Angel Cake by Helen Harris Read Free Book Online Page A

away, so she asked grudgingly, ‘When were you thinking of coming, then?’
    ‘Oh,’ said the girl. ‘Oh, I couldn’t come back before next Sunday, I’m afraid. I work in the week. Couldn’t I come in now just for a minute?’
    What a nerve, Alicia thought. What a nerve. ‘And so I sent her packing,’ she imagined herself telling Pearl. ‘Can you beat it?’
    She shook her head. ‘No, I’m afraid it’s not at all convenient.’ She showed that she wanted to close the door and, to her dismay, the girl burst out, ‘All right, but you will let me in next Sunday then, won’t you? I mean, it’ll be the third time, you realize, and I’ve come on my bike and it’s quite a way.’
    Alicia stared at her. For the life of her, she could think of no sound reason why this girl should be so keen to call on her. She suspected some sinister motive. She stared at her for such a long time, scrutinizing her, that the girl grew embarrassed and added, ‘Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to put pressure on you or anything. It’s just that I’d very much like to make your acquaintance and – well, really – it’s not very easy on the doorstep, is it?’
    Alicia narrowed her eyes. ‘What proof do you have that you’re who you say you are?’ she asked sharply.
    The girl grew flustered. ‘Well, none, I suppose. They should have written to tell you my name. But I promise everything’s quite in order. I’ll bring a bit of paper from Age Concern with me next weekend.’
    She started to put on her multi-coloured mittens, which she had perhaps taken off thinking that she was going to shake Alicia by the hand.
    Alicia felt curious consternation. So she really was going to go away and wait seven more days to come back and complete her mission. She really was about to turn round and disappear into the evening without a backward glance.
    ‘Oh, come on in then,’ she said crossly. ‘I can spare five minutes, I suppose.’
    They sat nervously opposite each other in the two armchairs. Alicia was ashamed of the mess and she felt angry with the girl for having seen it. Now that the girl had madeher way in, Alicia felt obscurely that she had been got the better of.
    ‘So you work for that organization, then?’ she asked sternly.
    ‘For Age Concern?’ (She had to keep rubbing them in, didn’t she, Alicia thought bitterly; those words she could not bring herself to utter.) ‘Oh no, I’m just a volunteer. I work in a museum actually; this is just something I do at weekends.’
    ‘I see,’ Alicia said coldly. ‘And how much of your weekends do you devote to it? How many people do you call on?’
    ‘Oh,’ said the girl, ‘only you.’
    ‘Only me?’ exclaimed Alicia. ‘You mean you’ve only just begun, in other words?’
    The girl looked embarrassed. ‘Well, yes.’
    Alicia was insulted. They had fobbed her off with a beginner. The whole thing was casual, careless.
    ‘How old are you?’ she asked sharply.
    ‘Twenty-five,’ said the girl.
    Well, that was something. Alicia had thought she was much younger. ‘I see,’ she said. ‘And to what do I owe the honour?’
    ‘Well, they gave me your name,’ the girl explained, ‘and you lived more or less in my area.’
    ‘And they told you nothing about me? You just had my name and address and that was it?’
    The girl hesitated. ‘Well, only the barest details.’
    ‘What?’ snapped Alicia. ‘What did they tell you about me?’
    ‘Hardly anything,’ said the girl. ‘That you lived on your own, that you … that you were a widow and a bit – literally nothing – about the kind of thing you were interested in.’
    ‘The kind of thing I was interested in?’
    ‘The theatre. That you had been an actress.’
    Alicia stared at her until she shifted uncomfortably on her chair. ‘And when they told you that,’ she asked ominously, ‘what did you think?’
    ‘I was really pleased,’ the girl said simply. ‘I thought it would be fascinating to talk to