Page 11 of Lessons in Life

‘Eloise?’ Lisa said again.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t hear too well.’ The woman’s voice was educated with no hint of the West Yorkshire accent that most round here spoke with. Lisa herself had not fully acquired the northern flattened vowels, having been brought up in Surrey until she was nine and then corrected at every turn by Adrian and Karen Foley if she ever dared to saybathwith its shortened ‘a’ rather thanbarthwith the elongated vowel.

‘I’m sorry, I disturbed you.’ Lisa said speaking loudly while making sure the woman could see her lips moving. ‘Look, it’s sleeting now. We need to get back inside.’

‘Just a moment.’ Eloise fumbled at her skirt with numb hands, seemingly looking for pockets. ‘I don’t seem to have brought my hearing aids with me,’ she said finally, almost accusingly, as though it were possibly Lisa’s fault that she was without them.

‘I bet you’re hungry,’ Lisa mouthed.

‘I’m rarely hungry.’ Eloise raised an eyebrow. ‘Especially now that he’s brought me back here of all places.’

‘Brought youback?’ Lisa smiled, not understanding.

‘I’m not staying. You do realise that?’ Eloise glared at Lisa.

‘Come on, why don’t we get a coffee?’

‘The filthy stuff theycallcoffee, you mean? Once I’m released, I’ll order some from Fortnum’s.’

‘It’s not a prison, Eloise.’

‘I think you’ll find it is. Are you new? One of the warders? You’re not wearing the uniform.’

‘I’m Lisa. I’m actually Jess’s mum.’

‘Jess?’ Eloise followed Lisa as she made for the door. ‘Who is Jess?’

‘She’s in charge round here,’ Lisa said proudly. ‘This is only the second time I’ve been allowed to visit. Well, not visit as such; I’m actually volunteering. To be honest, I’m hoping there might be some work for me here.’

‘There’s always work in prisons like this. Crying out for staff, I believe.’

‘I don’t think, Eloise, that if this was a prison, there’d be gardens like this one.’ Lisa paused, thinking aloud. ‘I wonder if they’d let me work in it?’

‘You’ll have to ask Mummy…’

‘Jess d’you mean?’ They’d come back through the rose garden and Lisa opened the kitchen door, grateful now for the rush of warmth from within.

‘…she does most of the hiring and firing although Daddy, typically, always thinks it’s his job to take on new staff.’

‘Right.’

‘Oh, Eloise, there you are. We’ve been searching the whole house for you.’ Bex was in the kitchen as they walked through, loading a trolley with teacups and the huge institutional aluminium tea and coffee pots.

‘Shall I make Eloise some toast?’ Lisa asked. ‘She missed breakfast.’

‘Would you like that, Eloise?’ Bex said, not looking at her.

‘She hasn’t got her hearing aids in,’ Lisa explained when Eloise didn’t answer.

‘Again? Where’ve you put them this time, Eloise?’ Bex asked. ‘We spent a good hour looking for them yesterday, didn’t we? If you’d like to help serve morning coffee, Lisa, that would be great. I’ll make Eloise some toast but she’ll need to eat it in here or the others will all want toast instead of biscuits. Or think it’s tomorrow already and breakfast time again.’ Bex laughed at this. ‘Come on, Eloise, let’s go up to your room first and see if we can find those hearing aids of yours.’

* * *

Lisa spent the next hour helping Stephie and Azir with tea and coffee before taking the trolley back to the kitchen and stacking the huge dishwasher so that the kitchen staff could get on with lunch preparations. She should have volunteered to do this years ago, Lisa thought, relishing being useful.

Over the past few years, once her girls were at school, she’d had several little part-time jobs and loved them all. She’d been taken on a couple of days a week at the tourist shop and café in the village, which had been utterly perfect for her, fitting in around the girls’ schooling and Robyn’s and then Sorrel’s dance and theatre sessions. Beddingfield, having won Best Yorkshire Village 2018, was still dining out on its win, visitors stopping off to roam its streets and beautiful countryside as well as buying souvenirs and the now famous Beddingfield Brownies.

And then, as per usual, just when she’d really thought she was making a difference to Beddingfield, the village she loved so much, her condition had had her back in bed with fatigue or, more frightening, returned to hospital once again with seizures, leaving Jess to take care of Sorrel, and the employment given to someone else.

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