“So?” asked Enid and her Father as soon as I got back to them.
“What?” I asked.
“You know what!” said Enid. “Don’t play dumb.”
“I think Natasha is in her element, the Editor’s wife is hanging
on her every word,” I replied.
“Is there much for her to do there?” asked Enid’s Father.
“It sounded like the whole house needed a make-over,” I replied.
“They were talking about a room a month for as long as it takes.
Sorry.”
“What’s to be sorry about, as you said, she’ll be in her
element and I’ll get some peace and quiet for a few months at
least,” Enid’s Father replied. “It’ll take her mind of,”
he shuddered.
“What?” I asked.
“She was thinking of having some more children,” he said. “I
think she was just bored, but she was actually thinking of carrying
them!”
“Isn’t she too old?” I asked.
“No,” he said vaguely. “Her Mother gave birth to twins last
month, what with that and Lily, well, it’s been praying on her mind
since then. I think she thinks she didn’t give you and Lily
enough of her attention when you were little,” he added looking at
Enid.
“Enough attention! I remember you two turning up for my 16th
birthday party and I had to ask Eve who you were!” snapped Enid.
“Do you know how embarrassing that is. You just weren’t a part
of my life, or Lily’s.”
“I’m sorry about that,” said Enid’s Father. “I didn’t
think it mattered.”
“Of course it matters,” snapped Enid. “I’ve only just
found out what my Father’s name is,” she added turning to me.
“It’s Malcolm, by the way. You have no idea what that feels
like.”
“I think I do,” I replied. “It took you long enough to admit
to being my Mother and I nearly had to drag my Father’s name out of
you.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Enid quietly.
“You always were like your Mother,” said Malcolm.
“I am nothing like that over blown egotist,” Enid shouted.
“I wouldn’t say that,” I smiled.
“Like you know anything about her,” Enid replied.
“I’ve met lots of people like Natasha,” I said. “What you
see is what you get and at full volume.”
“That’s true,” said Malcolm.
“So what’s all this about wanting children?” I asked.
“She went to visit a friend of hers when Lily, you know what,”
said Malcolm.
“I didn’t know she had any friends,” said Enid.
“That isn’t very nice of you,” I said to Enid. “Everyone
has some friends. Also, we all know what Lily did, why don’t you
say it rather than skirt round it like that.”
“It’s hard to take in,” said Malcolm. “The thought that
she was so desperate that that was the only solution that she could
come up with,” he looked away and cleared his throat. Normally I
would have given him a hug, any body else, I would have, but somehow,
I didn’t think it was something he would appreciate.
“It hasn’t been easy for any of us,” I said, looking at Enid.
“But it’s what she did.”
“I know,” Malcolm sighed. “I think your Mother thought that
if she had some more children, she’d do a better job of bringing
them up than she did with you and Lily.”
“Are you saying that she was thinking of giving up her work so
that she could concentrate on them?” Enid asked.
“She was thinking she had short-changed you two,” said Malcolm.
“So she thought, rather than sorting out things with Enid, she’d
wipe the slate clean and start again?” I asked.
“Something like that,” said Malcolm.
“The danger with that is that she loves her work,” I said.
“Not doing it would be very frustrating for her and she might take
her frustrations out on her children.”
“I had worried about that,” Malcolm agreed. “But, you know
what she’s like, Enid, when she gets an idea in her head nothing
stands in her way.”
“So you are hoping that this will take her mind off children and
by the time it’s over she’ll have lost interest in the idea?” I
asked.
“Something like that,” he admitted. “If this led to more
work, then that would probably seal the deal and if you decided to
have a baby,” he added looking at Enid. “Then I might be able
to sell the idea of being a granny to her.”
“That’s too much,” said Enid. “I’m not having another
baby just to get Mother used to the idea of being a Granny.”
“You wouldn’t have to do much,” said Malcolm. “Your Mother
might even take on the job of bring it up,” he added looking
hopeful.
“I messed up totally the first time, I want to make it right with
my daughter, I definitely don’t want to have another so that Mother
could make a mess of their life,” snapped Enid.
“You want to make things right with me?” I asked. “Or is
there another daughter you haven’t told me about.”
“Of course I want to make things right with you,” said Enid.
“What Mother wouldn’t want to, well, apart from mine.”
“If you two are going to start talking things through,” said
Malcolm. “Could you do it somewhere else, I’d like to enjoy the
piece and quiet whilst I have it.”
“Of course, Malcolm,” we said and I took us back to Enid’s
rooms.
“I thought you’d take us back to my office,” said Enid looking
round.
“Which is where?” I asked. “You’ve been suspended as Head
of the Fairy Council and you are no longer the Head of the Fairy
Godmothers, so where is your office.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Enid sitting down on the sofa
in her living room, a cloud of dust arose and set her coughing.
“The stuff you took from the Head of the Fairy Godmother’s
office, where did you put it?” I asked. She pointed to some boxes
just inside the door. “And the Head of the Fairy Council office?”
“Behind the sofa,” she replied, pointing.
“How long were you planning on leaving them there?” I asked,
running my finger over the top box and seeing a line appear in the
dust.
“I hadn’t thought about it,” said Enid.
“Like you haven’t thought about cleaning anything in here,” I
said walking round the room.
“There didn’t seem to be a great deal of point,” said Enid.
“It isn’t as if anyone comes here.”
“They wouldn’t want to, not in this state,” I said. “You
and me are going to get cleaning.”
“I’m not one of your jobs, you don’t have to tell me to clean
up,” Enid snapped.
“Looks to me like I do,” I said. “Do you have a feather
duster, I haven’t seen cob webs like that since the ones in the
Fairy Council Hall.”
“I think it’s the same spiders,” said Enid. “Some of them
do look rather familiar.”
“It’s not like you to be like this,” I said. “You’re
usually the first to be cleaning up.”
“Lily, she was always the first. As soon as you mentioned the
cob webs in the Council Hall, she wasn’t happy till she had some of
the apprentice fairies up there cleaning them out,” said Enid.
“We had our disagreements but, she was always there. Now she
isn’t any more, she just faded away in front of me. Now it’s as
if she was never here. Mother, you know what she said. I find it
hard to take.”
“She did so much,” I said.
“And it’s all been forgotten,” Enid said.
“Then we must do something to make sure she is never forgotten,”
I said. “What do you think, a statue, a garden or a day?”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” said Enid.
“OK, you think about it whilst we get the cleaning done,” I
said.
“Are you obsessed with cleaning?” asked Enid.
“The first few jobs you had me do involved a lot of cleaning,” I
reminded her. “You get a lot of satisfaction turning a pig pen
into something suitable for someone to live in.”
“The cleaning stuff’s in that cupboard over there, you can start
with the cobwebs,” said Enid.
“And what will you do?” I asked. “I said I’d help you with
it, not do all the work.”
“I thought I’d start by picking up the laundry off the floor and
sending it down to Velvet,” said Enid. “Then I thought I’d
pick up the rubbish and everything else there is on the floor.”
“We can’t do the hoovering till the floor is clear,” I said.
“Reciting something she drummed into me the first week at Fairy
Godmother College.”
“I didn’t think you’d ever remember that,” Enid smiled.
By Janice Nye © 2020
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