Page 26 of The Village of Lost and Found

Molly and Amber were sitting at the oak kitchen table, surrounded by all manner of baking ingredients and tins. Alongside them was a pretty dark-haired woman and a much older lady, who Lucy guessed to be in her seventies.

Amber looked up as soon as Lucy reached the top of the stairs and smiled. ‘You’ve made it!’ she said, beaming.

‘Hi,’ said Lucy, feeling shy suddenly. ‘How are you?’ she said, looking at Molly.

‘Much better, thanks,’ said Molly, rolling her eyes. ‘Honestly, this month’s migraine knocked me right out.’

‘So, this is Belle,’ said Amber, nodding at the dark-haired woman alongside her. ‘She’s the barmaid over at the pub.’

‘Not tonight, thank goodness,’ said Belle.

Belle was also around Lucy’s age. But where Amber was blonde and soft, Belle had black hair, dark eyes and appeared a little more pointed around the edges in her manner.

‘And this is Grandma Tilly,’ said Amber. ‘Josh’s grandmother.’

‘Welcome,’ said Grandma Tilly, giving her a warm smile. ‘Little Lucy Conway. I haven’t seen you in years. Haven’t you grown up to be a pretty one.’

‘Hello,’ said Lucy, blushing. Although she had heard of Grandma Tilly through Uncle Frank, she realised that she had a very vague memory of the pensioner from a long time ago. She was only four feet tall, but it was a round and friendly face with surprisingly blue eyes amongst the wrinkles that looked up at her.

‘I don’t think I’ve seen you since one of the last summer fetes,’ carried on Grandma Tilly, still smiling.

The memories caught in Lucy’s throat. The fete had been the highlight of each summer she had spent with her aunt and uncle.

‘Sit down,’ said Molly to Lucy, shuffling her chair over to make space.

‘Do you want a cup of tea or something stronger?’ asked Amber.

‘Tea is fine, thanks,’ said Lucy.

Belle blew out a sigh. ‘So much for a girly night out,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘We’ll have to meet up on Friday night if everyone’s free. That’s my next night off.’ She then glanced at Lucy. ‘Not sure it’ll be your idea of a wild night though. We’re not exactly glamorous around here.’

‘That’s OK,’ said Lucy. ‘I’ve had enough wild nights out to last a lifetime.’

‘Lucky you,’ drawled Belle.

Lucy shuffled awkwardly in her seat under Belle’s intense scrutiny. It appeared that her reputation had once more preceded her.

‘How are you at icing cupcakes?’ asked Grandma Tilly, suddenly pushing a bowl of pale pink icing over towards Lucy. ‘I need all the help I can get if I’m going to get these done on time for the cake sale.’

Lucy picked up the spoon and took a plain cupcake from a nearby pile. She tried to smooth the icing on, but it ran down the sides and looked pretty awful. She was suddenly filled with the memory of doing exactly the same thing in Aunt Jane’s kitchen.

Her young, shorter legs swinging off the high stool at their kitchen table. Dipping her finger into a jar of home-made bramble jelly. The aroma of baking and the dust of flour in the air.

She gulped back the memories and let another dollop of icing fall onto the cupcake.

‘How are you getting on?’ asked Amber, who had been bringing more cupcakes out of the oven.

To her horror, Lucy suddenly found that she was blinking back tears, her throat thick and unable to swallow.

‘Are you OK?’ asked Amber looking at her.

‘Sorry,’ said Lucy. ‘I’m not normally like this. It’s just…’ Her voice trailed off and all she could do to explain was wave her hand around feebly at all the baking paraphernalia on the table.

Grandma Tilly looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Your Aunt Jane made the best cakes,’ she said, with a soft smile. ‘They always won best in show at the WI. She used to give me all her tips and secrets as to what made hers taste so good. But mine couldn’t hold a candle to hers.’

Lucy felt a tear run down her cheek as she looked at Grandma Tilly.

‘You must miss her terribly,’ said Amber.