Page 27 of Daydreams at the Farm on Muddypuddle Lane
Dulcie was looking rather despondent. ‘I hope so! I can’t do this every morning, I haven’t got the time. Thank goodness today is Saturday, otherwise I’d be late starting work.’
‘I’ll do it,’ Maisie promised, adding, ‘For as long as you need me to.’
‘That could be a couple of weeks,’ her sister warned.
Maisie didn’t take it as a warning, she took it as a promise. It meant she would have another two weeks on the farm before she was forced to re-evaluate her life. ‘That’s okay, I’m not in any hurry to go back to Birmingham.’
Maisie realised she had said ‘Birmingham’ and not ‘home’ and she wondered whether Dulcie had noticed.
It seemed not, as her sister said, ‘Nikki and Sammy will be here soon. Let’s put this milk in the fridge, then we can crack on with brainstorming some ideas.’
When they returned to the house they were met by the delicious aroma of baking, and found Otto taking a batch of croissants out of the oven. He’d no soonerdone that, than Nikki rocked up with Sammy with his young Border collie at his heels.
‘Mum said you’ve got more baby goats!’ he cried. ‘Can I go and see them?’
‘Of course you can,’ his mum said, and four pairs of eyes watched him indulgently as he shot out of the door with a loud whoop, the dog in hot pursuit.
‘Let’s take a look at this new set-up, then,’ Nikki said, just as Walter arrived. He had also brought his dog with him. Peg was a Border collie too, but considerably older and a lot calmer than Sammy’s pup.
Maisie held out her hand for the dog to sniff, then fondled Peg’s ears. That was what the farm lacked, she thought: a dog. There was an old ginger tom cat whocame and went when the mood took him, but the animal belonged to Walter and wasn’t the friendliest of creatures.
Whilst Dulcie showed Nikki and Walter the new milking parlour, Maisie stayed put and played with the dog until they breezed back in.
‘Adam is a bit of a hottie,’ Nikki declared, as Otto placed the croissants in the centre of the table. She took one and bit into it, cupping her hand underneath her chin to catch the crumbs. ‘Mmm, this is lovely,’ she mumbled around a mouthful of pastry.
‘He is,’ Maisie acknowledged. She had sent Nikki, Jay and their mum the photos she had taken yesterday.
Nikki furrowed her brow. ‘Dulcie mentioned that you two are an item. How long before you dump this one?’
‘Who says I’m going to dump him?’
‘You always do. Anyway, you’ll have to when you go back home.’
Maisie pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to think about that right now. Besides, she still had a couple of weeks’ grace.
‘Good job really,’ Nikki carried on. ‘Mum wouldn’t approve. She hates piercings.’
‘And long hair,’ Dulcie added.
‘She isn’t too keen on tattoos either,’ Nikki said.
‘I’ve got a tattoo of a sheep,’ Walter announced, rolling up his shirt sleeve toshow them. Maisie was bemused. If she were to have a tattoo, it certainly wouldn’t be asheep.
‘Can I have a tattoo?’ Sammy piped up. He had returned to the kitchen, catching the tail end of the conversation.
Five adults said in unison, ‘No, you can’t.’
‘I’ll have one when I’m grown up,’ he said. ‘I want a tattoo of a chicken.’
Otto said to his father, ‘If Sammy ends up having a chicken on his arm, you know who Beth will blame.’
Walter waved a hand in the air. ‘As if I care. It’ll be just one more thing that Beth and I don’t see eye-to-eye on.’
Maisie recalled how her mum and Walter had squabbled like a pair of kids when the family had spent Christmas at thefarm. It had been quite entertaining, with the added bonus that whenever Mum’s attention had been on Walter, it hadn’t been on her.
Dulcie accepted a cup of coffee from Otto with a smile, then raised her voice. ‘Can we get on with ideas for the petting-zoo-spring-event thingy, because Otto has to leave soon.’
‘You could have koalas,’ Sammy suggested. ‘People like koalas.’
