The Girl Who Wanted to Belong, Book 5 Read online

  ‘Lucy, that’s enough now. Please don’t ask Maria any more questions.’

  ‘Why? What’s the problem? I only asked if she had a mummy and a daddy. Owwww!’

  ‘Maria! Please let go of Lucy’s hair, right now.’

  Jonathan indicated and pulled over as soon as he could. Maria had her fist balled around a section of Lucy’s hair and she had a steely glint in her eyes, one I’d seen before when Maria was very angry.

  ‘I said, please let go of Lucy’s hair.’

  Maria slowly let go, folded her arms across her chest and scowled at me.

  ‘I’ll do it again if she doesn’t shut up!’

  ‘Now girls,’ Jonathan said, raising his voice a little, to assert his authority. ‘We want you both to get along and in order for that to happen you need to be kind and polite to each other. Lucy, I don’t want you to ask Maria any more personal questions. If she wants to tell you about her family that is up to her, but please don’t ask again. Maria, if you are unhappy with anything that happens between you and Lucy please tell us straight away. Angela and I will deal with it. Under no circumstances are you to pull Lucy’s hair or fight with her in any way whatsoever. Is that clear?’

  ‘Yes,’ Maria muttered.

  ‘Yes,’ Lucy muttered. ‘How long does it take to get to the leisure centre? What are we having to eat tonight?’

  ‘Ten minutes and there’ll be spaghetti Bolognese and salad waiting for us when we get back.’

  ‘Urgh, I hate salad,’ Lucy said.

  Maria hated salad too and she laughed, and by the time we pulled up at the leisure centre the tension between the girls had eased off. Happily, once we were inside the argument seemed to be forgotten. The girls were looking forward to the swim and Maria was enjoying being the one in charge, showing Lucy the lockers and the changing area and telling her all about the wave machine and sprinklers that came on in the pool. Lucy was thrilled by this and got changed first and waited patiently for the rest of us by the poolside.

  ‘Come on Maria!’ she said when the two of us arrived at the same time. ‘Let’s do some lengths. Shall we have a race?’

  ‘I’ll thrash you!’ Maria joked.

  Jonathan joined me and we watched the girls jump in the water together and start to do lengths.

  ‘Now that’s the kind of “thrashing” we can cope with,’ he smiled.

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ I said. ‘I think we’re going to have to watch these two like hawks.’

  At that moment the siren sounded all around the pool, warning swimmers the waves were about to start up. ‘I think you’re right,’ Jonathan shouted over the siren. ‘And I also think both Lucy and Maria are quite capable of making waves all by themselves!’

  4

  ‘The sooner she starts school again the better’

  On the Monday morning I called Jess to discuss Lucy’s schooling.

  ‘How’s it going so far?’ she asked.

  ‘Not bad,’ I said, filling her in. ‘I’m finding that when Lucy’s occupied she’s generally no trouble.’

  I told Jess that the previous day Lucy had aggravated Maria by staring at her, following her around and invading her personal space. We’d had my mum over for Sunday lunch as we often did, and thankfully this diffused the tetchy atmosphere. Lucy was interested to meet Mum and embroiled her in countless board games, which my mother thoroughly enjoyed. Maria joined in a few but when my mum went home and the two girls tried to play a game together it ended in an argument. ‘I think the sooner we get Lucy into school the better,’ I said. ‘Is there any news?’

  ‘Actually there is. I’ve just put the phone down to the head of St Bede’s. I’ve arranged a meeting for this afternoon. I hope that’s not too short notice?’

  ‘Absolutely not. I’m delighted. As Lucy’s social worker hasn’t been assigned yet, I was going to offer to phone round the local schools myself this morning, but I’m very glad you’ve beaten me to it, Jess!’

  ‘Good. The only thing is I’ve no news on whether Lucy’s statemented. I’m still waiting on that but I thought we’d take the appointment anyhow. You never know, I might hear back later this morning, if we’re lucky.’

  I took down the details and told Lucy we’d be going along to see what would potentially be her new school while she was living with us. I also reminded her that Jonathan and I had a support social worker called Jess, who she’d meet at the appointment with the school.

  ‘Will I have a helper?’ Lucy asked, narrowing her eyes. ‘I had a helper before. I don’t like school really. I don’t want to go to school without a helper.’

  ‘This is something we need to talk about at school. Did you always have a helper then, every day?’

  ‘Yes, every day. I like her. She’s called Miss Jenner. She helped with my reading mostly, and maths.’

  I knew the head of St Bede’s, Mr Morris-Butler, but this was not necessarily a good thing. Unfortunately we’d had a very difficult child staying with us some years earlier, who was extremely disruptive in the classroom. As a result I was called up to the school on many occasions. I always found Mr Morris-Butler to be a rather cold and foreboding character for a primary school head teacher and I can’t say we gelled very well. He was a real stickler for rules and red tape, and I found myself thinking, We’ll have no chance of getting Lucy in there if she isn’t statemented.

  I kept Lucy occupied that morning by setting her up on the laptop with some spelling and maths CD-ROMS. I intended to do some housework and catch up with a few phone calls I had to make, but I didn’t get a thing done.

  ‘Angela, can you help me with this?’

  ‘Yes, of course, sweetheart. Let’s see where you are up to.’

  ‘I’ve done this page and now I’m on the next one. It’s a number puzzle. I’m not doing the spelling one. It’s too hard.’

  ‘OK. How can I help you?’

  ‘Can you do it with me?’

  ‘Are you stuck?’

  ‘No, I just want you to help me.’

  ‘Why don’t you make a start and I will give you some clues if you can’t do it on your own?’

  ‘OK.’

  I needed to make appointments at the dentist, doctor and optician for Lucy, as we need to do for every new child we take in. This is a Social Services requirement, and I like to get it done as quickly as possible after a child moves in so that any problems are picked up and dealt with sooner rather than later.

  I called the doctor’s first and was put on hold. Lucy was working on the dining-room table and I was just next door, in the kitchen.

  ‘ANGELA!’ she called at the top of her voice.

  ‘I’m just on hold on the phone,’ I said, hovering in the doorway with the phone to my ear. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I need help. Can you help me?’

  Muzak was plinking away down the line so I put the call on speakerphone and went to see what Lucy was stuck on.

  ‘What’s a dozen?’

  ‘A dozen is twelve.’

  ‘Is it?’

  ‘Yes. Oh, hang on a moment.’

  The doctor’s receptionist was on the line now, but Lucy didn’t seem to register that I needed to take the call and she continued to talk non-stop.

  ‘ANGELA? Which number is wrong? Can you help me? I can’t move on to the next clue, can I, if this one is wrong?’

  I pointed to the phone and stepped out of the room so I could concentrate and book the appointment. I was still on the line when Lucy once again bellowed, ‘ANGELA, can you help me? Is this right? Angela?’

  I walked to the far end of the kitchen to finish my call and then returned to the dining room, where I explained to Lucy that I couldn’t have two conversations at the same time and she needed to be patient while I was on the phone.

  ‘OK. But why is it called a dozen? Why can’t it just be twelve? Are there names for other numbers? What are they?’

  I started to tell her that some other numbers had names too, like score for twenty. The
phone rang again. This time it was the optician calling me back as I’d left a message earlier. I went to take the call in the kitchen and Lucy followed me, standing on the back of my heels and tugging at the back of my shirt as she did so.

  ‘Yes, that’s fine. Three o’clock. Ideal. Thank you.’

  ‘What’s happening at three o’clock?’

  ‘Yes, I know you’ve moved premises. I know how to find you. Car parking now at the back. Got it, thank you.’

  ‘What are premises?’

  I put my finger to my lips to indicate to Lucy that she needed to be quiet while I completed the call, and when I hung up I repeated what I’d just said about not being able to hold two conversations at once.

  ‘Sorry. Can you help me now? I think I’ve got stuck.’

  It didn’t matter how much I encouraged Lucy to work independently and how many times I explained I needed to get on with a couple of jobs around the house, she nagged me over and over again and seemed to have a very short attention span. By the time we set off to meet Jess at the school I was really hoping the meeting would go well, and I was wishing that Lucy could start school that week, if not the next day! I knew this was ambitious, given the various processes and paperwork we’d have to go through with the LEA and Social Services, but I had my fingers crossed nonetheless.

  Jess met us in the car park and I introduced her to Lucy. Under normal circumstances Jess would have met Lucy at our house when she first arrived, but on that particular afternoon Jess had been called out to the police station, to deal with another child on her list who had got himself into trouble.

  ‘How’s it going, Lucy?’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘What have you been up to today?’

  ‘Had breakfast. Did stuff on the computer. Had a tuna sandwich for lunch. Helped Angela empty the dishwasher.’

  ‘Great. Are you looking forward to starting back at school?’

  ‘Yes, because I’m bored. At home Daddy lets me do loads of jobs. I like helping him do the garden and all that. I want to go home. When can I go home?’

  Jonathan was standing next to me and Jess glanced at both of us, as if to say, ‘Oh dear.’

  ‘Well, I was about to tell you there’s a meeting on Friday to discuss how long you’ll be staying with Angela and Jonathan, and then we’ll be able to tell you more.’

  ‘Good. I miss Daddy.’

  ‘I’m sure you do. Now, shall we go and sort your school place out? That will keep you busy in the meantime.’

  Lucy nodded and Jonathan walked on ahead with her, leading the way to reception. Unfortunately Jess still didn’t know if Lucy was statemented or not, which wasn’t ideal.

  ‘Let’s hope that doesn’t cause too much of a holdup,’ she said. ‘Lucy certainly likes to be a busy bee, doesn’t she? The sooner she starts school again the better.’

  ‘I couldn’t agree more. She’s a lovely girl and I’m already very fond of her, but I can see how things might unravel if she isn’t occupied or stimulated enough.’

  The meeting didn’t get off to a great start. Despite Lucy sitting right next to me, listening to everything, Mr Morris-Butler immediately brought up the fact that the last child in our care who attended his school was extremely disruptive and caused no end of trouble. It was clear the head teacher had his reservations about taking in another ‘cared for’ child, as he put it, but Jess handled the situation diplomatically and explained that Lucy was of course a different child and was very willing to learn.

  ‘Lucy has just told me she’s bored and wants to get back to school as quickly as possible,’ Jess said, giving Lucy an encouraging smile.

  Mr Morris-Butler gave a curt nod of the head.

  ‘Did you have a support worker with you in your last school?’ he asked Lucy.

  ‘Yes. Miss Jenner always helped me in my old school. I like her.’

  The head seemed pleased with this response but then asked a series of questions none of us knew the answers to, such as what Lucy’s specific needs were, when she was statemented and so on. He then told us that before any decision could be made as to whether Lucy would be granted a place at St Bede’s he would need to see all the relevant paperwork from her previous school and LEA.

  Mr Morris-Butler dismissed us; it wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d rung a bell and told us to walk on the left-hand side of the corridor on our way out.

  Lucy fired another round of questions at us after we said goodbye to Jess and walked back to our car.

  ‘When can I start? What’s it’s like? What class will I be in? Do you think I will make friends? Do they let you play football at lunchtime?’

  I didn’t want to make any promises I couldn’t keep, and so I told Lucy we would just have to be patient and wait to hear from the head teacher.

  ‘So you like football?’ Jonathan asked.

  I smiled to myself thinking, Typical Jonathan: the master of distraction.

  ‘Yes. I LOVE football.’

  ‘So do I. We could have a kick around when we get back to our house if you like?’

  ‘Wicked! Daddy’s good at football. Are you any good?’

  ‘I’ll let you be the judge of that,’ Jonathan said. ‘Come on. Let’s go!’

  5

  ‘I’m happy, very happy. I love you!’

  ‘Tell her to stop staring at me, will you?’ Maria snapped.

  Maria had given Lucy another lukewarm reception when she got in from school. She had fallen out with a friend in her class and was tired and impatient. I think the staring was Lucy’s way of trying to show she wasn’t very happy about the way Maria was treating her. It started at the dinner table. Lucy had enjoyed playing football with Jonathan that afternoon and seemed in a good mood, but when the four of us sat down to eat Lucy gave Maria a long, cold stare across the table. She did this on and off throughout the meal and I had to ask her several times to stop before she finally gave up.

  ‘What are you staring at?’ Maria barked at Lucy.

  ‘Nothing!’

  ‘Well look at something else!’

  ‘They’re my eyes, I can do what I want with them.’

  Though she was clearly rattled by Lucy’s staring Maria wasn’t put off her food. She tucked in and ate a large meal while once again Lucy only picked at her food. Her green salad was untouched, but that didn’t surprise me. Maria herself had asked me more than once why I ‘spoiled’ perfectly good meals with salad! I encouraged Lucy to eat a bit more of her quiche and potatoes, but she objected to the onions in the quiche, which she picked out before eating it, and said she had never had new potatoes with skins on before and thought they were ‘weird’. She wouldn’t even entertain the coleslaw on her plate: again the onion put her off, and she said it smelled ‘funny’.

  I made a mental note to seat both girls side by side instead of opposite each other at the dinner table in future, to reduce the chances of Lucy staring at Maria. I could see I’d need to keep a very close eye on Lucy’s diet. She was quite happy to eat breakfast and snacks and she did OK with things like sandwiches or crackers for lunch, but evening meals seemed to faze her. It was true she was very slight and therefore didn’t need to eat a huge amount, but I wanted to make sure she was eating enough of the right foods and not filling up on snacks too much during the day. I told myself that she was still settling in, of course, and nerves might be hampering her appetite. This wasn’t uncommon, and I’d just have to monitor the situation and nudge her in the right direction, without making an issue of it.

  The following day Lucy was up early and the first thing she asked was, ‘How many days until I see Daddy?’

  ‘We’ll see him on Friday, at the meeting.’

  ‘Good. That’s . . . Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – only three sleeps!’

  ‘That’s right. Not long at all.’

  ‘What are we going to do until then?’

  The goalpost Jonathan had assembled the afternoon before was still set up in the garden. I suggested to Lucy that
she could do a fun science CD-ROM programme I had on the laptop and then she could go and kick the ball around before lunch, as it was warm and dry and the sun was shining. In the afternoon Lucy had a dental appointment. I’d managed to get a cancellation, and I told her that as it was such a nice day we could walk to the surgery across town and do a bit of food shopping on the way back, as I needed some ingredients for dinner as well as a few basics.

  She happily agreed. ‘Can I help you make it?’

  ‘Yes, if you want to. I’d be glad of the help. We’re having lasagne and garlic bread. I need to buy some fresh fruit and veg too.’

  ‘Daddy grows fruit and veg. He likes gardening. Once he grew two carrots that were stuck together and we said they were twins like Josh and Liam!’

  I told Lucy my mum had a vegetable patch and that we’d go to her house one day so she could see it, and maybe even do a bit of gardening ourselves. She seemed thrilled at the idea.

  ‘Does she grow carrots? I like horses, you know. Once I was allowed to help my cousin’s friend with her horse and we fed him carrots. Do you know anyone with a horse?

  ‘As a matter of fact I do. There’s a lady in the neighbourhood who has several horses. I could ask her if you can visit some time, if you like? She’s called Diane and she’s a good friend.’

  ‘OK, but can it be soon? Can it be tomorrow? Or the next day? Because I’m going home with Daddy on Friday . . . probably.’

  Her voice trailed off at the end of the sentence. I gently explained to Lucy that even though she was seeing her daddy and stepmother at the end of the week, it was only going to be during the meeting to decide how long she was staying with us. I told her, gently, that she would not be going home with them on that day.

  ‘Do you remember we talked about you staying with us for a bit? Perhaps two or three months? Well, the meeting is going to decide what the best length of time will be. You’ll be staying with us for a little while – probably until the summer holidays – and that’s why we’re setting up a school place for you, for the summer term. It’s also why we’ve found you a dentist here, and things like that.’