Hidden Magic (11 page)

“How many sleeps until the fancy dress party, Mum?” Grace asked.

“Two, darling.”

“How many people are coming?”

“Oh, I'm not sure, around twenty-five or thirty maybe.”

“Are Nanny and Cranky coming?”

“You bet they are, they love a good fancy dress party.”

“What are they coming as?”

“I don't know, Grace, they wouldn't tell me, they said they want to keep their costumes as a surprise for us.”

“Hmm, I bet Cranky comes as something funny, like, maybe an Oompa Loompa or something.”

“Ha, ha, Grace, that would be funny,” Mary laughed and the pair giggled at the thought.

“There you go, Grace, all done, now go and hang it up in your room so that it stays nice for the party,” Mary said, handing Grace her finished fancy dress costume.

“Oh damn!” Mary exclaimed as Grace took the costume from her and she hurried over to the large pot that had just started boiling over on the hob.

“Thanks, Mum.”

Grace clutched the costume hanger and excitedly ran with it to her room, stumbling up the stairs. She hung it on the back of her bedroom door, sat on the end of her bed and looked up at the costume excitedly. Chyna had wondered what all the excitement was about and had run up the stairs with Grace. The little pug was now sitting next to Grace on the bed, frantically wagging her coiled little tail and snorting loudly through her squashed-up nose with excitement.

“Yes I know, Chyna, it's gonna be loads of fun,” Grace said as she ran her hand down the little pug's back, stroking her shiny black fur, “And we're gonna look great together in our costumes, aren't we? Yes, we are,” she said, kissing Chyna's head.

“Grace, dinner's ready,” her mum called up the stairs.

“Okay, Mum… Coming!” Grace replied.

Grace and Chyna jumped off of the bed in unison and raced down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“What's for dinner, Mum?” Grace asked

“Mum's winter warmer,” Mary said

“Uuuurrrggghh!” Grace groaned, screwing up her nose and making gagging gestures.

“My thoughts exactly, and there'd better not be any peas in it,” Harry grumbled, from his seat at the table.

“No peas, Harry and anyway, stop moaning and remember, it's very good for you.”

“Yeah, good for keeping you regular with the amount of veg that you put in it.”

“Whatever. Can you go and get your brother from his room? I'm dishing up now.”

“Yes, Mother dearest,” Harry said sarcastically. As he left the room, he made imitation fart noises with every step that he took, making Grace smile.

The boys took their seats at the table. “Where's Dad?” Dan asked his mother.

“He's going to be a bit later today because he's going to collect our costumes from the hire shop after work.”

“Oh, okay. So have you invited any good-looking ladies to this party, Mother?” Dan asked.

“Well, let's see, there's the nurses, the models, the cheerleading squad and oh yeah, the pole dancers from the nightclub in town,” Mary teased.

“Ha, ha, you're funny, ain't ya?” Dan smirked.

“Come on now, eat up before it gets cold,” Mary said.

“Mmm… yummy… Mummy's winter warmer,” Dan said, rolling his eyes as he lifted his spoon containing some of the strange-looking green liquid and a hefty, hearty dumpling.

“It's good for you!” Mary snapped, knowing that she mustn't ever confess, especially to Harry, that the green colouring was not a gourmet jus that was used by top chefs, as she had been making it out to be all these years, but was in fact liquidised peas. This was the only way that she had been able to trick Harry into eating them as a child and although he moaned every time he was served this meal, he usually managed to eat it all.

After their evening meal, the boys took themselves off into their room to play video games. Grace and Mary snuggled up on the sofa with the dogs to watch TV while they waited for Evan to return home with his, Mary's and the boys' costumes. The moment Evan's key turned in the front door, Chyna and Womble eagerly sprang from the sofa and raced to greet him.

“Hello, baby girl,” Evan said, smiling at Chyna as if he were cooing at a cute little baby. Then he turned to Womble, who was excitedly pacing around him. “'Ello, thicko,” he said, playfully smacking the bulldog around the chops.

Evan walked into the kitchen and placed his and Mary's costumes onto the back of one of the kitchen chairs, then he made his way to the lounge.

“Oh hello, lovely wife and lovely daughter of mine,” he said, popping his head around the lounge door.

“Sssshhhh,” Mary and Grace scowled at him, engrossed in an episode of their favourite soap.

“I don't know how you can watch this rubbish,” Evan grumbled. “What's for dinner, darling?”

“Winter warmer,” Mary replied. She didn't take her eyes off of the TV, which meant she didn't notice her husband and Grace making gagging gestures at each other.

“It's on the hob, help yourself, I'll come out when this has finished,” Mary said.

“Okay, great,” Evan replied, pulling another gagging face and winking at Grace.

Evan had just sat down at the kitchen table and placed a large spoonful of dumpling in his mouth when the phone rang.

“Aaarrgghh, phone!” he yelled, with his mouth full.

The phone stopped ringing and Mary appeared at the kitchen door with it pressed against her ear. She placed her hand over the mouthpiece, “It's your brother, what shall I say?” she whispered screwing up her nose.

“Tell him I'm eating and I'll give him a call tomorrow.”

“Hi, David, sorry, Evan's only just got home, he's eating his dinner and he said that he'll call you back tomorrow, is that okay? Oh, okay… yep… sure… will do… see you New Year's Eve then, ‘bye.”

Mary placed the phone down on the table and sat down opposite Evan. “David said not to worry about calling him back tomorrow. He was just ringing to let us know that they will be coming to the party.”

“What, all of them?”

“Yes, all of them.”

“Oh great… they couldn't find anyone to babysit Henrietta then. Mind you, I'm not surprised that no one wanted to look after the devil child from hell for them.”

“Evan, you really shouldn't speak about your niece like that.”

“Well, I'm sorry, but that girl is one spoilt rotten and spiteful little brat. How many other ten-year-old kids do you know that have their own en suite beauty room and demand eggs florentine and smoked salmon for breakfast?”

“I know, but she is family and we love her anyway.”

“Do we?” Evan said, rolling his eyes.

Grace was still watching TV in the lounge.

“Grace, come and see my costume,” Evan called out excitedly.

“What is it supposed to be?” asked Grace, looking at the hat, coat, shirt, braces, jeans and boots.

“It's a nutty boy outfit.”

Grace laughed out loud. “What's a nutty boy?”

“You know, Madness, one step beyond and all that nutty stuff,” her dad said, while doing the nutty walk and dancing around the kitchen.

“What's your costume, Mum?”

“It's a sixties outfit.”

“Oh,” Grace said, looking a bit puzzled and not in the slightest bit impressed. “What about Dan and Harry? They haven't got costumes,” Grace pointed out.

“Yes, they have. I've left theirs in the car because I couldn't carry them all. You can ask them to come down and get them out of the car for me on your way up to bed,” Evan said, looking at the time.

“Ohhh Dad, do I have to?” Grace groaned.

“Yes, your dad's right, Grace. Come on, bed! And remember, when you wake up it will only be one more sleep until party time.”

“Woohoo!” Grace whooped as she ran over to kiss her dad goodnight.

The boys were both busy battling against evil demons on the video game that they were playing; Harry swung his sword above his head ready to take out the demon when the bedroom door flung open, scaring the life out of him. “Gotta go and get your costumes out of Dad's car,” Grace shouted.

“Jesus, Grace, haven't you heard of knocking?” Dan moaned.

“Well done, Grace, now look what you've done,” Harry said, pointing at the TV screen.

Grace looked up at the TV on the wall to see a man lying on the ground, holding his bloodied sword in the air as a bunch of demons huddled over him and fed on his stomach contents. They were holding up his intestines and eating from them as if they were a string of sausages.

“Aaagghhh!” Grace screamed, running out of the room in floods of tears.

“What have I told you boys about playing those games in front of your sister!” Mary snapped scornfully.

“Well, she needs to learn how to knock. How were we supposed to know that she was just gonna burst in uninvited?” Harry explained.

“I'll get her settled and into bed and then you two boys can go in and apologise to her,” Mary demanded.

“Yes, Mum,” the boys said and then they continued to play their game.

Grace was sitting on her bedroom floor, sobbing. Womble, as if aware that Grace needed a hug, plonked himself right beside her and leant against her. Pushing the entire weight of his body into her, he rested his head on her shoulder and gave her face a reassuring lick.

“Oh Grace, it's okay, it's only a game, nothing to be scared of, darling,” Mary said. She joined them on the floor and wrapped her arms around them both for a group hug.

“I don't like the scary monsters on the boys' TV, they eat people,” Grace sobbed.

“I'll tell you what, how about you have a quick wash, brush your teeth and pop your pyjamas on, then just for tonight I'll let Womble sleep on your bed for cuddles. How's that?”

“Yes please, Mum,” Grace sniffed, wiping her tears away with her hands.

“Come on then,” Mary said, holding out her hand. Grace took her mum's hand and got herself ready for bed.

Mary tucked her in and kissed her goodnight on her forehead. “'Night, ‘night, darling,” Mary said. “Come on, cuddle-lump,” she said patting the quilt, signalling to Womble to jump up beside Grace. Grace snuggled into her pillow and wrapped her arms around the soppy bulldog.

“'Night, Mum, love you,” she said.

“Love you too, darling.”

Mary was making her way out of Grace's room when the boys came in.

“Sorry we scared you, Grace,” Harry said, giving his little sister a comforting pat on the head.

“Yeah, sorry, squirt, and remember, it's not real and even if it was, I wouldn't let ‘em eat ya, anyway,” Dan said blowing her a kiss from the doorway.

“'Night,” Grace said, catching the kiss and placing it on her cheek.

The boys left her room, ensuring that the door was left ajar and that the landing light was left on, knowing that Grace wouldn't be able to sleep if they didn't. Despite the fact that Womble was stretched right out across her bed and was snoring very loudly, Grace still managed to drift off into that comfortable, peaceful and serene place that people go to just before they fall into a deep sleep when she heard a car door slam. She knelt up on the bed, pulled the curtains up and over her head and looked out of her window into the close. The close was subtly lit orange by the street lamps and Dan and Harry were walking along the front path with their fancy dress costumes that they had just taken out of their dad's car.

“Ahh yeah, boy, the ladies are in for a real treat when they see me in this,” Dan boasted as he peeked into his costume bag.

“Wicked,” Harry said, snapping his fingers and laughing as he peered into his bag and then the pair disappeared from Grace's view as they re-entered the house via the front door.

Grace stayed staring out of the window, mesmerised by the nighttime appearance of Cherry Blossom Close. The paths and the road were now almost clear of snow but the gardens still had a decent covering. The snowman that Christian had built was still partially intact; he had lost a button eye and one side of his face had begun to melt, his head was somehow merging into his body and his satsuma nose lay on the ground in front of him. In the centre of the close was a circle of grass and standing proudly in the centre of that was a cherry blossom tree. Grace looked into the snow that lay below the tree and saw a trail of animal footprints leading up to it.

I wonder what has made those tracks?
she thought to herself, just as a beautiful fox appeared, running out from behind the tree across the road and into Elsie's back garden. “Wow!” Grace whispered. She continued to gaze out across the close, hoping to see some more animals. Grace loved animals. The close was quiet and still, the only movements coming from inside people's houses, where shadows danced in their windows and multi-coloured Christmas tree lights twinkled magically. All of the houses in the close had the odd light on, except for Number Six. Mr Avery had lived at Number Six for more than fifty years, but sadly he had taken a turn for the worse and fallen ill a few months ago. He was now living in a nursing home. All of the lights were off at Mr Avery's house, his once-loved garden was now unkempt and overgrown and there was a For Sale board prominently planted in the middle of the front lawn. As Grace stared dreamily at the empty house and thought about poor old Mr Avery, something caught her attention. She closed her eyes tightly, rubbed them hard and then reopened them, focusing on one of the upstairs windows. They were still there, two orange lights… two orange eyes!

Grace dived back into her bed, pulling the duvet up to her eyes. “They're just a reflection of the street lamps, or a reflection of the Christmas lights,” she said to herself over and over again, now holding onto Womble in a vice-like grip. Not wanting to look out of the window again in case the eyes were still there, Grace stayed snuggled in her warm and comfy bed where she felt safe and secure, especially with Womble there to comfort her. It wasn't too long before she had really convinced herself that they weren't eyes at all and she soon drifted back off into the serene place that people go to just before falling into a deep and peaceful sleep.