The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1528 by Angharad Copyright © 2011 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

Lunch went quite well and Caroline settled down once she discovered that I might be crazy, but I make a mean pot of soup.

“So, how d’you know Cathy?” Stella asked her, even though I thought I’d told her.

“We were at the same school.”

“Must be something in the water,” suggested Si.

“Nah, I reckon they used to put stuff in school dinners.” I offered my opinion, all of it nonsense.

“You didn’t have school dinners, Cathy.”

“So much for that idea,” concluded Simon. Well I can’t remember that far back.

“You’re not the same age though, are you?” Stella was back to her cross examination.

“No, I was two years behind her–she was my hero–ine.”

I blushed, I knew what was coming.

“Why was that?” asked Stella.

“She began to grow her hair and refused to get it cut. After a year or so, she had it down below her shoulders, used to wear it in a ponytail. The headmaster made her wear a pink scrunchie to embarrass her, but she wore it all the same. The girls used to call her Charlotte and were envious of her hair, it was always shiny and glossy and so thick compared to mine–I hate mine.”

“You’ve mentioned this yourself, haven’t you, Cathy?”

“Yeah, and that led to me playing Lady Macbeth and wearing a dress for a month aided and abetted by Siá¢n, on whom, Caroline here, had a crush.”

“Didn’t you?” asked Stella.

“Me? I had no idea about any of that, remember my hormones didn’t work, so that all happened a bit later for me. Besides, Siá¢n and I were like sisters, she taught me all sorts of things like using makeup, putting clothes together.”

“I wish someone had with me,” sighed Caroline.

“Don’t worry, Trish and Julie will take you on as a project, if Stella doesn’t get you first.”

“I thought you looked quite presentable,” Stella threw one back at me.

“That’s only because Cathy helped me choose these things.”

“I have to feed the baby.” She’d been asleep when I’d shown Caroline round the place, so we didn’t go in her room. I went and got her, she was awake and cooing at me and wanting to climb out of her cot.

I gave her a hug and took her downstairs. “This is my youngest, Catherine, unfortunately named after some strange woman her original mother admired for some unknown reason.”

“What’re you going to feed her?” asked Caroline making a fuss of my namesake.

I buttered a piece of bread and gave it to her and she started to suck it–you have to watch them with bread or they choke themselves. Stella placed a ladle of soup in a dish and handed it to me. I broke up some more bread and mashed it into the soup, then tested the temperature against my mouth–it was okay.

I offered her a spoon of the mush and she squealed and opened up her mouth. She was usually a dream to feed, even Stella could do it once Mima had shown her. For the next ten minutes, although there was some conversation going on in the background, I wasn’t really listening being too intent on feeding my baby.

I burped her and she cuddled into me snuffling away at my chest. “You’ll be unlucky there, kiddo,” said Caroline smiling. The smile faded when I lifted my top and slipped out a boob and the baby latched onto it like a piranha. “You can feed her?”

“Yes.”

“Bloody hell fire.”

“Buddy hellire,” came from the human Dictaphone followed by giggles.

“How can you do that?”

“Just happened–I didn’t take anything like prolactin.”

“Well, I’m amazed.”

“Julie wanted me to bring her with us when we spoke to your group,” I said.

“I wish you had, that would have got their attention.”

“I think young Julie achieved that alright.”

“I didn’t notice, too busy being restyled by her–though she is a very pretty girl.”

“I thought it might have been over the top and if you had managed to tell them I was also transsexual, it might have been seen as me stroking my ego in front of a crowd of less able types. No, I’m glad I left her at home.”

At this point, Catherine decided she’d inhale some milk, so started to choke. I patted her back and a few moments later, albeit a little red eyed, she gave us a wonderful smile–then threw up after burping. I heard Stella sniggering at Caroline’s reaction, she jumped a mile.

A diesel engine sounded in the drive and moments later Jenny arrived with a lovely new hairdo, it was quite short at the back and asymmetrical on the front having a long fringe which swept over one side from a parting on the other side. She’d also had her eyelashes done–tinted and extra lashes inserted. Now I think of it, ever since Julie had it done, Jenny had said she’d like to have some. Don’t think I fancy anyone with superglue near my eyelids.

She was introduced to Caroline, while I cleaned up the mess and fed the baby my other breast. Jenny warmed up her own soup and took some of the bread–Simon hadn’t quite managed to eat it all.

They chatted at the table while I changed Catherine and gave her a biscuit, which Puddin’ snatched, so she had another one and I asked Stella to control her tribe. Puddin’ had some soup and bread–we added some milk to hers to cool it down–inserting her in the high chair so she couldn’t create any further mayhem. I let Catherine down on the floor, she likes to crawl a bit and the kitchen floor is the easiest one–less friction–she sits on one foot and pulls herself along–apparently I did something similar when I was a kid. I left Simon to watch her while I cleared the table of the dirty dishes.

Jenny offered to collect the girls and Si said he’d go and fetch Danny, which in his sports car, Danny was bound to accept–he loves that car. I sent him a text to warn him–just as well it began to rain, so he’d have come flying out of school and straight onto the bus. I suppose the Jag is easy enough to see, in that there won’t be too many of them outside the school.

“Is there anything you’d like me to do?” asked Caroline aware that she should be working. I showed her where the vacuum cleaner was kept and asked her to do the downstairs rooms. I took Catherine upstairs for a nap while she was doing it–the noise doesn’t seem to affect her and she isn’t deaf, just used to living in bedlam.

Coming out of Catherine’s room, I looked in on the girl’s one. Simon had removed the bed once occupied by Billie and in its place he’d got a large photo of her, easily A3 size and framed, up on the wall. I looked at it and remembered the lovely smile she had. I’d never forget that smile as long as I lived. How cruel life can be to think that she wouldn’t have lived much longer even if she hadn’t crashed her bike. I wiped away a stray tear–it was a beautiful photograph.