Page 11 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘I’m not too bad. How much further is it?’

‘Not far. In fact, I can see the estate now… look.’

Ahead was a row of boxy houses, rendered in rough plaster, the shades of the paint ranging from putty to grey to linen and off-white. They were all relatively well kept, though it was obvious this wasn’t an affluent area from the dated garden furniture and broken fencing. There were children playing in front of the first one they passed, a girl on a rusting swing and a boy racing round in circles on a pedal car. The next one had two neighbours chatting over a low fence, and the windows of a third were being cleaned by a woman who looked far too old to be on top of a set of stepladders. Zoe was tempted to stop and offer some help, but it was none of her business, and the offer probably wouldn’t have been welcomed anyway.

‘Looks as if someone has been in the garden since I was last here,’ she said as she slowed down in front of a house that looked identical to all the others except that the rendering was painted a delicate sage green. ‘I’ll bet it’s Fern. She said she was going to cut all the shrubs back; they were growing wild. I think they still have wild raspberry and gooseberry bushes from the people who were here before. Fern was quite excited about that. She’s planning to grow some of their own food when the weather gets better again.’

‘I suppose she knows loads about it because she lived at the commune. They did all that, didn’t they?’

Zoe pulled on the handbrake and then erupted into laughter as her gaze caught something in the garden. Billie saw it at the same time, and she started to laugh too.

‘Oh my God! I bet Maisie put that there!’

‘I don’t know about that, but I bet she got the clothes.’

‘I bet they’re her mum’s old ones. Bridget would totally wear stuff like that.’

Zoe got out of the car and went to take a closer look while Billie took Louisa out of her seat. Next to a patch of garden that had been dug up, perhaps ready for planting, stood a home-made scarecrow. It had a body made of plastic shopping bags, stuffed with other shopping bags to pad it out, a doll’s head stuck on an old broom handle, and it was dressed in a glittery vest and silver leggings. She wore a broad smile as she turned to see if Billie was ready.

‘I wonder what the neighbours are making of it,’ she said as Billie fastened Louisa’s coat and came to join her.

‘God knows. I bet they’re all old. That woman on the ladders looked ancient.’

‘I saw some children playing down the road, though. I think it’s a nice mix, actually. It’s a good place for Maisie and Fern to be. I really think they got lucky. There aren’t many council houses around here, after all. Must have been a long list waiting for one on this estate.’

‘Having two babies must have helped, especially one with special needs.’ Billie threw Zoe a sideways look. ‘And maybe a certain midwife put in a word with someone at the council?’

‘I didn’t need to,’ Zoe said. ‘Fern took care of it, and as you say, they had enough of a need that I didn’t have to get involved. She’s really capable, you know. She’s like a different person since she left the commune.’

‘In a good way?’ Billie asked. She hadn’t really known the woman Zoe had helped escape a life she’d found stifling back then, and it was only more recently, through their mutual friendship with Maisie, another of Zoe’s mums, that they’d become acquainted. ‘I suppose, the way you say it, she must be. I’m being stupid.’

‘Not at all!’ Zoe angled her head at the door. ‘Come on. Much as I’m enjoying admiring their scarecrow, this wind is freezing, it’s making my nose run!’

Billie followed her up the uneven path. She stumbled on a broken section and cursed under her breath as she righted herself.

‘I think there’s quite a bit to be done,’ Zoe said, turning with some concern.

Billie waved it away. ‘I’m all right, just thought for a minute I was going to go flying with Louisa in my arms.’

‘I’m sure Fern said they were waiting for someone from the council to make some of it safer. I suppose that must be one of the things they’re going to get done.’

‘I hope they don’t take too long. Imagine your kids playing out on this.’

‘I hope they don’t take that long!’ Zoe agreed. ‘Considering both Ezra and Benji are both too little to even be walking yet.’

Billie gave the front of the house a swift once-over and then grimaced. ‘You’d have thought they’d have done all the stuff before Maisie and Fern moved in.’

‘I think they did,’ Zoe said with a light laugh. ‘The urgent structural things, at least – that’s why it took so long to be ready for them. I would imagine they don’t consider painting the rendering a nice colour to be a priority. And I think Maisie and Fern were pushing to move in – I doubt they care if the front is freshly painted or not.’

‘I’m not saying I would; I’m just saying you’d have thought the council would have sorted it. Like you said, they had long enough.’

‘There are probably too many houses to maintain and not as much in the way of resources as you might imagine. They’re lucky to have got a house at all, really.’ Zoe knocked at the door and waited.

And then Billie laughed as Louisa let out a yell which contained just about every vowel sound in the English language and more besides. ‘She’s so noisy now – I can’t shut her up!’

Zoe glanced across, a huge smile lighting her face too. She had to admit, Louisa was more of a delight every day, so much so that, despite the fact they weren’t related by blood, Zoe had come to see herself as an aunt – perhaps even as a grandma but for the fact she didn’t consider herself to be quite grandma aged yet. But it was true that Alex’s granddaughter brought her as much joy as she imagined having her own child might bring. ‘She’s trying to talk to you.’

‘I wish I knew what she was saying.’