of activity, apart from Maisie.

‘I hate my room too, and I want to go home.’

‘I know you want to go home, Maisie. But your new room is very pretty, isn’t it?’

‘It’s wrong.’

Things were only right when there was enough of the same in them. When you had your mum and dad, your friends, all the things that made up normal life.

‘I want Mummy, but Mummy doesn’t want me.’

‘Oh she does, Mummy and Daddy both want you. But where Mummy is isn’t a good place for children is it?’

‘The school takes an hour to walk to.’ Maisie looked up, her tearful eyes wide. ‘A whole hour of walking.’ She blinked.

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