Autumn to summer in Penny Lane

June extra

A lazy day

Coming home to a load shrieking kids was not what Caitlin wanted after a hard week flying with Rapido.  All Caitlin wanted was to chill out in the garden and maybe go out for a quiet drink in Penny Lane.  Instead Coral had come down from London to visit Calam.  There was nothing wrong with that but when Coral met up with next door's kid Jane and her mates then the noise intensified to an annoying level that a local radio DJ would be proud of. 

Typically in the morning Calam had taken Coral out to take Fudge for a walk with her Grandad and then went swimming.  Now Coral was back and turning the garden into a school playground that was out of control.  What was even worse was that Calam had just got called to an emergency at the hospital which meant that Caitlin was responsible for the little terrors outside. 

'Does Caitlin fly all over the world?'  Jane asked Coral after her Dad told he had to go to work for a bit. 

'No!'  Coral laughed.

'Yeah but she must go somewhere cool.'

'Like where?'

'I dunno.  Spain or America.'

'She goes to Spain, Ireland, and some place with snow.'

'Coral,'

A quick roll of the eyes as Caitlin had no doubt found out that she had 'borrowed,' her hand lotion.  Coral wouldn't mind she had only took a little bit.

'Have you seen my IPad?'  Caitlin asked walking into the garden where the they swinging high on the swings.

No wonder there was some strange stuff and a boring diary that Coral lost interest after half a page.  Then there was that daft book called 'about the band,' that made Coral wonder why her Dad would be interested in that.  Mind there was some cool photos of her Dad even if Caitlin was on a couple of them.  Pausing, Coral now realised why she wasn't on the photos. 

'I thought it was Dad's.'

Now Caitlin rolled her eyes.  Trust Calam to go and tell her to get his IPad rather than hand his over.

'I only looked at YouTube,' Coral quickly said.  'Oh and I bought something off Amazon.'

'What?'

Coral was sure that Caitlin's hard girl hair raised a couple of inches in fury.  To Coral it must be a pre-requisite of those tough girls to have.  Caitlin was a grown up version and even fiercer in Coral's eyes.

'I did think it was funny it had your name on it but Dad said I could buy a couple of books and stuff for school.'

'Did he now?'  Caitlin said as she meant to check how much damage Coral had done to her card.  Why on earth would Calam let a nine year old loose on Amazon?  'Not to worry but I need to use it.'

'I think it might be in my bedroom.'

'Can you go and get it for me please.'

There was no loud sigh that Coral would give her Stepdad Gavin when he asked for something as she raced upstairs only for that sinking feeling that she had left it at her Nana and Granddad's when they went swimming.  How was she going to tell Caitlin?

'Caitlin,' Coral said in a voice that sounded polite and instantly roused Caitlin's suspicions.  'Do you need it like now?'

'Yes,' Caitlin replied and not hiding her exasperation.  Harsh as it sounded Caitlin preferred her nephew and nieces as she always had the feeling that Coral was always up to something.  Added to which Coral was a little smart arse.