The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2533 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad

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I decided to broach the subject at the first opportunity and I caught Danni going back to her room from the bathroom. I knocked as I followed her back to her room. “Hi, Mummy, I’ll be down in a minute.”

I shut her door and stood in front of it. “Oh oh, what have I done?”

“You, my darling, have done nothing.” Her pained expression eased. “I had Andy Bond here yesterday.”

“The copper?”

“Yes, apparently Pia Grimshaw has been discharged from the secure unit.”

“That all?”

“Isn’t that enough?”

She looked perplexed, “Enough what?”

“Seeing what she did to you the last time you met...”

“So?”

“You mean it doesn’t worry you?”

“No, why should it?”

“She mutilated you.”

She shrugged, “So, don’t you always preach about forgiveness?”

“I don’t preach—do I?”

“Okay, you don’t preach but you’re always on about it.”

“And you forgive her?”

“Yeah, I mean if I’d stayed home an’ done me ’omework like you wanted, it wouldna ’appened would it?”

“I suppose not.”

“An’ I wouldn’t be a girl trying out for the England squad—so I forgive her, she mighta done me a favour.”

“Two weeks ago you were complaining that you didn’t think you wanted to be a girl, so the chance of an England cap has changed all that, has it?”

“Yeah, for now at any rate.” She looked at me probably because I was now the one with the puzzled expression. “Look, gettin’ an England cap as a girl is better’an not getting one as a boy. If I can play pro football as a result of it, I’m happy to stay as a girl.”

“I’m worried that it’s putting all your eggs in one basket. What happens if you don’t get the cap?”

“I try harder—I’m gonna get a cap if it kills me.”

“It might be good to have a plan B.”

“That is my plan B, Mummy.”

“I meant getting an academic or other sort of qualification.”

“Oh that, yeah, I’ll do teaching—sports of course.”

“You’re going to be a teacher?”

“Yeah, didn’t I say before?”

“No—oh, Danielle, you are full of surprises.”

She smiled and blushed. “I want to get to Reading Uni an’ if I get a schoolgirl cap, I might be able to get a place in the women’s team there. They’re pretty good, so I’d have a chance to get a full cap from there as well as the English Universities side.”

“You’ve really been thinking about this, haven’t you?”

“Yeah. Look, I know I’m stuck as girl—for now anyway.” I felt my tummy flip at her ambivalence, “So I’m gonna give it my best shot.”

“Well if that’s what you want to do, we’ll support you all the way.”

“Thanks, Mummy, you’re the best.”

“I don’t think I’m the best, but I will always try to do my best for you and the others. I hope you know that?”

“Yeah, course.”

“If you only knew how proud we all were of you...”

I opened my arms and we had a quick hug.

“We really are proud of you,” I said as I left her to dress.

“Come on, slug face,” called Trish from the bathroom, “I thought we were training this morning.”

“Okay, tiny tits, I’m on my way,” Danielle called back.

One thing, in this household no one gets a bighead.

I went down and started laying up the breakfasts before the animals descended and scoffed everything in sight. I made a pot of tea and had toast just popping up when the advance guard arrived. Trish, in a Manchester United kit and Livvie in Liverpool’s all red kit. Danni was a few steps behind in a blue hooped shirt. I hadn’t seen that one before.

“New shirt, Dan?” I asked.

“Yeah, Reading FC, Daddy got it for me last night.”

I smiled and nodded, wondering how much that cost as buying from club shops is usually very expensive.

“We got a third off after the trial.”

I nodded again then began to butter my toast. “Next one I get is gonna have three lions on it.”

“Playing for Dorset are we?” Quipped Trish.

“England, stoopid,” riposted her older sister.

“Dorset has three lions, too.”

“It doesn’t does it?” Danielle seemed genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, look.” Trish booted up her phone and proved it.

“How’d you know that, Trish?” I asked, I knew it was the case because I’d driven in Dorset often enough to see it on council signs, especially when going to survey meetings at Bournemouth Uni.

“We did a thing on logos.”

“I suspect the English football team have been using it for a long time,” was my offering.

Trish shrugged.

“This’ll upset yer maither,” said Tom to the girls.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Some idiot hunter has shot thae first grey wolf tae be seen in thae Grand Canyon fa seventy years. It wis wearin’ a radio collar and supposed tae be protected. Some protection.”

I shook my head, “Daddy, you know my thoughts on hunting.”

“Aye, primitive urges.”

“That’s putting it politely. Whether it’s brainless Brits shooting hen harriers or moronic ’Mericans killing protected wolves or whatever, I maintain if humans were meant to have access to guns they’d have evolved the brain to identify their targets first.”

“You don’t like guns, do you, Mummy?” quipped Trish knowing full well I hated the things.

“If I could rid one thing from this world it would be guns. They have one purpose—killing things.”

“Why not nuclear weapons?” suggested Julie, snatching some toast off my plate.

“Almost anyone can get hold of a gun, nuclear weapons are significantly more difficult.”

“Okay, I was only askin’, personally, I’d ban sexist religions, like the Taliban.”

“I think yer maither wud ban a’ religions.”

I blushed, “Just the ones which exploit people.”

“That’s pretty well all of ’em, isn’t it?” said Julie.

“Probably,” I said buttering more toast.

“You’d ban the Pope?” said Trish in astonishment.

“Oh he’d be the first to go, eh Mummy?” teased Julie.

“Shall we try and keep things sensible?” I asserted after calming down. They all chuckled, the object of the exercise had passed, winding me up.

“I take it you’re playing football?” observed Julie to her sports clad sisters, “C’mon Pheebs, we’re gonna be late,” she called to her partner in crime. Said sister appeared picked up her sandwiches and the slice of toast and they both headed for the door.

“Are you playing football?” I asked the three girls.

“Just a bit of trainin’, why?”

“Okay, but I thought I might take a bike out later when the frost clears.”

“Frost?” queried Trish.

“Yes, the grass is all white.”

“It’ll be too cold to play yet, let’s wait until it warms up—I might go for ride with Mummy, instead.”

“Wimp, I’ll go for a run then, you comin’ Liv?” said Danni.

“Uh, after breakfast—perhaps,” she replied sitting at the table.

“Suit yourself,” Danni headed towards the door where she could see Julie scraping the ice off the car windscreen. She opened the door and then closed it remaining on the inside. “Might be best to get some carbs on board first,” she said and sat down at the table.