Over the next two days we somehow muddled through, with Dad helping Sam in lots of practical ways at home and Sam gradually relaxing enough to let him. He found himself on the receiving end of Dad’s advice a lot, but the really weird thing was that he didn’t seem to mind too much. It was almost as if he was relieved to be part of a family again.
Mum swung into mother-hen mode, buying Sam new clothes, making sure he ate properly and spending a lot of time talking to him about his own family and what he was hoping to do in the future. She actually brought home some of her dental instruments to give him a check-up since he hadn’t had one in a while. He didn’t seem to mind that too much either, and they even had a discussion about braces.
Aunt Thecla repeated her offer that Sam could stay with her and I knew it was something Mum and Dad were considering, although they both said it would have to wait until he didn’t need as much practical help as he did at the moment.
Tansy had sent me some texts and left a message on my voicemail, but so far I hadn’t got back to her. I was having trouble adjusting to the idea that she wasn’t going to be starting at my new school with me. The thing was, I was beginning to feel nervous about St Clara’s. I’m not very good at pushing myself forward in new social situations, and I was scared in case the other girls in my year had formed really tight friendship groups already. I suspected Tansy would have pushed enough for both of us if she’d been starting there with me. Now though, I was on my own …
I suppose I felt sort of angry with her – a bit like she’d tricked me. It would have been different if she’d told me from the beginning that she might be going back to live with her mum. Then I wouldn’t have got my hopes up so much. But she’d always been so adamant that she was staying here. It seemed to me that all she’d been doing was punishing her mum by making her beg sufficiently before agreeing to go home.
On my second day of ignoring Tansy’s texts I walked into the living room as Dad was telling Sam what had happened to Murray. I stood quietly in the doorway, careful not to interrupt them, though I wasn’t hiding the fact that I was there.
Sam said, ‘That sounds awful. Seems like he was your mate and big brother rolled into one.’
‘He was,’ Dad said in a low voice.
There was a brief pause before Sam added quietly, ‘I just want you to know that I’m a really careful driver and my bike’s in really good nick, and I always wear the right gear and I make sure Bella does too.’
‘I don’t doubt that, Sam,’ Dad said kindly, ‘but it’s not just your own driving you have to worry about, is it?’
‘I know but …’ Sam hesitated before continuing a little heatedly, ‘but that’s the same for everything! Driving a car, riding a pushbike, even just walking along the road.’
‘Look, Sam,’ Dad said, ‘I can’t argue with your logic, but frankly that still doesn’t change how I feel about motorbikes.’
‘Not even when you remember how much fun you had riding Murray’s? You did have fun, didn’t you?’
‘I had a blast! Doesn’t change how I feel about it now though.’
Sam let out an exasperated sigh. ‘What kind of motorbike did Murray have, anyhow?’
‘A Bantam – one of the late-Sixties models. The maximum speed they reached was fifty-seven miles per hour.’ He looked at Sam as if he fully expected him to scoff at that.
‘I guess that’s all the speed you needed in the olden days,’ he said with a cheeky grin. ‘Actually, I know a bit about those old Bantams. My uncle bought one a couple of years ago as a restoration project. I used to help him with it. He sold it on eBay when it was finished.’
Listening to them was giving me an idea. But first I needed to speak to Tansy …
I went to join Bella and Mum in the kitchen. Grace was round at Aunt Thecla’s house getting another art lesson, and then they were going to the pet store in Castle Westbury to choose things for the puppies, who would be ready in two weeks’ time.
‘Look at this!’ Bella was pointing to a house she’d spotted in the property pages of the local newspaper. ‘It backs on to the woods with fields to one side, and it’s got four bedrooms and a converted loft.’
‘I’m not sure I like being so close to the woods,’ Mum said. ‘Though it’s true the loft would make a good office for Dad.’
Dad’s business was picking up, according to Bella, who’d told me he’d gained four new clients since we’d moved here. Not that I was meant to know there had ever been a problem. I made a mental note to use it to challenge Bella’s theory that I was the only one in our family who ever got told what was going on.
‘I’m going round to Tansy’s,’ I told them. ‘I need to talk to her about something.’
‘I thought you said you weren’t going to bother with her now she’s leaving,’ Bella said.
‘Oh, Libby, you didn’t mean that, did you?’ Mum said swiftly. ‘I know you’re disappointed she’s not going to St Clara’s with you, but you’ll still get to see her when she comes back to visit her dad in the holidays. He’s planning to buy a smaller place in the village, you know.’
‘I really wanted her with me at school,’ I said, quickly leaving the room before I sounded too emotional.
‘You know Libby hasn’t had a proper friend since Sarah left,’ I heard Bella say in a concerned whisper. ‘It’s just such a shame that Tansy isn’t staying.’
And I must say it felt weird hearing Bella talking about it to Mum like she was worried about me.
* * *
Tansy was in her front garden when I arrived at her house.
‘Libby!’ She sounded really pleased to see me. ‘Why didn’t you answer any of my texts? You do realise I’m leaving the day after tomorrow?’
‘To go back to live with your mum,’ I said. ‘I know.’ There was an awkward silence and I had to force myself to focus on the reason I’d come. ‘Tansy, I came to ask if you could speak to your dad about something for me.’
‘Of course,’ she said without even waiting to hear what it was.
I told her my idea and she promised that if her dad agreed she would make sure he discussed it with Bill.
‘Thanks.’
‘Listen, I know I won’t be at St Clara’s with you,’ she gushed, ‘but we’ll still be able to see each other whenever I come to stay with Dad.’
‘Sure,’ I answered stiffly.
‘Dad’s driving me back to Southampton on Saturday. Shall I pop in and say goodbye on our way out of the village?’
‘We won’t be in,’ I said quickly. Mum had promised to take me and my sisters to Castle Westbury on Saturday. It was the day Sam’s uncle was visiting to collect the motorbike. Sam was dreading the confrontation, and he’d been really relieved when Dad had offered to stay and lend some support.
‘Oh … well … I guess this is goodbye then,’ Tansy mumbled, adding that she had a present for me – something else her dad had found when he’d been clearing out the garage. ‘Your grandmother and mine were really good friends when they first lived next door to each other,’ she told me. ‘Dad found a photo of the two of them, so I got it framed for you.’
‘For me?’ I was a bit surprised.
‘Yes, because honestly, Libby, your grandmother looks so like you in this photograph!’ She shot me an excited grin. ‘I’ll go and get it.’
While I waited for her to come back, I braced myself for another round of how I was the spitting image of my big-boned, puffy-faced, thin-haired grandmother, who had died far too young and been missed far too much for me to object to the comparison.
Tansy returned with her gift and handed it to me. It was wrapped in purple paper and when I removed it and looked at the picture I thought at first that she must have made a mistake. It was a colour photograph and both young women in the picture were pretty. They looked to be in their early twenties and they were both smiling. Tansy’s grandmother had long dark hair and she didn’t look the least bit like Tansy. The other woman had long curly reddish hair – very similar to mine – glowing skin and pink cheeks with lots of freckles. She wore a red summer dress that showed off her curves and she had a red flower in her hair. She was laughing, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world, and the two women had their arms around each other like they were the best of friends.
‘Her name was Elisabeth too, wasn’t it?’ Tansy said.
I nodded, totally stunned. I realised I’d never seen a photograph of my grandmother when she was this young. ‘She looks really different to the other photos I’ve seen,’ I murmured. I gave Tansy a smile – the first genuine one I’d given her since I’d arrived that afternoon. ‘Thank you.’
She smiled back. ‘You’re welcome.’ She paused. ‘I hope it goes OK for you at St Clara’s. Oh … and by the way … when we took my uniform back to the shop Mrs Mayhew said there’s another new girl starting in your year, so you won’t be the only one …’ She paused again. ‘We can email and facetime each other if you want. And I’ll see you at half-term when I come to visit Dad. We can still be friends, right?’
I nodded. ‘Sure we can, Tansy.’ And I gave her a hug.