Red clouds faintly framed the darkened sky. An unseasonably cold wind blew across the district. Brian, Pamela and James hurried inside from the first cold night in months.

  “They’re back!” exclaimed Jezebel, hurrying downstairs barefoot towards the front door.

  Aunt Cathy woke from a deep sleep in the guest bedroom. She had fallen asleep reading about holidays abroad, then dreamt of Fariddion. Her thoughts were much clearer now.

  “Hi, baby,” said Pamela, entering the house with a bag in hand, while Brian carried two suitcases and placed them down just beyond the grandfather clock. Pamela set her bag aside and gave her daughter a cuddle. Her perfume left an impressionable scent. Her burgundy jacket and matching skirt were fastened fully against the cold night air.

  “Ah, good to be home!” smiled Brian, standing in a new Southampton supporters jersey he had purchased earlier that day during a leisurely morning stroll after breakfast in Northwood.

  “Hi Daddy!” beamed Jezebel.

  “Hi Jezebel,” said Brian. “That’s a lovely hug, cheers.”

  “I hope you had a good time with Aunt Cathy while we were gone?” smiled Pamela.

  “Yes, we’ve had lots of fun,” smiled Jezebel.

  “Oh, lots of fun? That’s good,” said Pamela, surprised by her daughter’s abundant happiness. Last time Cathy babysat, things had been more uneventful.

  “Hi Jez,” said James, coming inside and walking past with bags in hand, still wearing his tracksuit from after the game.

  “Hi Mr Football,” smiled Jezebel. “Did you score?”

  “Yep. Back of the net,” grinned James. “Offside though.”

  “Oh no…” commiserated Jezebel.

  Brian winced, imagining the raised flag.

  Aunt Cathy stood at the top of the stairs and waited for James to pass.

  “Hello James, did you have a good time?” asked Aunt Cathy, still waking up.

  “Yeah it was, thanks Aunty — and you?” smiled James brightly.

  “Yep, lovely,” she stretched.

  James hurried to his room, managing not to touch the walls with all the bags he carried.

  “They drew!” called out Brian from below. “The United States won a penalty with ten seconds to go. There’s a bag of soccer balls to come in,” he added, heading back outside.

  “Hi Sis,” said Cathy, reaching the bottom of the stairs. Pamela opened her arms and they hugged briefly. They both said “How was—” at the same time. Jezebel looked up and smiled at them.

  “Sorry,” said Cathy, gesturing for Pamela to speak first.

  “So everything was alright?” asked Pamela, running her fingers through her hair while switching on the hallway light. She unfastened her top two buttons.

  “Couldn’t be better,” said Cathy truthfully, arms folded in her yellow jumper. Of course she wasn’t about to disclose her adventures with Tibbar. Brian came back in and stood beside Pamela.

  “I can see that,” agreed Pamela. Aunt Cathy smiled at Jezebel, who looked very happy.

  “Jezebel saw Doctor Hooper?” asked Pamela suddenly, looking worried.

  “Here,” said Cathy, handing Pamela a letter, which Pamela and Brian read straight away.

  “Oh, okay,” nodded Pamela, finishing the letter.

  “See? I told you it would be fine, Pam,” smiled Brian.

  “Well, we’ve got a bit of adjusting to do,” replied Pamela, looking a little happier again.

  “Hope it wasn’t too much work?” asked Brian kindly.

  “No, not at all,” answered Cathy matter?of?factly. “In fact, Jez woke up perfectly fine this morning. No sleepwalking. No problems.”

  “None at all,” smiled Jezebel.

  Jezebel left their side and went upstairs to see James.

  “That’s bloody brilliant!” beamed Brian.

  Brian walked past Aunt Cathy and stood just inside the kitchen. He flipped open his wallet.

  “Right, here you are! And there’s a big tip in there for taking the boys to the airport,” he nodded.

  Laughter echoed downstairs from James’s room as he and Jezebel shared stories.

  Brian passed the handful of money towards Aunt Cathy — but for the first time in years, she looked at the money and felt no need for it. Not now.

  “If it’s all the same with you, Brian, I’d prefer it if you didn’t pay me for looking after Jezebel this time.”

  Pamela and Brian were very surprised.

  “I know we talked about money for babysitting but… make yourselves comfy. I’ll put the kettle on and explain.”

  “Excellent, Cathy,” smiled Brian, putting the money back into his wallet. “I’ll just take these upstairs then.”

  “I’ll come back down for those, Pam,” he added, seeing the look on Pamela’s face.

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  “Alright,” agreed Pamela, dropping the suitcases and heading for the hallway toilet.

  Aunt Cathy brought out four cups, saucers, teaspoons, sugar and a little jug of milk and placed them on the kitchen table. The Yorks had a particular way with tea. She poured boiling water into the teapot with Taylors of Harrogate leaves swirling inside. They felt teabags restricted the flavour. Cathy didn’t. Jezebel liked Teapigs, and Pamela and James liked Tregothnan.

  Soon Brian and Pamela entered the kitchen together, still perplexed by Cathy’s sudden change of plans.

  “Alright. We’re ready for your explanation. You told me you were broke on the phone,” Pamela reminded her gently.

  “I’m not now,” smiled Aunt Cathy.

  “Good,” said Brian, seating himself at one end of the long wooden table. He leaned forward and slid over a teacup and saucer. “Ah, I see your taste in tea is still correct.”

  “What’s this gorgeous looking bag on the table?” asked Pamela, picking it up.

  “That’s from Henry’s Collectibles in town. I bought you both a little something for all your help,” smiled Cathy. She withdrew two small boxes from the floral shopping bag and handed a pink one to Pamela and a red one to Brian.

  Both looked genuinely surprised. Aunt Cathy hadn’t bought them anything more than token confectionery in years. Inside each box was a beautiful decorative keychain with their names incised on them.

  “This is twenty?one karat gold!” said Brian, squinting at the hallmark. “Gorgeous!”

  “Oh, they’re beautiful, Cath. How on earth could you afford them?” asked Pamela, staring fondly at hers.

  “Things have been going very well lately and I—”

  “They must have,” interrupted Brian, adding a sugar to his cup, still squinting at the hallmark.

  “Yes,” smiled Cathy. “I just wanted to show my appreciation for everything you’ve done for me over the past couple of years.”

  “Well you’ve done that,” smiled Brian, pouring tea while bringing out his keys. “I like it. Very swish.” He began attaching his keys one by one.

  “And here’s the money I owe you,” said Aunt Cathy, pulling a bundle of notes from her handbag. “It’s all there!” she declared with relief and pride as it clumsily fell onto the table, bouncing off the sugar bowl.

  Pamela stared at the pile of money in disbelief.

  “We didn’t want you to pay this back so soon,” suggested Brian.

  “Well, while I can afford it, I wanted to get it out of the way. Just in case you decided to charge me interest,” smiled Cathy.

  “I’d never do that,” said Brian, gathering the notes and counting in his head. “Okay, Cath. Where did you get the money? Spill the beans.”

  “A crazy bet I made weeks ago on the horses won,” blushed Cathy — the truth disguised as the best excuse.

  “A bet?” asked Brian. “Really?”

  “I just happened by chance to pick the first four horses on Cup Day,” shrugged Cathy.

  “What?” gasped Brian. “The first four? We lost on that, Pam!”

  “I know you did, Brian,” said Pamela.

  “Well… though your sister Nicole backed the winner. She collected a few hundred quid. Now — it paid out a good deal of money. Though I can’t remember how much. Radar, the seventy?to?one horse, came first, of course. The favourite fell. Second favourite fourth. A hundred?to?one something came third. Me?ole?China came second. Best race that horse will ever run… How much did you bet? A pound?”

  “Twenty,” grinned Cathy.

  “Twenty!! You’re joking!!” gasped Pamela.

  Brian threw himself back in his seat and laughed loudly at the ceiling, then looked down to admire his new jersey.

  “Well done, Cath! Lucky… but well done. I should have charged you interest,” he teased.

  “Ah hah!” pointed Cathy. “My lucky numbers.”

  Brian smiled and rolled up the money with a rubber band before squeezing it into his pocket.

  “That’s amazing, Cath,” said Pamela, speechless.

  Aunt Cathy nodded. She felt relaxed, and it showed.

  “I’m sorry it’s a bit of a surprise, but a pleasant one. I forgot all about the ticket. I guess it would’ve been anytime I returned what I’d borrowed this way. I just stuck it in the machine when I was out in town today and lady luck shined down on me.”

  “Shined down enough to give you third?degree burns,” laughed Brian. “Yes — but congratulations!” He reached over and shook her hand. “A once?in?several?lifetimes event. We’re ecstatic for you, aren’t we, Pam?”

  “Why of course,” smiled Pamela. She was used to money being readily accessible — Brian’s family had wealth. She was not used to Cathy having any at all. For Cathy to suddenly give expensive gifts and thousands in cash was… challenging.

  “What are they?” asked Jezebel, entering the room.

  “They’re a gift from Aunt Cathy. Key ring holders with our names in gold. Beautiful, aren’t they?” said Brian.

  “Oh — that’s what you bought,” smiled Jezebel. “That was a good idea. I thought maybe you’d bought watches in the shop.”

  “Were you there, baby?” asked Pamela.

  Jezebel nodded. James entered the kitchen too. Pamela remembered Jezebel wasn’t supposed to go out until seeing Doctor Hooper, but said nothing.

  “Yes, I was there — and Tibbar of course,” said Jezebel, opening the fridge for an orange juice.

  “Did you get those up in Northwood?” asked James, pouring himself a drink, now in a Liverpool jersey.

  “No, Aunt Cathy bought them,” explained Brian. “She’s come into some money.” He sounded proud.

  “Yes, that’s true — and here’s yours, James,” said Aunt Cathy, handing him a small blue box. “And here’s yours, Jezebel.” She passed Jezebel a purple box.

  Brian was enjoying the moment. He loved giving gifts — and watching people open them. He hadn’t brought anything back for the kids this time, so he felt slightly upstaged.

  “What? This is awesome!” exclaimed James. “Is it gold?”

  “Eighteen karat,” smiled Aunt Cathy, showing him the mark.

  “Awe, thank you very much, Aunty! Look at this, Dad! The ball’s going around two teams on the second hand. See? They’re looking up at it now!” beamed James.

  Brian jumped up and gazed passionately at the watch with him.

  “What did you get, Jezebel?” asked Pamela, apprehensively.

  “That’s England and the USA! How did you manage that?” asked Brian, speechless.

  “Wow,” gasped James. “You’re right, Dad! That’s their old strip!”

  “Very nice indeed,” said Brian. He looked at Cathy and nodded approvingly. Cathy now understood why Tibbar suggested buying that one.

  “I got this,” said Jezebel, drawing a thin golden chain from the box. At the end dangled a locket. As it stopped spinning, she saw it held a picture of herself, Tibbar and Aunt Cathy. It was lovely, and Jezebel adored it.

  Pamela came to stand beside her and examined it. She thought it was a very special gift.

  Jezebel ran to Aunt Cathy and hugged her.

  “It’s very special,” said Jezebel sweetly. “It’s still the best week of my life.”

  “Oh look,” said Pamela, opening the locket. “It opens up. You could put lots of different pictures in it.”

  “I’m not sure I’d want to change the picture,” replied Jezebel, placing it over her head. It sat perfectly around her shoulders.

  “I’m going to call Andrew,” said James, staring at his new watch and picking up the hands?free phone.

  Pamela gave Brian a look that suggested it was his turn to show off. He understood — but didn’t want to.

  “You must have spent all your money buying these gifts,” remarked Pamela dryly.

  “She’s still got a trailer?load left,” informed Brian.

  James began explaining the watch to Andrew over the phone.

  “I guess that’s a good thing. You’ll need it for your car repayments,” teased Pamela.

  “I’ll be paying the convertible off in full when I get back,” retorted Aunt Cathy with a playful, arrogant smile.

  Pamela burst out laughing.

  “What ever is the matter?” smiled Jezebel.

  Pamela ran to Cathy and threw her arm around her, squeezing tightly. They jumped up and down together, laughing in celebration.

  “Right,” smiled Brian. “Time for some champagne!”

  “Can I help prepare some food or drinks?” asked Aunt Cathy, laughing.

  “Of course,” smiled Brian, pulling a cold bottle of Mo?t from the fridge and passing it to her. “Three glasses in that cupboard.”

  Aunt Cathy quickly brought down three colourful champagne glasses. Brian popped the cork. It bounced off the ceiling and James leapt up and caught it in his outstretched hand.

  “Wow — well caught, James!” smiled Jezebel.

  “Did you catch that?” asked Pamela, still laughing.

  “Yeah,” smiled James, tossing the cork repeatedly.

  Jezebel ran to Pamela and hugged her again.

  “I missed you,” she smiled.

  “Did you? Thanks, baby. I needed to hear that,” said Pamela thoughtfully.

  “So what are we going to make a toast to?” asked Brian cheerfully. “The money? The draw? The back of the net, hey James? My new jersey? Meeting Andy Knight? Our health?”

  “Well, everyone’s home together — so how about that?” suggested Pamela.

  They all raised their glasses and cans in agreement