The Forget-Me-Not Summer (26 page)

‘You'll come? Oh, that's wizard,' Gerald said. ‘As for my . . . er, my sledge, it's in the boot of Uncle's car. He's letting Julian drive it now he's passed his test. Don't bother with a carry-out – Uncle telephoned one of his tenants to see if she was still doing farmhouse teas and light lunches, and she is. So he booked a meal for four people and we'll eat at her place.'

‘Four?' Miranda squeaked. ‘Who's the fourth? You aren't going to suggest taking Steve, are you?'

Gerald looked surprised. ‘Why not? But actually we thought Avril might enjoy a day out; if she's got no other plans, that is.'

‘She's gone to early service so she should be home in about ten minutes, but I'm sure she'll come with us,' Miranda said. She knew she was being mean by excluding Steve, but whenever she thought of his behaviour the previous evening she felt sore and upset. And she was sure he had not dreamed of inviting Julian or Gerald on his sledging trip, so it was fair enough that they should plan a trip and not invite him. But Gerald was talking, and Miranda dragged her mind back to the present.

‘. . . and you'll need warm clothes, your wellington boots and a good solid tray. That tin one advertising Guinness would be fine,' Gerald was saying. He read her startled look and grinned apologetically. ‘We do have a sledge, a great big old-fashioned thing, but it won't fit into the boot of the Rover, so Auntie is letting us use a couple of her trays. We thought it would be more fun if we could have races, which means we'll need a tray each. I told Julian to give me ten or fifteen minutes to persuade you and then to come round here to pick us up, so maybe this is him arriving,' he added, as they both heard the clang of someone beginning to climb the stairs.

Miranda shot open the back door, suddenly wondering what on earth she would say if it was Steve, but it was not. Avril cast off her snowy coat and headscarf, then went across to the fire. ‘Brrrr, it's perishin' icy out there,' she said breezily. She turned to Gerald. ‘You're early, ain't
you? And your brother's sitting in a car a couple of doors down, readin' a book. What's up?'

‘Oh, Avril, they've come to ask us if we'd like to go sledging and have our dinners at one of those farmhouses who do food,' Miranda said happily. At the thought of the treat in store, all the misery she had felt the previous evening had disappeared. She still felt very cross with Steve, though, and thought it would serve him right when he discovered she had gone sledging with somebody else. ‘Are you on?' Avril was thrilled, and in an incredibly short space of time the four of them – and their trays – were packed into the Rover and Julian was driving with great care along the snowy streets towards their destination.

Despite his mother's promise to wake him if it continued to snow, it was quite ten o'clock before Steve, wrapped up to the eyebrows, ascended the metal stairs and rapped on Miranda's door. Then as he always did he tried to fling it open, only to meet resistance. Steve grinned to himself; she was probably still in bed, lazy little monkey. Well, he would keep knocking until she answered, because he was sure by now she would have got over her temper and be as eager for the treat as he was himself. Five minutes later, with a worried frown, he was descending the stairs again, his feet touching the pavement just as Pete Huxtable, with Timmy at heel, came out of the shop and turned to lock the door behind him. Turning back, he spotted Steve and broke into speech. ‘Mornin', Steve! As you can see I'm takin' his lordship for his mornin' constitutional. I let him out earlier – bein' Sunday there were no one much about – and he played
in the snow as though he'd never seen such a thing before; well, I bet he hasn't, at that. He were tryin' to eat it and when Miranda chucked a snowball at him he thought it were a real ball and kept tryin' to pick it up. We all had a rare laugh, I can tell you.'

‘Mornin', Pete; hello, Timmy,' Steve said. ‘I've been up to the flat, but though I knocked real loud no one came. Are the girls out, then?'

‘Oh aye; they're all out all right. When I sez all, that includes them two chaps from the Browncoat school,' Pete informed him, looking wistful. ‘I don't know what Avril sees in the la-di-da one, but there's no accountin' for tastes.'

As he spoke he pinched the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger, a gesture which Steve had seen him use before when troubled. Steve smiled to himself: he had suspected before that
Pete had fallen for Miranda's flatmate; now he was sure of it.

‘I axed 'em where they were off to,' Pete went on. ‘The la-di-da one was drivin' a car and Miranda said they was goin' to Simonswood to go a-sledgin' an' have their dinners at a farmhouse.' He pulled a rueful face. ‘No wonder the gals was all pink and excited. All I can offer is a ride on the carrier of me racin' bike, which don't compare with a Rover.'

For a moment Steve was literally bereft of speech, and stared at the other man, his jaw dropping. Then he pulled himself together. ‘Ah well, if she's gone off with the Grimshaws there's no point in my hangin' around,' he said. ‘And you say they're havin' dinner somewhere and will be out for the whole day? Then I'd best look up one of me other pals.' He gestured towards his sledge. ‘As you can see, I'm off to find a good slope meself.'

Pete had been looking rather anxious, but now he smiled. ‘That's right, Steve, why not gerron a bus an' join 'em?' he enquired jovially. ‘But I mustn't forget me duty to his lordship here.' He jerked a thumb at Timmy, who was now straining at the leash and whining. ‘He's a right knowing one, is Timmy. I gives him a good walk every day afore I opens up the shop, but Sundays is special. We go all the way to Toxteth Park and I lets him off the lead and throws the ball until he's tired of retrievin' it. Then we goes to my Aunt Eva's and she makes us a Sunday dinner fit for a king. She's rare fond of Timmy so he always has his share, roast spuds, veggies an' all. She even gives him a bit of apple pie and custard for his afters, and he gobbles it up like winkin'.'

He paused, evidently expecting a reply, and Steve dragged his mind back from what he'd like to do to Miranda for her treachery to the present. ‘Lucky old Timmy,' he said hollowly. ‘Well, as Miranda's not about I'll be on my way. Enjoy your dinner, Pete.'

Heading for Jamaica Close once more, Steve grew angrier and angrier. It was true that the Grimshaws had arrived earlier at the flat than he, but he knew jolly well that his invitation had been extended first. True, Miranda had not accepted it, but neither had she refused it. In fact she had been in such a nasty mood that she had not even acknowledged the suggestion. For a moment Steve wondered if she had simply gone with the Grimshaws because they had a car and could take her out in style. But by this time he knew the boys well enough to guess that they would willingly have included him in their day out had Miranda explained the situation. That she had not seen fit to do so was evident, so although he felt no
animosity towards Julian or Gerald he felt a good deal towards Miranda. Girls, he thought with disgust. You couldn't trust them, not where their emotions were concerned. A lad would never behave so shabbily, but that was women for you. They could take offence over the most trivial thing – he seemed to remember it was a disagreement over the temperature of the water in the Caribbean which had made Miranda screaming mad – and how they could bear a grudge! He could remember various occasions when Miranda had been so pigheaded that he had wanted to shake her, only good manners did not allow a feller to shake a girl, unless they were related, of course.

Striding out along the pavement, which was still covered by a good six inches of snow, he all but walked into someone striding in the opposite direction, and would have passed by without a word, save that the other pushed back the hood of his duffel coat and grabbed Steve's arm, saying as he did so: ‘Hello–ello–ello, where's you off to in such a rush that you don't reckernise your ol' pal?'

Steve stared; then a slow grin spread over his face. ‘Cyril Rogers, by all that's wonderful! Where the devil have you sprung from? I've not seen you since school. You joined one of the services, didn't you? I keep sayin' I'm goin' to do just that, though I've not got round to it yet. But we can't stand here talkin' whilst we freeze to the spot; come back to Jamaica Close and we can have a good old jangle in the warm.'

‘Grand idea,' Cyril said, falling into step with Steve. ‘I'm on leave, as I reckon you've guessed, but today me family have gone off to visit me gran what lives over the
water in Birkenhead. She's a right miserable old codger, so I thought I'd call round and visit young Emily Sutcliffe, the gairl what I used to take dancin' when I lived at home. I thought mebbe I'd tek her sledgin' in Prince's Park, but she had other plans, it seems.' He pulled a face. ‘I can't blame her I suppose, but she's found herself another feller, one who lives a good deal closer than two hundred odd miles, so I'm at a loose end. Wharrabout you, Steve? Gorrany plans of your own?' His eyes fell on the sledge which Steve was still dragging behind him. ‘Oh, I see you have.'

‘Well, I were goin' to go sledgin' if I could find someone to come with me,' Steve admitted. ‘Tell you what, I know a couple of girls, good sports, what'd come sledgin' like a shot if you and me was to ask 'em. Remember Pearl and Ruby? Them sisters what live near the school? If we paid their bus fares and bought 'em a meal, they'd come along, no question. What d'you say we give it a go?'

Miranda kept telling herself that she was having the time of her life. She and Avril had each brought along a tin tray, but when they reached the slope which they'd judged best for sledging down, they found several people were before them and somehow this made the expedition even more fun. They organised some races, descending both singly and in pairs, but if the truth were told Miranda was missing Steve and was miserably conscious that she had behaved badly. However, she would not let her companions down by showing that she was not perfectly happy. She felt quite envious of Avril who clearly was having the time of her life, teasing the rather staid Julian until he was in fits of laughter and behaving,
Miranda thought, just like any other young fellow out with his girl. So when she happened to glance to where a new party were clambering on to their trays, she was momentarily thrilled to recognise Steve. In fact she was walking towards him, a broad smile on her face, eager to apologise for having come on ahead of him, when he flung his arms around a girl she remembered from school, gave her a kiss on the cheek and a smack on the bottom, and then jumped on the back of her tray so that the two of them disappeared down the hillside in a flurry of snow and shrieks.

Miranda turned away, misery speedily swamped by fury. How dared Steve kiss another girl when he was supposed to be her bezzie? In all the time they had known one another Steve had never kissed her, nor had she expected him to do so. Friends, she reminded herself, did not do anything as soppy as kissing.

‘What's up, Miranda?' Gerald's voice cut across her thoughts. ‘I see Steve's arrived. Are you going to suggest that he come to lunch with us? I'm sure there'll be plenty of food for one or two extra. By the look of it, that girl in the blue knitted cap is with him, so he'd probably want to bring her along.'

Miranda gritted her teeth but managed to reply airily, ‘You mean Pearl? Yes, I think he's with her. She and Ruby – they're sisters – were in my class at school. But no, I wouldn't dream of suggesting that Steve come along. In fact it's the last thing I'd do.'

Gerald looked mildly surprised. ‘Really? Well, you're probably right. Now, are you going to share my tray for one last swoop before we go to the farm for something to eat?'

Despite the best of intentions, Miranda could not help watching Steve, an older feller she also remembered from school, and the two girls, whenever she thought herself unobserved. And the more she watched, the crosser she grew. In fact she gave an inward sigh of relief when Julian and Gerald insisted that she and Avril leave the slope so that they might drive to the farmhouse. ‘Mrs Higginbottom will be expecting us,' Julian reminded them. ‘If I know her she'll make us a hot meal, for though she only provides salads in the summertime she'll guess we need something to keep the cold out and will cater accordingly. Gosh, if this lot knew that a hot meal was being prepared only a quarter of a mile or so away they'd probably insist upon coming along as well.'

As they climbed into the car, red-cheeked and bright-eyed, Miranda cast a glance around her and spotted Steve in earnest conversation with the feller whose name she could not remember, but then they were all in the Rover and Julian was driving carefully along the snow-covered road, and very soon they were in the Higginbottom farmhouse enjoying the magnificent meal which their hostess had prepared.

FOR THE REST
of the day Miranda brooded, trying to decide how she should treat her pal when they next met, for he had never before shown any interest in Pearl or Ruby; in fact he had never shown an interest in any girls. True, he was certainly interested in Miranda, but she now realised that this was not the same thing at all as the interest he had been showing in Pearl. Both sisters had the reputation of being what they called ‘good time girls', and if anything Steve had rather despised them, yet here he was taking them sledging and ignoring Miranda completely. The thought that Miranda was also ignoring him occurred, only to be dismissed. She had walked towards him, smiling in the friendliest fashion, had she not? She told herself, untruthfully, that she had intended to ask him to accompany them to Mrs Higginbottom's, had only not done so when she saw him kissing Pearl. Well, she hoped that by now he was regretting his behaviour and would apologise to her the next time they met. The trouble with this pious hope was twofold, however. First, she knew very well that she could not possibly have extended an invitation to Steve without first discussing it with Julian and Gerald, and second that she had been at fault from the moment she had accepted their invitation, knowing full well that Steve had asked her first.