A Handful of Pebbles by Sara Alexi Page B

Finn’s fine. He needs no display from me.’
    And with a look , that had been the end of the conversation.
    He had gone off with Neville first thing whilst Sarah lay in bed wondering if the day would be worth getting up for.

    The dogs behind the solid metal gate bark furiously.
    ‘ Nai ?’ The intercom crackles.
    ‘ Oh. My name is Sarah and I ...’
    ‘ Oh Sarah. One minute; I bring the dogs in.’
    The barking stops, replaced by the sound of claws clicking against tarmac as they scamper away. The gate buzzes and swings open to reveal a drive that sweeps up a shallow incline lined with rhododendron bushes. The hedges create shade , which makes the walking a little more pleasant, and around a bend, the drive opens onto a lawn that stretches in front and beyond a modern house which has clean, sharp lines which mostly appear to be windows. The dogs are nowhere to be seen. A large carport to one side houses six cars, and at the end of the drive, where one would expect perhaps a seating area in front of the house, there is a sunken swimming pool which extends under the glass front and inside. To the right of the pool, a door opens.
    ‘ Sarah, good morning! No Laurence?’
    Sarah walks around the edge of the pool to be greeted with a kiss on either cheek from Helena.
    ‘Come in. We are all here. Ignore them.’ Helena indicates two children who are chasing each other and sliding across the marble floor from the staircase right up to the pool’s edge. The section of window that separates inside from out above the pool appears to be able to raise and lower. At the moment, it is raised and there is a person energetically swimming lengths. ‘My dad. You’ll meet him when he gets out,’ Helena says. There’s a vague smell of chlorine. ‘Stop that now or you will have an accident.’ Her tone is sharp, but the children ignore her. One of the many doors off the hall opens and a man wanders out, newspaper in hand. ‘Tom, one of my many cousins.’ Helena says. He nods and winks at Sarah.
    ‘ Come, I am in the kitchen. I have done something crazy and you may have to help me out,’ Helena continues. A woman in grey linen is ascending the sweeping stairs and Sarah’s eyes are drawn upward. The hall is open, rising through three floors to a dome of glass at the top. Sarah tips her head to look up and up. The light and the height of the building reminds Sarah of museums in London but everywhere there is a modern edge. Helena is walking off, so Sarah breaks her gaze to follow.
    ‘ Jenny, where’s Frona?’ Helena asks a new face coming towards then. The teenager shrugs and scowls sulkily at Sarah. They enter a kitchen that seems to be teeming with women. A radio is on and someone sings along.
    ‘ Everyone,’ Helena shouts above the din and the room settles and heads turn. Sarah links her fingers in front of her. ‘This is Sarah, Finn’s mama.’ The womens’ voices melt together and Sarah can pick out ‘welcome,’ ‘wonderful,’ ‘hello,’ and ‘ yia .’ Two of the women nearest come over, clapping flour from their hands to embrace Sarah and to place kisses on her cheeks before returning to their work.
    Sarah is overwhelmed by the number of people in the house and she pictures, with just a tinge of regret, the coffee and book she left by the quiet of the pool before she came out.
    The noise begins again: chatting, singing, everyone busy. ‘Come, look what I have done.’ Helena leads her to the counter against the wall where the lady in black that she met yesterday outside the shop stands. ‘Frona, you’re there. Look, here’s Finn’s mama, Sarah.’ She shouts a little. Frona’s eyes twinkle and she takes Sarah’s hand and pats it between her own.
    ‘ Look.’ Helena lifts foil from several shapes on the counter. ‘I baked these this morning. I suddenly had this mad idea to make my own wedding cake, but now it is time to decorate it and I have lost my impetus.’ She sounds both nervous and excited.