Free Bed of Roses by Daisy Waugh

a place to live.’
    ‘Oh. Well then, I’m wrong, aren’t I?’ says Geraldine. ‘If he’s moving down here – if he’s keeping it secret from her
    – then he and Fanny Flynn must be lovers. Or if not then he certainly wants them to be. Which rather knocks you out of the frame, old girl. Sorry.’
    ‘Not necessarily, it doesn’t.’
    They fall silent a moment, recover their good nature.
    ‘I say, though,’ Geraldine says brightly, ‘you know Clive actually went up and talked to her, after she came back to the hall. And she’s obviously rather a troubled young lady, because when Clive told her he was a solicitor she wouldn’t stop talking about stalkers . Legal rights of. Imagine that!’
    ‘So she’s a stalker?’
    ‘Either that, Kitty, or she’s got a stalker. Which I think is the more likely scenario.’
    ‘Oh! But who could possibly be stalking her? In Fiddleford!’
    ‘Well, she wouldn’t say, would she?’
    Suddenly Kitty gasps. She even sits up. ‘Geraldine! You don’t think – Grey McShane! ’
    For one delirious moment they will themselves to believe it. Without success.
    ‘One can’t help thinking, though,’ Geraldine moves blithely on, ‘if a girl does wander through life ripping her shirt off at the slightest provocation, she is running the risk of attracting unwanted attention from – you know – these sort of ghastly, obsessive perverts. Don’t you think so? I know it’s not fashionable to say so. But that’s just the way of the world.’
    ‘Exactly…Absolutely.’
    ‘Clive says she was being very obtuse. Absolutely wouldn’t go into specifics. But one can’t help wondering…I mean, it’s certainly intriguing, isn’t it?’
    Just then Ollie comes rushing out of the house, screaming like a toddler. He, too, when he calms down enough to speak, remains stubbornly obtuse. Absolutely won’t go into specifics. But it turns out his PlayStation is broken, and that Scarlett is to blame.
    ‘Oh, baby,’ coos Geraldine, ‘never mind. I’m very proud you were generous enough to let Scarlett have a go with it.’
    That isn’t quite what he’d said.
    ‘Yes, well done, Ollie,’ says Kitty. ‘Did Scarlett say sorry nicely?’
    ‘No.’
    Kitty clicks her tongue. She wishes Scarlett would remember that she’s in Ollie’s house, playing with Ollie’s toys, and that really, given Scarlett’s physical and material disadvantages, she should count herself lucky that such a nice-looking boy with so many nice-looking toys is willing to have anything to do with her. Besides which, weather allowing, Kitty very much plans to place herself and her daughter beside Ollie’s lovely new swimming pool for most of the coming summer. It makes everything so much more awkward when the children refuse to get on. ‘Where is she, anyway?’ Kitty asks.
    ‘Inside, probably. Smashing something else up—’
    ‘Never mind, baby-boy,’ interrupts Geraldine hurriedly. ‘Never mind. If it’s really broken we’ll get you another one at the weekend. Fair?’
    ‘But it’s—What, the new one?’
    ‘If you’re good. As a reward for being so generous to Scarlett.’ Geraldine leans across to give him a cuddle but he shakes her off and runs quickly back into the house. Geraldine hesitates. There are times when she is embarrassedby the contrast between Scarlett’s and Ollie’s fortunes, and this happens to be one of them. ‘Perhaps,’ she says, looking tentatively at Kitty, nervous that the suggestion might be thought patronising, ‘perhaps I could get one for Scarlett, too? As an early birthday present…’
    Kitty doesn’t generally mind being at the receiving end of her rich girlfriend’s largesse. Actually, over the years Geraldine has helped her out more often than Kitty cares to remember. But even Kitty has her limits. There are a few things she will not – she cannot – accept from Geraldine, and a PlayStation for Scarlett is apparently among them. So Kitty pretends not to hear. ‘