Second Shot

Ella reappeared at that moment. Her hands were wet and largely free of flour, but where she’d splashed the front of her dress it now looked like she was wearing a pastry vest. Rosalind took charge of her, wiping her down and dusting her off as she quickly returned the kitchen to its former pristine state. If I hadn’t known better I would have said the woman was glad of the excuse not to have to answer any more of my questions.

Ella seemed to have really taken to the bony woman, and I wasn’t quite sure whether to be insulted or relieved by the little girl’s sudden shift in allegiance. Maybe Ella found Rosalind’s rather reserved manner refreshing after all the anxiously smiling faces that adults usually present when faced with a small child.

Now, Ella had turned coy and giggly When I glanced in their direction, she was whispering to Rosalind, hiding her lips behind her hand. Rosalind’s eyes were on me, coolly appraising. Suddenly irritated, I turned my back on the pair of them.

It was then I heard Ella’s voice pipe up, “And Charlie hurt her neck, but I kissed it all better for her.”

I gritted my teeth for a moment, then forced my face to relax and turned back. “That’s right, Ella,” I said brightly ‘All better now.”

“Really?” Rosalind said and I could see her eyes flicking busily over the high collar of my sweater, but I was damned if I was about to give her a demonstration.

Fortunately, I was saved by the bell-or rather, the timer for the cookies, which bleeped to announce they were ready to come out of the oven. Just as Rosalind retrieved a perfectly browned set of odd-shaped cookies and left them on a wire rack to cool, Lucas and Simone strolled in.

They’d disappeared into Lucas’s den when Rosalind had first suggested baking as a way of keeping Ella occupied without her usual array of toys. It was only now, when they surfaced again, that I realized how long they’d been in there together.

‘Ah, perfect timing,” Lucas said, smiling as he moved to put an arm round his wife’s shoulders and give her a squeeze.

Rosalind glanced sharply at him and stepped away from his embrace. For a moment he looked offended, but he shrugged it off with the air of someone trying just a little too hard to promote his innocence. Simone looked flushed, almost excited. What the hell had they been up to?

“So, what have you been up to?” I said, keeping my tone mild.

She frowned at me in much the same way Rosalind had been doing all morning.

“Oh, you know, just catching up on old times,” she said, making too much of an effort to be casual about it.

Behind Rosalind’s back, Lucas flashed Simone a quick smile, conspiratorial. Simone saw that I’d caught the gesture and that I was about to dig deeper. She glared at me. I raised my eyebrows but said nothing.

Ella filled the awkward gap by insisting they admire her cookies.

“Wow, those look just wonderful,” Simone said. “You have been busy, sweetie. Did you make all these yourself?”

Ella paused, torn between taking the credit and sharing the glory. “Well, Grandma helped,” she admitted at last, her face grave. ‘A little bit,” she added, just in case we got the wrong idea of her own contribution.

Grandma.

I heard an intake of breath, but I couldn’t swear whose. All eyes were suddenly fixed on Rosalind. Her face had frozen and-just for a moment- I thought she might actually break and cry Then the corner of her mouth trembled, fluttered, and gradually curved upwards into a shaky smile.

She reached out, almost tentative, and stroked a hand over Ella’s silky curls. Ella dimpled into a heartbreaking smile and I felt some small relaxation of the muscles across the top of my shoulders, that I hadn’t realised had been tense until then.

If you have to protect a child, I thought, it always helps to have the people closest on your side….

I must admit, I thought I’d got away without having to explain any further about what had happened to my neck. I should have known that Rosalind’s distraction was only temporary.

After lunch we all climbed into the Range Rover and headed into town. Simone had apparently expressed an interest in seeing the military surplus store the Lucases ran, and I must admit I was curious about the place myself.

We piled into the luxury four-by-four, with Ella sitting between Simone and Rosalind in the back, and me up front with Lucas.

“Ella was telling me how she has the gift of healing,” Rosalind said to Simone, and recounted her earlier conversation with Ella. I was aware of Lucas snatching little sideways glances at me as he drove, but I stared rigidly out of the front windscreen and pretended to a bout of deafness.

“Oh, er, yes,” Simone said, and I could hear the tension in her voice. She gave a nervous laugh. “Ella noticed that Charlie had a bit of a scar on her neck and so-”

“It was when those nasty men frightened me,” Ella told Rosalind in a loud whisper.