Green Grass by Raffaella Barker Read Free Book Online

racing, a very different prospect from the child Hedley thought he knew. And Sarah has moved to a women only commune in Turkey to find her inner self. That was eighteen months ago, and she still shows no sign of coming home.
    This is a classic instance of it; I’ve been trying to call you all evening but Tamsin wouldn’t give me the telephone. She had it locked in the bathroom with her from six o’clock onwards.’
    â€˜Why don’t you get her a mobile?’ Laura asks, unable to stop herself being practical.
    Hedley sighs. ‘Oh, she’s got one, but she’s run out of money on it and I’m in trouble for refusing to take her to get another card at the garage. It’s seven miles, for Christ’s sake. I don’t want to drive fourteen miles there and back at this time of night.’
    Much goaded, he carries on, ‘I don’t seem to be able to get through to her at all – we don’t speak, she won’t look at me, we don’t even eat together any more. She spends every moment that she isn’t at school in the bathroom. She even eats in there – I found a plate of ancient peanut-butter sandwiches in the laundry basket this morning. I don’t know what to do about her. I understand that this could go on for years.’
    â€˜Don’t worry, I’m sure it will be better soon.’ Hedley telephones Laura for advice three or four times a week, and it is clearly on the tip of his tongue to ask her if she will have Tamsin for a prolonged stay. A pink-faced giggling Dolly rushes past her up the stairs, waving the television remote control above her head. Fred follows, jaw set, furious. ‘You loser, Doll,’ he is shouting. ‘If you put that in the bath, you’ve had it.’
    The thump and hurtle of the twins’ progress through the house is the same as it has always been, but there are other signs of impending teendom, and Laura is aware that life is becoming more dramatic every day – or certainly as far as Dolly is concerned. Taking her lead from Inigo, the biggest baby of all, Dolly hurls and slams her way through life. The tantrums over whether her jeans are clean or not are only eclipsed by mood swings over Dolly’s rights. These vacillate between tragedy – which is anything to do with her mother, and comedy – which is anything to do with her teachers. Fred is easier to predict, more like a satisfying one-act play than the full-blown opera in a new language that is Dolly. Mystifying. Perhaps through Tamsin, Laura can find a way to talk to Dolly too?
    Cheered by this optimistic thought, she suggests, ‘Why don’t we all come to stay with you in Norfolk this weekend? Inigo could do with the break, andfrankly so could I. We haven’t been to see you for ages. And I really mind that we don’t come there enough. I’ll talk to Tamsin a bit over the weekend and see if I can find out anything that might make her happier.’
    Hedley appears to like this plan, but merely grunts, ‘What about me being happier?’ before adding more enthusiastically, ‘Actually, it’s a great weekend for you to come. I could do with some extra pairs of hands as we’ve got several hundred trees to plant.’
    â€˜Oh,’ says Laura, not much liking the role of underling woodsman. ‘I think I might steer clear of that.’
    â€˜What about Inigo?’ asks Hedley hopefully. ‘You could tell him it’s like going to the gym, really good for muscle toning and all that.’
    Laura is doubtful. ‘You tell him,’ she says, adding, ‘Fred can help you too. Are you staying in the airing cupboard for the night?’ She moves the phone away from her head to yell, ‘THAT’S ENOUGH!’ up the stairs following a shuddering crash from the top floor.
    Fred’s face appears at the top of the stairwell, rosy, his eyes cerulean, his expression worryingly angelic. ‘Mum,