The Kindness Club on Mapleberry Lane - Part Three: A Winter Wish by Helen Rolfe

Author:Helen Rolfe [Rolfe, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781398700284
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2020-11-11T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Audrey

Gran hovered at the window the next morning when the bin trucks rolled along Mapleberry Lane and came to a standstill outside the front of the house, and after she’d counted how many men she could see, Audrey picked up the cardboard box filled with brownies to take out to them. The guy tipped his cap at her in thanks, shy, but wished her a Merry Christmas and waved over to Gran hovering in the doorway. The recycling truck came right after the garbage truck so Audrey ran down the path to grab the second box and handed them over to one of the guys she’d said hello to last week. He told her he’d take them back to eat once they’d finished their shift. ‘Thank you!’ he bellowed over to Gran with a wave. She was hovering in the doorway. ‘She’s always got a smile for us,’ he confided to Audrey. ‘Most people don’t talk to us unless it’s to moan we’re taking up the whole street with our trucks.’

Audrey suspected it was the most conversation he’d had with a resident on the street and it gave her a little buzz to know she’d helped. ‘Enjoy the brownies, they’re the best.’

He patted a portly tummy. ‘I’m sure I will. And Merry Christmas.’

‘Merry Christmas,’ Audrey smiled in return before she went back inside to grab her school bag and head off.

Alex had texted her this morning to say he wouldn’t be at school today. To be honest she was glad as it would give her the day to settle down after he’d asked her out - not that they’d arranged a date yet, but it was coming, she just knew it. She had a test today and wanted to do well, which she wouldn’t do if she was too distracted. It was new to her, this eagerness at school, but life was far easier doing it that way.

After school Audrey let herself into the house.

‘I’m getting a cat!’ was the first thing to come out of Gran’s mouth as she charged towards Audrey.

‘The cat from the Facebook post? That’s amazing – when?’

‘The day after tomorrow. The owner is passing on Claude’s scratching post and little bed, and I’ve ordered the right food, a litter tray and some cat litter.’

‘I’m almost as excited as you are,’ Audrey beamed. She’d never had a pet either. She’d gone through a phase of wanting a dog, then a cat, then a gerbil and then an iguana, but it had never happened. She suspected she’d been so fickle, her parents and then Sam when it was just the two of them worried that if she got one, she’d soon lose interest.

Gran pointed to a Christmas card on the mantelpiece. ‘From the bin men,’ she told Audrey.

Audrey screwed her nose up. ‘Another person’s trash is someone else’s treasure?’

‘I don’t think they got it from a bin,’ Gran admonished with a roll of her eyes. ‘One of them popped it through the door, said we’re the first to remember them in the whole of the seven years he’s worked this area.

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