The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2638 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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I did a salad for our evening meal which received grumbles except for the still warm bread and the new potatoes shining in the butter I’d melted over them. Despite the seeming disgust everything disappeared very quickly. “Can we have a Scottish salad next time?” asked Danielle and I saw Daddy colour up just a wee bit.

“What with cold slices of haggis and chopped neeps?” That wasn’t a Scottish salad but she didn’t know that. Daddy shook his head.

“Gramps said it was like ordinary salad only with chips.” I thought as much.

“With deep fried Mars bars for dessert?”

“Uchh, no thanks.”

“That’s a Scottish dessert, I could do deep fried pie if you like.”

“I don’t want deep sea pie or anything like that, just some chips with the salad.”

“We could always have African salad,” I suggested.

“Wassat, Mummy?”

“It’s a normal salad served with chimps.”

The older ones groaned the youngsters thought it was funny.

I suppose doing chips with a salad would be easy enough, we have oven chips and also just plain chipped potatoes in the freezer which needed frying. I try not to fry much at all. The oven chips are so much better than before that I don’t mind eating them these days.

I spoke with Delia the next day and discovered I had nothing lined up for Wednesday, I would zip up to Bristol and visit my parent’s grave. I booked a day’s leave, I would tell Tom when we got home that night.

He agreed it and signed my leave card, so after dropping my girls off at school, I took Cate with me and we drove off to Bristol and the cemetery in which my parents lay. I stopped en route to get some flowers from a supermarket at Cribbs Causeway and we arrived at the house about eleven o’clock.

I checked over the house and apart from some recent mail inside the front door, it all seemed in order. Retrieving something from the car, Margaret Soames spotted me and waved. I returned her wave and she wandered up to speak with me.

“Goodness, is this little Catherine?” she asked.

I nodded and she bent down getting a hug and a sloppy kiss from my penultimate daughter. We both laughed and I invited her in for a cuppa—well it seemed the civilised thing to do.

“How are things?” I asked.

“Gregg is in hospital again.”

“Oh? I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, he’s never been the same since the fire, if it starts to rain in the night he panics and sleeps downstairs.”

“Gosh, he has a bit of a problem, hasn’t he?”

“That’s just part of it, he gets so anxious that I can’t do anything without him coming to look for me. If I go for a wee he’s looking for me and calling, unless he’s asleep, he’s under my feet all day long.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” it was about all I could say or do. I couldn’t even offer the blue light because I wasn’t sure if it helped with mental issues.

“Nice bwoo cowour, Mummy,” said Cate trying to catch something. I briefly saw a flash of blue moving from me to Margaret.

“An’ I’ve had this awful back for weeks now, can barely walk let alone look after Gregg.” As soon as she spoke she went into a sort of trance.

“Margaret, your back is improving as we speak, by bed time tonight it will be fine so you’ll sleep well tonight.” She muttered a yes and I left her to just relax in the trance before counting her back including instructions for her to sleep well at night from now on. When she woke she felt so much better, more energised and relaxed. I had a feeling Gregg got some too because of her fixation with him. I suspected she was nearly as anxious as he’d been, but then the house caught fire and they were trapped in it. Simon and some of the neighbours helped me rescue them. He had head injuries and then a heart attack and those sorts of events can change someone’s personality. I told her to remember me to him in the hope the energy would be able to home in on him and give him a bit of a boost.

She left about an hour later declining any lunch because she had some sort of casserole in the oven. Cate and I had cheesy jacket potatoes then after clearing up and checking all the doors and windows were locked, we collected everything up and set off for the church and its cemetery.

The last time I’d been here, we bumped into the Rev Peabody and I ended up going back to the vicarage for tea where he said or asked such intrusive and condescending questions about my gender change that I was blushing for a week. The problem was he didn’t realise he was doing it but at least he got my name right. I couldn’t remember if I’d had to breastfeed Cate in front of him, but it would have served him right if I had.

We seemed to be on our own in the cemetery which suited me fine and we located the grave in a few minutes after the last visit. The grass had recently been cut so walking over it was no problem despite the earlier rain. I approached the grave and immediately felt an emotional warmth there, something I’d never experienced in a cemetery before except at Tom’s family grave where of course Billie’s ashes are also interred.

I casually said, “Hi Mum, Dad, hope you’re okay.” Bit silly seeing as they’re both dead but what else can you say?

“Nanny,” said Cate and pointed at something I couldn’t see. “She wikes fwowers.”

“I’m glad. Hi Mum, hope Daddy is okay, thought I’d pop and see you and bring you a few flowers. I miss you so much.” I burst into tears and stood sobbing at the graveside while Cate held me around the top of my leg and told me that Nanny and Gwamps, wiked the fwowers and missed me too.

Just as I was about to leave the flowers in the vase on the grave Cate said excitedly, “Biwwie, it’s Biwwie, Mummy.” She trotted to the grave and seemed to be hugging someone I couldn’t see, the tears in my eyes not helping.

I said out loud, “I wish I could see and hug you, darling” and felt an icy coldness encompass me for a moment like two cold arms followed by a cold touch of something on my cheek, as if I’d been kissed. “Thank you, darling, take care of them, won’t you?”

In my mind’s eye I saw them walking away holding hands and looking down Cate seemed to be waving to them and they waved back. A few minutes later we returned to the car and after a quick drink of water, I collected my thoughts and drove us back to Portsmouth with a few minutes to spare before the others came out of school.