On Saturday morning I keep waking up to see if it is time to get up yet. I lie in my bed waiting for the sun to rise. Shona comes over to see how I am. With Morag gone, Shona is the girl in my room I talk to most, despite our disagreements before. She is excited for me.
I’m so nervous. I’ve borrowed one of Mrs Paterson’s suitcases to pack my things for staying at the Andersons’, and packed and unpacked it three times. I’ve never been out of the Homes for a weekend on my own. Some children get to spend the occasional weekend with relatives or parents, but my mum isn’t one for that; she will only see me here. Gran talks about having me to stay but I think Mum is against it. I would like to have stayed with Gran.
Shona and I go down to breakfast, and after doing the tidying chores I run back upstairs to make sure I’ve packed everything again.
Eadie comes to the cottage to check on me. She doesn’t live at the Homes and usually she doesn’t work weekends in the summer holidays so it is kind of her to come to see me off. She says she was just passing so thought it would be nice to pop in, but I know she wouldn’t have been passing.
Dr and Mrs Anderson arrive at Cottage 5 just after half past nine. They pull up in a dark blue car that looks new and spotlessly clean. They get out of the car and Eadie walks me over to them and starts chatting.
‘Let me help you with that,’ says Dr Anderson, as he takes the suitcase. When he feels its weight he says, ‘You planning on staying a couple of months, then?’
I laugh nervously. I just wanted to make sure I had everything in case I needed to change clothes.
As we drive off, I wave goodbye to Mrs Paterson and Shona. The seats in the back of the car look like white leather. I sit in the middle and Mrs Anderson – she insists I call her Anne, but I’m always forgetting – keeps turning round to ask me questions. Dr Anderson – Gerald – watches the road while he drives, occasionally chipping in with a comment.
Mrs Anderson asks me a lot about school, what I like, what I don’t like. She asks how it was being the only person in my year at the Homes to go to the grammar school. I try to sound positive.
At some point I must have fallen asleep as next thing I see is their house. They have a bungalow, up a steep drive. Dr Anderson pulls the brake sharply to make sure the car won’t roll back down, then we all get out.
I can hear their dog barking right away. Mrs Anderson sees that I look scared and tells me not to worry. ‘He’s very friendly,’ she says.
‘I’m not sure dogs like me.’
‘Oh this one will, he’s a big softy. You wait till you meet him. His name is Bertie.’
She opens the front door and Bertie comes rushing out. The cat flies out of the house at the same time, as if it is delighted to escape being locked inside with a crazy dog.
Bertie goes straight up to Mrs Anderson and rears on his back legs, pawing at her hips. He then rushes round the other side of the car to Dr Anderson, who tells him to get down.
Then he sees me, and comes up and starts sniffing me.
‘He isn’t angry, just interested,’ says Dr Anderson.
Mrs Anderson says, ‘Come away, Bertie!’ and pulls at his collar. Bertie fights against her at first, but then does as he’s told.
‘This is our home, Lesley,’ says Mrs Anderson. ‘If at any time you want to go back, just let me know and we can drive you straight back to the cottage. We want you to enjoy your weekend with us, but we realise you don’t know us that well and this could all seem a little strange. Right, let me show you to your room.’
The house seems odd. There’s a smell as soon as you come in, like the forest smell out the back of the Homes. It hits me the minute I’m through the door. Also there are things on every flat surface in the hall. There are little model dogs on a shelf, a cartoon drawing of a golfer on the windowsill, and photographs lined up on a cabinet. Everything has something on it.
The room I am staying in is their ‘guest room’; it has a double bed. I’ve never slept in one before and the first thing I think is, They won’t believe me when I get back.
‘Gerald will bring your suitcase in from the car. In the meantime, I’ll just let you get used to your room. There’s a bathroom across the hall, and the kitchen and living room are down there. But I’ll give you the full tour later.’
Mrs Anderson leaves the room and I have a chance to look around. The window looks out to the neighbour’s house. The wallpaper is a pale green, with thin light lines going down it. There are more things on the chest of drawers – little cat statuettes, this time.
After a while the door nudges open and in comes the cat that escaped earlier. It walks straight into the room and jumps on the bed, then looks at me as if to tell me, This is my bed, and don’t you think of taking it.
I hold out my hand and after a moment of thought it rubs its head and neck up against it.
‘Hello yoooouuu,’ I say. ‘What’s your name?’ It’s funny cos I am talking in my posh accent to the Andersons but I’m talking in my even posher voice to the cat in case it tells them that I’m no good.
It purrs and keeps rubbing up against my arm. I sit on the bed and it lets me stroke it. The cat and I have a good chat and it eventually walks onto my lap where it pads its feet. I think we have come to an understanding, and I will be allowed to stay in the room and sleep in the bed after all.
Mrs Anderson comes back, and says, ‘So I see you’ve met Mog.’
‘Yes, I think we’ve become friends.’
‘That’s strange. Mog doesn’t take to people too easily; she must really like you.’
I smile at that.
‘Now, what would you like to do this weekend? We could take a drive to the coast, we could go for a walk, or we could drive into Glasgow.’
‘Ooh, Glasgow, Glasgow, please!’ I say. I’ve never been there before and the chances to go to a city are so rare.
‘Righty-o,’ she says. ‘If we’re going to Glasgow we should head off now so we can get there for dinner.’ She walks out to tell Dr Anderson that we’re going to drive into town. I hear some discussion about whether he wants to go too, but when they come out of the kitchen they seem happy and so we set off.
There is a lot less talking on the way to Glasgow. I am so excited at the chance to go to shops and see the sights. When we arrive, Dr Anderson parks the car and Mrs Anderson finds a café she has eaten in before and they say they will just squeeze us in before the kitchen closes.
Mrs Anderson asks what I want from the menu and I don’t know what to get so I say I’ll eat whatever she’s having, which is an omelette. Dr Anderson says he will have the same ‘to keep it simple’, then Mrs Anderson buys me a cola and we sit in a booth.
‘Anything you want to see?’ asks Mrs Anderson.
‘Shops,’ I say. ‘Shops and maybe some more shops.’
Dr Anderson laughs and shakes his head.
‘What sort of shops?’ asks Mrs Anderson.
‘Oh, clothes shops, please.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’
The omelettes come and we scoff them down, Dr Anderson pays and we go walking down Sauchiehall Street. There are shops as far as you can see. Dr Anderson looks bored, but Mrs Anderson is as excited as me. It’s so busy. There’s more people than I’ve ever seen in my life.
‘All right, Lesley,’ Mrs Anderson says, ‘this is a one-off, but we are going to buy you something as this is a special treat.’
I want to hug her but I don’t as I think she might find it strange. I think of how incredibly jealous the girls will be when I come back with something new.
We walk the entire length of Sauchiehall Street, going into the shops and inspecting all the different clothes. By the end I can see Dr Anderson wants to go home. He peers into a shop window with a big crowd of people in front of it, to see the football scores. Once he’s seen them, he announces it is time to go. I haven’t chosen anything yet, so we go back to the first shop and I choose a black skirt, and Mrs Anderson buys herself a scarf.
I want to write down everything that has happened so I don’t forget it. I have to tell Shona and the girls everything.