The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2268 by Angharad Copyright © 2014 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

Our tormentor stopped alongside us. “I heard you’d got him back.”

“I heard you’d been suspended.”

“Funny that, doing my job and they suspend me, corrupting children and they reward you. Alright if you have money.”

Danni was avoiding eye contact with her but I wasn’t, I was bristling and ready to respond in like manner whatever she started.

“It had nothing to do with money. You abducted my child, if you come anywhere near my home again or touch any of my children, I’ll have you arrested,” I said quietly through clenched teeth.

“He is already corrupt, so I have no interest in him any longer.”

“Danielle is my daughter, can’t you see that or are you blinded by bigotry?”

“Making him up to look like a girl doesn’t make him one.”

“Just because you look like a human being doesn’t make you one. Compassion and empathy are necessary and you seem lacking in both.” With one arm round Danni and the other pushing my trolley I strode off leaving Ms Vallance open mouthed behind.

“I’ll get you,” she called at my back and Danni shuddered.

“Don’t worry, darling, lots of people much more dangerous than her have tried and I’m still here.” I didn’t add, some of them aren’t.

“She’s a horrid woman.”

“She’s sad. Her head is so far up her own bum she can’t see beyond her colon.”

Danni gave a nervous giggle but I think it was more nerves than appreciating my description. “Don’t worry, she won’t ever hurt you again.”

I wasn’t sure if Danni believed me because she seemed to spend a lot of time looking over her shoulder. Instead of any further shopping we went to the checkout and paid for our goods. I’d nearly completed what I wanted anyway and if I was honest, my enthusiasm had waned after meeting that woman.

I was wary crossing the car park as I had experience of incidents occurring there but nothing happened and we drove home, Danni still upset by our encounter with the alien. On our arrival at home she remained seated in the car rather than jumping out as she normally did. I grabbed my bag and went round to her door and opened it, “C’mon, darling, let’s get you inside.” I put my hand under her arm and helped her from the car. She stumbled along the drive with me then stopped and vomited on the garden. I wanted to punch that woman, a very ladylike response I noted.

I got her in and Jacquie took her in and sat her down, I went back to the car and Simon followed me out to help carry the shopping in. “What’s up with Danni?”he asked.

“We met the poisonous social worker in the supermarket.”

“She didn’t make any threats did she–I can call Jason.”

“Not really, but it upset Danielle.”

“Not surprised. Good job I wasn’t there, I might have planted her in a freezer.”

“That would have done us a lot of good,” I sighed.

“I’d have felt better.”

I shook my head and we carried the half a dozen bags into the house locking the car as we went. “What the hell have you bought?”

“Food for the weekend, I’ll get Waitrose to do a delivery midweek.”

“Eh?”

“Simon, we have a large family, we eat about a ton of food a week.”

“That’s that little Lizzie an’ her hollow legs,” he joked. As she ate mainly breast milk, she probably ate less supermarket food than the cat. Talking of which, as we entered the house this dark blob flew past us and up the stairs.

“Trish,” I called, “go and find Bramble, I think she’s got something.”

“All right,” was called back and feet tramped up the stairs.

“How are you, sweetheart?” I asked Danni who was sitting nursing a glass of water.

“I’ll be okay, Mummy.”

“Good, girl.” I laid my hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently and she smiled back at me.

Jacquie helped stow the shopping in the various cupboards, freezers or fridges. The extra pair of hands making it easier. When it was finished I asked her to make some tea while I went to see what Bramble had caught.

It turned out to be a sausage which had seen better days, and had probably been filched from someone’s dustbin. I picked it up with some toilet roll and took it down to our bin followed by the protesting feline.

When I pretended to threaten to strangle her, Trish told me of a case she’d heard of where some bloke did just that to his wife’s cat to upset her. My response was disbelief. “You’re joking?”

“I’m not, Mummy, it really happened.”

“What a nice person.”

“No, Mummy, he was perfectly horrible.”

“Yes, darling, I was using sarcasm.”

“Oh. But you said...”

“Yes, darling, but the way I said it implied the opposite of the words.”

“But that’s silly.”

“Looks like it.” Oh boy, perhaps she is only eight after all.

I drank the tea that Jacquie had poured for me and felt ready for anything–well, another one anyway. After that I began to make lunch. I opened a whole bag of oven chips onto a large tray and shoved them in the fan oven. While they cooked I asked Trish to make a new loaf in the machine–she chuckled while she did that, she loves playing with anything mechanical–a leftover from being a boy? It only applied to bikes in my case and that was only through my experiences of competing with my father. He couldn’t rebuild a bottom bracket–so I made sure I could. He was impressed for a few minutes.

As the chips neared completion I began to fry eggs, everyone had two–well except the littlies, and a few baked beans as well. It was one of Danni’s favourite meals, and I admit, one of mine too. While the eggs cooked I sliced some bread and then called the locusts to eat. It took longer to cook than be consumed, even Tom winked at me, then complained it wasn’t a curry, which set the girls off in protesting at him. I smirked, he’d done it deliberately and was just fooling with them but it took them a moment or two to realise they’d been had.

“Oh, Gramps,” complained Livvie, then they all laughed, including the still pale looking Danni.

The others went off to play inveigling Simon to participate in their game. I looked at Danni and said, “How about we do some sewing?”

She regarded me wearily and nodded, going off to get her embroidery while I did some mending, including Julie’s skirt hem. “This is nice,” I said as we sat opposite each other at the kitchen table–the light being better there than anywhere else.

“Yes, Mummy,” she replied noncommittally.

“Look, don’t let that stupid hag get to you.”

“I’m trying not to, Mummy, but she frightened me.” The next moment she was sitting on my lap and weeping onto my shoulder.

“Perhaps I should have let Daddy put her in the freezer,” I muttered to myself.

“What?” she gasped.

“Oh, your silly daddy said he’d have picked her up and dumped her in a freezer.”

“That is like so funny, Mummy,” she started to laugh hysterically then wet herself while still in situ on my lap. Don’t you just love being a mum?