Free Hubble Bubble by Christina Jones

he fit or what ?’
    ‘Very hot.’ Doll raised her eyebrows. ‘And Heath Ledger to a T. I reckon Granny Westward knew exactly what she was cooking up.’
    Giggling, they all trooped back into the living room.Richard and Judy were sitting on the table licking the plates clean. Mitzi hoped their wishes didn’t involve the massacre of multitudinous wildlife to be presented to her under the duvet, still kicking, in the early hours.
    ‘Anyone else want a drink? I think I need one.’ Mitzi pushed her fingers through her hair, humming ‘Waterloo’ along with Abba. ‘And I hope it wasn’t the cooking, but I’m feeling pretty peculiar.’
    ‘So are we,’ Doll agreed, sitting down heavily and reaching for yet another of Clyde’s bottles. ‘But that may be because of the excitement of having a Heath lookalike on the doorstep rather than anything toxic you added to the pie.’
    Lu still had a faraway look. ‘Anyway, you only used herby things, didn’t you? Granted not your usual spice-rack stuff, but nothing that could be classed as a banned substance. And don’t half the royal family indulge in herbal remedies?’
    ‘That’s a recommendation, is it?’ Doll laughed a little too loudly. ‘Look at what it’s done for them – there’s not a normal one amongst them. Oh, crikey – I feel as high as a kite.’
    ‘But it’s not a nasty too-much-to-drink feeling, is it?’ Mitzi frowned. ‘It’s sort of fizzy and floaty and rather lovely.’
    Sinking into the fun-fur cushions on the sofa, she smiled to herself. Maybe the feeling was exactly what Granny Westward had intended. They’d had to find their own amusements in small villages even a few decades ago. Why wouldn’t people spice things up a bit with one or two readily available hedgerow ingredients in their recipes? And if the rather potent results were then claimed as magical, where was the harm in that? It was only a bit of fun, after all. She really must study the book more closely and see what other entertainment could be found amongst its pages.
    ‘Oh, my God!’ Mitzi struggled to her feet. ‘I must be mad!’

    ‘What’s up?’ Lulu and Doll spoke together.
    Despite her light-headedness, Mitzi was already at the living-room door. ‘Me – I’m what’s up. I’ve sent that bloke – gorgeous as he was – round to two elderly ladies at this time of night! Me! I’m supposed to be sensible and caring and keep an eye on them – and he could be a mugger or a rapist or a murderer or anything.’
    ‘Course he couldn’t.’ Lu laughed. ‘He was lovely.’
    ‘And I’m sure there have been a lot of very handsome serial killers …’ Mitzi tugged at the front door. ‘I won’t be long.’
    Because she could no longer feel her feet, the short journey down her own path and up that of the Bandings was a rather odd experience. However, clinging to Lav and Lob’s porch, she leaned on the doorbell.
    Eventually, Lavender, wearing a moth-eaten dressing gown and Celtic football socks, pulled the door open and peered across the security chain. ‘Oh, hello, Mitzi. Are you all right? Your hair looks funny and your face is all shiny. You’re not ill, dear, are you? Ah!’ Lavender’s eyes widened pleasurably. ‘You’re letting yourself go, dear, aren’t you? You’ve spent one too many lonely nights with the gin bottle and have reached the cry-for-help stage. We knew it would happen before long. Come along in, dear. Lobelia and I will cheer you up.’
    There was a lot of metallic scrabbling and Lavender flung the door open.
    Stepping into the hall, which was fractionally colder than the autumnal night outside, Mitzi smiled. ‘Thank you, but really I’m fine. I’m not alone, the girls are with me – we’ve had a lovely evening – but there was a young man at our door just now asking for you, and I thought I ought to come and check if he’d … that is, if you’d let him in. Of course, I know you wouldn’t, but—’
    ‘Oh, yes we did, dear.’