‘There you go, my girl, eat up your soup,’ Nomsa said as she placed a steaming bowl of beetroot and apple soup down on the table in front of Jess.
‘Thanks, can I have some of that yummy bread too?’ she asked, pointing to some crusty bread buns that stood on a cooling tray next to the range. Steam still rose from them, making the kitchen smell all warm and homely.
‘Of course you can, my lovely girl.’ Nomsa laughed as she walked to the tray, picked out two rolls and passed them to Jess.
‘Nom-Nom, we came to see you,’ Poppy shouted as she took one look at Jess’s soup, turned her nose up and immediately jumped up beside Jess, cuddling in.
‘You want some of my soup?’ Jess asked as Poppy frantically shook her head and clamped her hand over her mouth.
‘If you ask Nomsa nicely she might find you something yummy to eat or we could go out and play with Buddy. Would you like that?’
Poppy nodded.
‘Jess said we had to come for cake, but I wanna go play on the bed with Mummy and Mr Bang’it man,’ she announced loudly as she picked up the glass of juice that Nomsa had put in front of her, took a gulp and wiped her mouth with her sleeve making everyone else in the room turn around and stare.
Jess shrugged her shoulders, stifled a giggle and picked up a mug of tea that Nomsa had put before her. Lifting it to her lips, she began to sip it slowly in the hope that she could blend into the surroundings and no one would question her as to what Poppy had meant.
‘I’m going to go and get Buddy,’ Poppy ran straight to the back door and jumped up to grab the key.
‘Oh, no you don’t, madam,’ Nomsa said as she stopped Poppy from pulling the key from the door, grabbed her by the arm and sat her back at the table. She locked the back door, pulled the key out from the lock, held it up in the air for Poppy to see and then placed it in her pocket. ‘You’re not going out there, young lady, until you’ve had something to eat.’
‘Jess said we could take Buddy out while Mummy was playing with Mr Bang’it man.’
‘Poppy, enough, for goodness’ sake. I think you’ve made it very clear and I think everyone heard you the first time and the second time and I’m sure your mummy will be very pleased how enthusiastically you just told everyone.’ Jess picked up the bowl and wiped her bread around it to soak up the soup.
Poppy smiled and looked pleased with herself until Nomsa placed a small sandwich before her, making her frown. ‘Eat the sandwich, or you get no cake.’
‘Huggle me, Nom-Nom,’ Poppy asked as she raised her arms up to Nomsa for a hug.
‘Cupboard love, that’s what you give, my girl,’ she said with a smile as she sat on the edge of the bench to cuddle the youngster, just as she felt Poppy’s hand reach into her pocket to grab the key.
‘Oh, no you don’t.’ She spoke a moment too late. The key flew up into the air and as though in slow motion, it spun and spiralled before clattering down behind the Aga. ‘Poppy, where did it go?’
Poppy shrugged her shoulders and began to sheepishly eat the sandwich as both Nomsa and Jess got on their knees and began looking in and around the chimney breast where the range stood. The floor was clean and tiled and a key would have easily been seen if it were there.
‘Bernie, you are going to have to pull this out. It must have got trapped behind there.’ Nomsa pointed to the chimney breast.
Bernie’s eyebrows rose up. ‘If you think I’ve got time to dismantle that right now, you’re kidding yourself. Besides, it’s hot and I’ve got sixty people to feed and they are not going to feed themselves. You are going to have to wait till after dinner.’ He stood with his hands on his hips. ‘Now, I could use some help with chopping the vegetables, if you don’t mind.’
Jess’s mobile began to ring and she turned away to answer it.
Jess closed her eyes. ‘Not again. Has someone broken in?’ she paused and listened. ‘But the place is almost empty. It can’t be that bad. Can it?’ She opened her eyes and held her head in her hands. ‘Thank you, I’ll be right there.’ She looked up at Nomsa and thought for a moment. It had been half an hour since she’d left Madeleine and Bandit alone upstairs and knew that they’d have followed her down by now to find Poppy if they weren’t in a position where they didn’t want to be disturbed. This was Madeleine’s time to be happy, she deserved it and Jess had no intention of interrupting her.
‘Listen, Nomsa, can you watch Poppy till Maddie comes down? That was the police. Sounds like someone broke into my flat again.’
‘I sure can, my girl. When are you going to finish emptying that nasty place and come live here permanently?’ Nomsa asked as she smiled hopefully. ‘Leave her with me. She can help me make the chocolate cookies for us to eat after tea.’