Free There’s Always Tomorrow by Pam Weaver Page A

candlestick of mucus and sand hanging from the end of her nose.
    Alarmed, he cried, ‘Tom!’
    ‘Cor, love a duck,’ said Tom as he saw her.
    Lifting her half-filled bucket towards her father, she said, ‘Eat tend cakey, Daddy.’
    ‘Hang on a minute, sweetheart, let Daddy clean you up first.’ With the practised hand of an expert, her father put one hand on the top of her blonde head to hold her steady while he fumbled in his pocket for his handkerchief. Connie sneezed and the candlestick grew longer.
    Jack, who was cuddling Gary on his lap, laughed aloud. Reg shuddered with disgust.
    ‘Tend cakey, Daddy?’ Connie said as her face emerged from under the voluminous handkerchief.
    ‘I’d love to,’ said Tom, pretending to take a piece. ‘Ummm, delicious. Don’t forget your Uncle Jack and Uncle Reg.’
    ‘Yum, yum,’ said Jack obligingly.
    Connie turned towards Reg. ‘Not for me,’ he said quickly.
    Tom ruffled the child’s hair. ‘Uncle Reg is full up,’ he said. ‘But I could eat you up!’ He growled and, snatching her in his arms, he kissed her neck. Connie giggled happily and when he put her down again she wandered back to the area of sand which served as her kitchen.
    ‘Not up to sand pie, Reg?’ Tom said good-naturedly.
    ‘Looking after kids is woman’s work,’ Reg muttered.
    ‘Rubbish,’ said Tom. ‘I love being with all my kids. I’m a dab hand at changing a nappy too.’
    Reg shook his paper disapprovingly and hid behind it again. Thank God Patsy was well past that stage. His lip curled at the thought of changing nappies, and as for dealing with snotty noses … You’d better keep well away from me, thought Reg sourly. But a couple of minutes later, the little brat was on her way back. Reg glanced around helplessly. The other two men were gone: Tom was doing something with Christopher and Jack was walking Gary towards the sea where the other kids were splashing about at the water’s edge.
    ‘Clear off,’ Reg hissed.
    But Connie was on a mission. Holding out her bucket of sand, she struggled to steady herself, tottered and made a grab at his trousers. She stumbled against him and fell. At the same time, Reg noticed a wasp crawling along the sand nearby. As Connie pulled herself to her feet again, Reg glanced around to make sure nobody was watching him, and then gave Connie a good shove with his leg. She sat down heavily on top of the wasp. A few seconds later, her heart-rending screams brought the others running.
     
     
    By the time the girls got back, the kids were sitting further down the beach, watching a Punch and Judy show. Billy had his arm around Connie who was sporting a large white bandage on her leg. Mary listened in horror as Tom explained about the wasp.
    ‘Good job the St John Ambulance people were so close,’ he said, pointing to the first aid post a little way along the beach.
    ‘Poor little mite,’ said Dottie. ‘Couldn’t you have stopped her?’
    ‘She fell,’ said Reg, re-arranging the knots in the handkerchief on the top of his head. ‘Couldn’t do a thing about it, love.’
    The Punch and Judy show over, Gary was looking very listless again.
    ‘I think you’d better take him to see Dr Fitzgerald tomorrow, hen,’ Mary told Peaches.
    Peaches nodded miserably.
    ‘Get Dottie to run over and fetch him when we get back,’ Reg suggested.
    Dottie turned her head away. Oh God, she couldn’t possibly face Dr Fitzgerald again. Not after last Saturday night. Whatever was she going to do?
    ‘You’ll go and get the doc for Peaches, won’t you love?’ Reg insisted.
    She turned her head and everyone was looking at her. ‘Yes, yes, of course I will.’
    They arrived back in the village at six thirty. Jack dropped Reg off at the Jolly Farmer and then went on to Mary’s place. It took a while to get all her sleepy kids off the back of the lorry, but they all called out their goodbyes.
    ‘It’s been a wonderful day, hen,’ Mary told Peaches. ‘Now don’t you