In the chemist’s she ran her finger along the lines of jars and bottles which were beyond her purchasing power, now.
Her old soap, the one she’d used to buy before she’d begun to make all her decisions on the basis of price, was there. Something from her old life, when she hadn’t needed to question every word, every action, every penny that she spent. She so wanted that back.
Charlotte picked it up, hesitated, put it back on the shelf, then picked it up again.
It wouldn’t matter if she had something that she wanted for once. The soap smelled nice and felt creamy on her skin, and it wasn’t so very much more expensive than the more economical brands. As luxuries went, this wasn’t so very ostentatious.
‘Come on, Mum...’ Isaac broke into the debate, tugging at her arm.
She looked round to see Edward, with a firm hold on Isaac’s other hand to prevent any possible escape.
‘Okay, just a minute. Did you get your kite?’ It was clear that he had, Edward was holding a large plastic bag.
‘Yes, do you want to see?’
‘Mmm. Yes, please.’
Isaac grinned up at Edward, who delivered the bag into his grasp. Inside was a small blue kite with a blue and silver tail.
‘Oh, that’s so pretty!’ She drew the kite out to examine its tail. ‘Those sparkly bits are going to shine in the sun when you fly it.’
Isaac nodded, carefully showing her everything. There was a ball of twine, mounted on a reel, to protect Isaac’s hands from any friction. ‘You tie it on there—see?’ Isaac indicated the reinforced eyelets on the kite. ‘With a special knot.’
Charlotte nodded, impressed. ‘A special knot, eh?’
‘Yes. Edward’s going to show me how,’ Isaac responded proudly.
Her little boy was growing up. It was almost a surprise to find that she didn’t mind that Isaac wanted Edward to help him tie the knots on his precious kite, when it felt only a blink of time since her son had looked to her for everything.
‘That’s great. Make sure you watch what he does carefully.’
‘Can we go, Mum?’ Isaac was impatient again, jigging up and down on the spot.
‘Yes, let me get my soap and we’ll be off.’ Charlotte looked up to see Edward, in a world of his own, working his way along the shelf and inspecting the ingredients lists printed on all the soap wrappers. ‘Edward?’
He jolted back into the here and now. ‘Ah. Yes.’ He focussed on the soap in her hand and took a matching bar from the shelf. ‘That one smells nice.’
She didn’t really need it. The thought that Edward liked the smell of it made her want it, though. ‘They’re all much the same. I’ll get this one.’ She put the bar back onto the shelf and reached for the cheaper brand.
‘I imagine they’re all pretty easy to make...’ He still had one foot in that world of possibilities that seemed to know no bounds. He inspected the bar in his hand. ‘Pretty standard ingredients.’
‘You might be able to make it. I’d probably blow the kitchen up. It’s just soap, Edward.’ Nothing was just anything to Edward. Everything fascinated him, from pizza-making to nuclear physics. When she was with him the world seemed bigger, far more interesting.
‘Hmm. You like this one, though?’ He still had the bar that he’d taken from the shelf in his hand.
‘This will do. It’s cheaper.’
Before she could reach into her bag for her purse Edward had given her preferred choice to Isaac, along with a note from his pocket. ‘You want to get it for your mum?’
She met his gaze. This wasn’t anything to do with kites, or soap. It was about whether she had the right to a treat, however small. Whether Edward had the right to give it to her, to claim a place in their little family.
‘Okay. Thank you.’
He nodded, grinning.
‘At last!’ Isaac conferred his displeasure on both of them and ran to the counter.
Charlotte watched as the woman at the cash desk smiled down at Isaac, took his money and put the soap into a bag, counting his change into his hand.
‘Hey! Hey, give Edward his change back.’ Isaac had pocketed the coins.
‘That’s okay.’ Edward winked at her. ‘He might be needing it later for ice-cream.’
Isaac looked from Charlotte to Edward, then back again, waiting to obtain a final decision. ‘All right, then. Here—let me zip your pocket up, so you don’t lose it.’
She bent and fastened Isaac’s pocket, then gave way to the pressure from both Edward and Isaac and hurried with them to the car. The afternoon was bright and blustery, just right for kite-flying, and the three of them seemed in complete accord. No one wanted to miss a moment of it.
THEY DROVE FOR an hour, right out of London, making a beeline for high ground. The last five hundred yards had to be walked—or rather climbed—until finally they reached the exact location that Edward wanted.
‘It’s windy enough here.’ The words were almost dragged away on the breeze as soon as they left her mouth.
‘Yes. I think this will do.’ Edward looked around with an air of satisfaction. ‘Which kite shall we try first?’
‘The big one!’ Isaac was jumping up and down with excitement. ‘I want to see the big one...’
‘Okay.’ Edward grinned, laying the large kite onto the ground, clipping together the last pieces of the framework so that it was ready to fly. ‘You see, I think that the wind will catch it here...’ he indicated the breadth of the kite ‘...and funnel through this way...’ A sweep of the hand to show the anticipated wind direction. ‘That should give it extra lift, and the weight of the tail makes it steadier.’ He grinned. ‘That’s the theory, anyway.’
‘Will it work?’ Isaac stamped his foot impatiently.
‘That’s what we’re here to find out. It’s all very well to have a theory, but you always have to test it out... Here, you hang on there.’
Edward gave the kite to Isaac and winked at Charlotte, walking away from them as he unravelled the twin reels of lightweight cord.
He paced out the distance and called back to Isaac, ‘Okay, hold it up...’
Charlotte kept a discreet hold on the top of the kite, in case Isaac decided to let go of it before he was supposed to.
‘Now, on my count... One...two...three...let her go!’
The kite rose in a straight line, up into the clear blue sky. Isaac shouted at the top of his voice in excitement, and suddenly the only thing to do was to shout with him.
‘Nooooo!’ The kite dipped erratically and Isaac screamed in horror.
Edward fought for control for long moments and then the kite soared upwards again. Charlotte cheered, and Isaac followed suit, running towards Edward.
‘That didn’t quite work...’ Edward was grinning at her. ‘Perhaps I’ll just concentrate on keeping it up there at this stage.’
‘I want to hold it... Pleeeease...’ Isaac was pulling at Charlotte’s windcheater in excitement.
‘I don’t think so, sweetie. It’s very hard to control. We don’t want you flying away with the kite.’
‘Owww.’