Free Civvy Street by Fiona Field Page B

me a little tick or two.’
    Maddy hitched Rose up on her hip and led the way to the front door, herding Nathan with her free hand.
    ‘Actually, if the kiddies—’
    Kiddies? thought Maddy, her teeth starting to itch. Jeez...
    ‘—can stand it, I’d like you to come with me to view the community centre.’
    ‘Now?’
    Camilla smiled her saccharine smile. ‘Please.’
    ‘OK. I’m sure the children will be fine for a minute or two.’
    ‘Oh that’s so wonderful,’ chirruped Camilla. ‘Only I know how bored little people can get and we don’t want that happening, do we?’
    Maddy had to grit her teeth to stop herself from responding inappropriately. As she trailed down the road with Nathan and Rose she began to wish she’d grabbed the pushchair but it wasn’t far and Nathan was, at the moment, behaving.
    They reached the old brigadier’s residence – a throwback to the days when the army was much bigger and had far more senior officers who, in turn, needed housing that was concomitant with their status.
    ‘It’s a shame this lovely house isn’t still being used as a quarter,’ said Camilla.
    Maddy reckoned that if it had been, Camilla would have done her level best to get it allocated to herself. Nothing if not pushy was that woman. Beneath that sweetness-and-light exterior beat a heart of absolute steel.
    ‘Of course,’ she continued, ‘we’ve all reaped the benefit of the cuts in one way or another.’
    ‘Really? I don’t think Susie would agree.’ Oops. That remark earned her a stony stare. Lucky not to be shoved on the naughty step too.
    ‘The cuts,’ continued Camilla with a note of frost in her voice, ‘are the reason we’re lucky to have such smashing quarters here.’
    Maddy managed to keep her mouth shut this time. OK, her quarter wasn’t completely rank, but ‘smashing’ wasn’t the adjective that sprang to mind. ‘Adequate’ might cover it, at a push.
    ‘Yes, we all got bumped up a level here. The reality is your quarter is a major’s quarter and you shouldn’t be entitled to a fourth bedroom.’
    ‘Just as well Seb’s getting promoted then, isn’t it? We wouldn’t want to have perks we’re not entitled to, would we?’ Oh, God, and now she was even starting to sound a bit like Camilla. Shoot me now, thought Maddy.
    ‘Indeed.’
    Camilla opened the box file and took out a key. The front door needed a lick of paint and dead leaves had blown into the porch.
    ‘Here we are,’ sang Camilla as she pushed open the door.
    The quarter was almost bare though it still boasted, noted Maddy, a superior grade of carpets and curtains. One of the privileges of rank, obviously. There were still some pieces of issue furniture in the building including a telephone table in the hall. Camilla put her file down on it.
    ‘So,’ she said, ‘while the army has agreed in principle that we should have this house for use by the 1 Herts families, we have yet to work out exactly how we are going to keep everyone happy. And we don’t want anyone being left out, now, do we?’
    Maddy shook her head. Oh no, that would be a disaster. She put Rose down so she could crawl about on the carpet while Nathan had stomped into the kitchen and was amusing himself by opening and closing cupboard doors. It was pretty irritating but not as irritating as Camilla Rayner.
    ‘Who wants to be accommodated?’ asked Maddy.
    ‘The thrift shop, Mothers and Toddlers, the book club, Bitch and Stitch – although I wish they’d call themselves something more appropriate. Really!’
    ‘Anyone else?’
    ‘The gardening club, but they’ll just need a greenhouse, if we can raise the funds, and the choir.’
    ‘The only group that needs a permanent space is the thrift shop. And anyway, why do they want to move from where they are now? I’d have thought that room behind the housing commandant’s office was perfect.’
    ‘He’s intimated he’d like it back. With the drawdown from Germany and more families moving