go, but instead they found her gathering her teddies and telling them that they were needed in Brazil. They watched with awe and pride as she lined them up and told them, ‘I love you all, you know that, but there are lots of children who don’t have a special teddy or a mummy and daddy, so you are coming with me and I shall let you play with the Brazil girls and boys. But not you, Blue Ted. All right? Mummy says Daddy is going to be very important in a Missionary Position.’
Penny smiled at the memory.
And now Brazil was only a week away.
The essentials for their new life were already crated and stowed on the deck of a container ship, crossing the Atlantic.
Penny looked for the big roll of parcel tape and placed the last two of Jenna’s belongings – a magic set and a radio-controlled puppy – into the final box, sticking it down securely.
‘Right, you lot,’ she said, straightening up. ‘It’s only for a year. Twelve little months and we’ll have you out of storage and back here before you know it.’ She looked around the familiar room. ‘And you four walls, you are going to be home to the new family. Look after them, but don’t forget us.’
A woman’s voice called up the stairs, ‘Hello-o! Anyone fancy a sandwich?’
Penny went to the landing and looked over the banisters to see the auburn hair and freckly face of her best friend, Helen.
‘You are an angel. What you got?’
Helen beamed up at her and swung a Marks and Spencer bag. ‘Prawn salad, cheese and pickle or cream cheese and cucumber.’
‘Crisps?’
‘Salt and vinegar.’
Later, the kitchen table strewn with the remains of the ad hoc lunch and glasses of squash, Simon dusted the crumbs from his fleece and stood up.
‘Thank you, Helen. Would you think me rude if I whizzed off to the tip? I’ve got the car loaded and I want to empty it before I pick Jenna up from school.’
‘Go for it,’ Helen approved.
Penny chipped in, ‘There’s a pile of bin liners full of rubbish at the bottom of the stairs, if you can fit them in.’
He dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. ‘No problem. See you later.’
Penny patted his bum as he went by her. ‘Jenna loves it when you pick her up.’
Once Penny and Helen were alone, Helen leant across the table and put her hand over her friend’s. ‘How are you feeling? Really?’
Penny slumped her head onto the table. ‘Exhausted. Anxious. Homesick already.’
‘I’d be the same.’
Penny lifted her head. ‘Would you? I’ve tried so hard to keep upbeat for Simon because this is so important to him.’
‘Tell me what you’re worried about.’
‘Jenna getting ill and no decent hospital to look after her. Insects in the house. Snakes. Lizards. Robbers. Earthquakes.’
Helen began to smile. ‘So, not much then.’
‘And worst of all, I’m going to miss you.’ Penny gripped Helen’s hand. ‘What is a woman without her best friend? The woman who knows all her secrets. Who’s going to make me laugh, bring sandwiches, wine and gossip?’
‘How do you think I’ll feel without you?’ countered Helen. ‘Who am I going to complain about Piran to?’
Penny sniffed and wiped her eyes. ‘You’ll just have to strangle him.’
‘You’re right.’ Helen sighed. ‘Easier than divorce.’
‘You’re not married,’ said Penny.
‘Oh, yeah. Well, I could walk out on him.’
‘But you don’t even live together,’ Penny smiled.
‘Thank God!’ Helen laughed.
Penny stood and went to the fridge. ‘I’ve got half a bottle of rosé that needs drinking. Fancy a drop?’
‘Is my name Helen Merrifield?’
Penny took two glasses from a cupboard and poured equal measures of wine into them.
‘To me,’ she said, raising her glass.
‘To you,’ replied Helen. She took a mouthful. ‘I wonder if the new vicar drinks?’
‘Probably not. She looks a bit mousy. No, that’s unfair. Shall we say, natural. No make-up. Very petite. I think she might be one of those women who run for fun.’
‘But her husband is a dish.’
‘Did I tell you that?’
‘Several times.’
‘Well, he is. When we met them at Bishop William’s, I couldn’t believe how handsome he was. Think Cary Grant with a drop of George Clooney.’
‘I am.’
‘And he’s nice. Charming. Very attentive to Angela.’
‘What does he do?’
‘I think he said he was a political writer. To be honest, I was so busy looking at him that I forgot to listen to what he was saying. I’m expecting you to get all the lowdown and Skype me with every detail.’
‘What about the daughter?’
‘I didn’t meet her. But I think she’s around fourteen or fifteen. Something like that. Probably at the fat and spotty stage.’
Helen gave Penny a knowing look. ‘You’re feeling better. I can always tell. Your inner bitch comes out.’
As they laughed together as only old friends can, a wave of homesickness overwhelmed Penny.
‘Oh, I do hope we’ll be OK, and that they will be happy here – this house, this village … well, I couldn’t have been happier here and–’
Helen interrupted her before she could get into a panic. ‘You’ll be home before you know it. What could possibly go wrong in a vicarage?’
And with knowing smiles, they settled in for a good old gossip.
‘Don’t use the sitting room,’ Penny yelled four days later as Simon put his hand to the door handle.
He blinked. ‘I only want to watch the news.’
‘You’ll have to watch it on the little telly in the kitchen.’ She steered him away. ‘Also, no using the downstairs loo, or either of the spare bedrooms or your office.’
‘But I need my office.’
‘Out
