Roxy's Baby by Cathy MacPhail Page A

thought.
    â€˜She’s been great,’ Roxy said truthfully.
    Mrs Dyce touched Anne Marie’s cheek. ‘I’m going to miss her.’
    Anne Marie patted her bump. ‘Still got a while to go yet, Mrs Dyce.’
    Mrs Dyce beckoned the odd-job man with her finger. ‘Come along, Stevens. I’ll show you where I want you to put my rhubarb.’
    The girls had to stifle their giggles when she said that, but Mrs Dyce didn’t seem to notice. She moved offand Stevens walked after her. But as he passed Roxy he lifted his eyes to look at her. And what he saw seemed to cloud his face with anger. She felt herself drawing back from him. He stopped for a second, staring at her, then he shook his head disapprovingly. He seemed to have to drag his eyes away from her face and she was glad when he moved off and disappeared into the shrubbery with Mrs Dyce.
    â€˜He gives me the creeps,’ Roxy said.
    â€˜He gives us all the creeps. Have you noticed his fingers?’
    Roxy hadn’t.
    â€˜They’re like chubby little maggots. They look as if they have a life of their own, as if he’d pulled them up out of the soil and if they touched you they’d eat you up.’
    She wiggled her fingers at Roxy, who fell back in a pretend swoon on the bench. ‘I’ll keep back from him and his maggoty fingers.’
    â€˜He certainly couldn’t keep his eyes off you,’ Anne Marie said.
    â€˜Yeah, why was he looking at me like that, as if he hated me?’
    â€˜Probably because you’re so young, Roxy, and youlook it. We’ve never had anyone as young as you here before. He probably thinks you’re a bad lot.’
    In the afternoon Mrs Dyce came to get Roxy for their ‘little chat’. She led her into the living room to a couple of shabby chairs in a corner. Roxy had expected to go into their office, through the door marked PRIVATE. She had only seen that door open once. Had only time to see a cluttered desk, a swivel chair and a filing cabinet, before the door was pushed closed.
    â€˜Their private apartments,’ Anne Marie had told her that morning. ‘Sure they have to have somewhere private they can go to if they want to get away from all of us.’
    That door also led to the delivery room, where the girls were taken to have their babies, she had explained.
    â€˜Can I see the delivery room?’ Roxy asked Mrs Dyce as they sat down.
    â€˜Time enough for you to see it when you’re going to have your baby, Roxy,’ Mrs Dyce said softly, but her tone cut off any more questions about it. Roxy. Now it seemed her name was no secret to anyone, thanks to Anne Marie.
    â€˜Now, you’re going to need more clothes as you getbigger. We have plenty for you to choose from. Anne Marie will show you where they’re kept. We’ve got wardrobes full of maternity trousers and skirts and dresses. You’re bound to find something to fit you.’
    Second-hand clothes. At home she would have died of embarrassment if her mother had tried to get her to wear anyone else’s cast-offs.
    â€˜We don’t have a lot of rules and regulations here, Roxy. But there are certain …’ Mrs Dyce hesitated, searching for the right word, ‘
guidelines
we would like you to abide by. For instance, we would prefer it if you stayed within the grounds. There’s nothing nearby, it’s all farmland, and you could easily get lost.’
    Roxy thought about that. ‘You mean, we can’t get outside at all? Not even for a run in the car?’
    Mrs Dyce smiled. ‘I think you’ll find there are plenty of grounds for you to wander in, and in your condition you won’t be able to wander far anyway.’
    So far and no further, Roxy was thinking.
    â€˜Where exactly are we anyway?’ Roxy asked.
    Mrs Dyce smiled again ‘You don’t really need to know that, Roxy. If you decide to go home … and you’re free to go whenever