Manchester tart – that sort of thing.’
‘Fantastic.’ Ash raised his eyebrows at Ella. ‘All this retro stuff is very fashionable at the moment, and they’re definitely some of my favourite puds. I can see we’ll all have to join Weight Watchers before long. Are you self-taught?’
‘Yep. My gran taught me how to cook all those, andmore, when I was a kid. I just watched her, then helped, then went solo.’
‘The best way to learn anything.’ Poll slowly buttered another chunk of bread. The butter spread itself amongst her beads as she leaned forwards. Ella was certainly full of surprises. ‘They sound wonderful and, as Ash and I are more savoury cooks, we’re going to make a great cooking combination. And I love old-fashioned recipes. You’ll have to teach me some of your favourites.’
Ella nodded happily. ‘Of course, but will I have time? With everything you want me to do… ? Which is obviously looking after George – but what else exactly? What exactly haven’t you told me about?’
Poll laughed. ‘Ah, yes. I really can’t put it off any longer can I? And maybe it’s as well that Ash is here too as he doesn’t actually know any of this either.’
Reaching under the table, she produced a battered box file.
‘Don’t look so worried, Ella. I only lied by omission. I honestly do want someone to help with George, but not because I intend to be a lady of leisure who lunches while you skivvy – far from it. I know that’s what the ad sounded like, but what I really want is for you to share in my dream.’
‘Dream? What dream? I don’t remember anything about a dream in the advert.’
‘Sorry. I told you I went about everything the wrong way round. Right, well, my inherited money – another long story which I’ll tell you one day – like everyone else’s, has taken a bit of a knock in the credit crunch years, so I knowthat I’ll need to make sure there’s plenty left for George. Which means earning some to make up the deficit. As I’m totally unemployable I thought I could do something to earn money while also helping other people. So I decided to marry the two together.’
Ella and Ash exchanged confused frowns.
Poll handed the file to Ella. ‘Maybe if you just look at these first.’
Still completely bemused, Ella flicked through the papers. There were masses of newspaper cuttings, copious notes and dozens of letters. It would take weeks to study them in any depth.
She looked up at Poll. ‘Could you give me a clue about what I’m supposed to be looking for? At a quick glance these all seem to be stories about people who’ve been in the news for various misdemeanours.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Poll said, leaning across the table and lifting out the top sheaf of papers. ‘Some have, of course, and I discarded those. I spent ages collecting this information from news programmes and the press, and even longer sifting out the wrong’uns. And in the end I made my decision, so please read these.’
As the sun spiralled overhead and one of the cats wove its sinuous way round her feet in the table’s shade, Ella skimmed through the papers. Eventually she looked up.
‘OK, so as far as I can see these people have got absolutely nothing in common, except they’ve been in the news this year for, well, for being antisocial… I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand…’
Poll sighed. ‘They do have one thing in common – as have all the poor people in those reports – they’ve lost their lives and their homes. Oh, Ella, you’ve no idea how much heartache there is out there. It was so hard to choose…’
‘Choose?’
‘Mmm.’ Poll nodded. ‘I had so many sleepless nights trying to pick the ones who really, really needed my help. I could only pick three to start with, of course, but hopefully one day, with more income, I’ll be able to expand. Then there was George to consider. I couldn’t expose him to anything or anyone who might cause, well, problems.’
‘No,
‘Fantastic.’ Ash raised his eyebrows at Ella. ‘All this retro stuff is very fashionable at the moment, and they’re definitely some of my favourite puds. I can see we’ll all have to join Weight Watchers before long. Are you self-taught?’
‘Yep. My gran taught me how to cook all those, andmore, when I was a kid. I just watched her, then helped, then went solo.’
‘The best way to learn anything.’ Poll slowly buttered another chunk of bread. The butter spread itself amongst her beads as she leaned forwards. Ella was certainly full of surprises. ‘They sound wonderful and, as Ash and I are more savoury cooks, we’re going to make a great cooking combination. And I love old-fashioned recipes. You’ll have to teach me some of your favourites.’
Ella nodded happily. ‘Of course, but will I have time? With everything you want me to do… ? Which is obviously looking after George – but what else exactly? What exactly haven’t you told me about?’
Poll laughed. ‘Ah, yes. I really can’t put it off any longer can I? And maybe it’s as well that Ash is here too as he doesn’t actually know any of this either.’
Reaching under the table, she produced a battered box file.
‘Don’t look so worried, Ella. I only lied by omission. I honestly do want someone to help with George, but not because I intend to be a lady of leisure who lunches while you skivvy – far from it. I know that’s what the ad sounded like, but what I really want is for you to share in my dream.’
‘Dream? What dream? I don’t remember anything about a dream in the advert.’
‘Sorry. I told you I went about everything the wrong way round. Right, well, my inherited money – another long story which I’ll tell you one day – like everyone else’s, has taken a bit of a knock in the credit crunch years, so I knowthat I’ll need to make sure there’s plenty left for George. Which means earning some to make up the deficit. As I’m totally unemployable I thought I could do something to earn money while also helping other people. So I decided to marry the two together.’
Ella and Ash exchanged confused frowns.
Poll handed the file to Ella. ‘Maybe if you just look at these first.’
Still completely bemused, Ella flicked through the papers. There were masses of newspaper cuttings, copious notes and dozens of letters. It would take weeks to study them in any depth.
She looked up at Poll. ‘Could you give me a clue about what I’m supposed to be looking for? At a quick glance these all seem to be stories about people who’ve been in the news for various misdemeanours.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Poll said, leaning across the table and lifting out the top sheaf of papers. ‘Some have, of course, and I discarded those. I spent ages collecting this information from news programmes and the press, and even longer sifting out the wrong’uns. And in the end I made my decision, so please read these.’
As the sun spiralled overhead and one of the cats wove its sinuous way round her feet in the table’s shade, Ella skimmed through the papers. Eventually she looked up.
‘OK, so as far as I can see these people have got absolutely nothing in common, except they’ve been in the news this year for, well, for being antisocial… I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand…’
Poll sighed. ‘They do have one thing in common – as have all the poor people in those reports – they’ve lost their lives and their homes. Oh, Ella, you’ve no idea how much heartache there is out there. It was so hard to choose…’
‘Choose?’
‘Mmm.’ Poll nodded. ‘I had so many sleepless nights trying to pick the ones who really, really needed my help. I could only pick three to start with, of course, but hopefully one day, with more income, I’ll be able to expand. Then there was George to consider. I couldn’t expose him to anything or anyone who might cause, well, problems.’
‘No,
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