Nancy laid the table, humming to herself. Malcolm had foregone his usual solitary reading time in order to play with his turtle. He was deeply enamoured of the shelled creature, and Nancy had listened discreetly outside his door, relieved to hear him chatting away to Tesla about normal boy-things, like circuits and sonic booms. Perhaps it wasn’t entirely normal, come to think of it, talking to a turtle, but she supposed that no-one would bat an eyelid were it a dog or a cat. Dinner was ready, she had a genuine smile on her face, and Geoffrey, thankfully, also seemed to be in a good mood tonight. She called to them both, and her heart rose when they both arrived, beaming and sat down with her.
“So Nancy,” Geoffrey boomed cheerily. “How was your day? Anything interesting happen?”
Her smile faltered slightly. She felt a tiny twinge of warning from.. somewhere, but before she could say anything, Malcolm chipped in.
“Mummy found a turtle. She found it in the bathroom.”
Geoffrey’s face had a curious expression on it. “Really? The bathroom? That seems unlikely in the extreme, especially in this weather, wouldn’t you say? Are you absolutely sure, Nancy, or is this another of those little things that you’ve imagined?”
“He’s mine now. I’ve called him Tesla. He’s my friend, and he also might have some good ideas about generating wireless electricity,” Malcolm went on happily.
“You’ve seen this turtle, then?” Geoffrey seemed annoyed, although Nancy couldn’t think why.
“Yes, he lives in my room, in a tank, which is called a terrarium. It’s like an aquarium, but it’s not for fish. Terrarium, from the Latin terra, which means earth.” His parents exchanged nonplussed looks.
“Well, it all sounds very odd. Nancy, what on earth possessed you to give Malcolm this turtle? For all we know, it could be riddled with disease.”
“Well, I thought…” Nancy faltered.
“Clearly, you didn’t.” Geoffrey snapped at her. The happy mealtime was apparently over. He threw his napkin onto his plate, and leaned back. “Well, it’ll just have to go back to the petshop, that’s all.”
Malcolm looked at his father thoughtfully. “But Daddy, he didn’t come from the petshop.” There was a small silence. Geoffrey was red in the face.
“Wherever he came from, he’s going back there. No arguments. Malcolm, you’re far too old for ridiculous things like that. As a matter of fact, Nancy, I’ve been meaning to speak to you both. I’ve decided that it’s high time Malcolm went to a proper school, rather than that namby-pamby community hell-hole. Smuggsworth have an excellent reputation; I went there myself. Malcolm, how do you fancy becoming a Smuggers Prep boy?”
Malcolm was also turning red, and his lip was wobbling. “I don’t want to go there. I want to stay here, with Tesla and Mummy and Mortimer.” Nancy noticed that he didn’t mention Geoffrey. Apparently Geoffrey noticed this as well, as he exploded in rage.
“Well it’s hardly up to you, is it Malcolm? This is a decision for me and your mother.”
“You didn’t ask her!” Malcolm was beginning to sob.
“I don’t have to explain myself to either of you,” Geoffrey said coldly. “The matter is settled. I have spoken to the headmaster already. I will be taking you there myself on Saturday, so you can have the weekend to get to know the place.” Malcolm threw his fork down, and ran from the room.
Nancy was frozen to her chair, trembling.
“I suppose you thought you could get one over one me with that stupid turtle?” Geoffrey was still fuming. “Trying to get him on your side, turning him against me, like the manipulative
woman that you are.”
“Geoffrey, please, how could you think that I would…”
“
Shut up. You
will regret this, Nancy. Nobody makes a fool out of me, least of all a woman.” He stormed out, knocking his plate onto the floor. It smashed.
Nancy sat staring numbly at the shards of porcelain. I should clean that up, she thought vaguely. Geoffrey will be upset if he sees it. He will be angry. He might… She jumped up, suddenly disgusted with herself. What was she thinking? What more could he do to her? He was trying to take her son away. He had already taken her friends, her name, her self-respect. Well, it ended here. No-one would take her precious child from her. Geoffrey might think he was Lord Snoot, but she was Nancy Landgraab. She drew herself up to her full height. He had cowed her long enough. It was time for him to see that, under her delicate exterior, she was pure Landgraab steel.
*******
Early the next morning, she sneaked into Malcolm’s room and shook him awake. He sighed, and rubbed his eyes blearily, blinking in the dim morning light.
“Wake up, darling,” she whispered. “As you’re going away at the weekend, I’ve decided to take today off work. I thought you and I could go to the park. What do you think?”
He blinked at her again. “I think Daddy will be mad with us.”
Nancy sighed inwardly. She hated lying, and was frankly scared to lie to Geoffrey, but this was important. “We won’t tell him. You’re top of the class darling, I read your reports. One day won’t make a difference.”
He frowned, and Nancy’s heart ached for his innocence as she watched him reach an internal decision. “It’s very wrong to skip school,
and work, Mummy. And it’s wrong to lie.” He smiled brightly at her. “But maybe it would be a snow day anyway.” They grinned at each other conspiratorially, and both jumped as they heard Geoffrey shout for Nancy.
“You get dressed in warm clothes, sweetie, and I’ll go and make breakfast,” said Nancy. She practically skipped through her morning routine. Geoffrey looked at her suspiciously, but left satisfied when she started talking about being late for work yet again.
She and Malcolm reconvened in the hallway, nervous yet high-spirited.
"Now, in general, if someone says you need to keep something from either of your parents, you should tell us all about it," said Nancy, mock-seriously. "But in this case, as your mother, I say it's ok for us to have fun for a day without mentioning it to your father. This will not be happening again soon, so I want to spend some time doing the things you like doing."
Malcolm looked at her solemnly. "But Mummy, we can't both read the same book."
She looked at him, somewhat stunned, until his face cracked into a grin of pure mischief, and he laughed out. Nancy laughed too, inwardly aching that she couldn't remember the last time he'd sounded like that.
After Malcolm had bid goodbye to Tesla, he and Nancy headed off, still giggling madly. Nancy felt absurdly free, despite knowing that the day would go by all too fast.
“What would you like to do first?” she asked Malcolm. He looked thoughtful.
“All of it,” he replied solemnly. She laughed, and impulsively hugged him, much to both of their surprise.
"Let's start on the ice rink, shall we?"
The time glided past as smoothly as the ice, and in what seemed like no time, Nancy noticed Malcolm beginning to shiver. She sent him into the toilets to warm up under the handdryer, while she went to get them some hot chocolate. She had just sat down with the drinks, waiting for Malcol when she saw - no, she
felt Erin close by. She twisted round as Erin walked past.
If Erin saw her, she pretended not to, and Nancy watched as she walked up to the concession stall. There was a woman following her - dressed most unsuitably for the weather, she thought disapprovingly - wearing a large blue hat. The words echoed in her mind, and she thought she remembered Erin mentioning someone with a blue hat once. Nancy sighed. Erin had obviously moved on. Had probably moved on long ago. They didn't seem to be getting on very well, she noted gleefully. It was almost as if Erin was pretending she didn't exist.
Malcolm ran up, flushed and happy from the cold. "Mummy, the park warden says the pond is so iced over that it's safe to skate on! Mummy, can we?" She smiled down at him, brushing aside all thoughts of Erin.
"Of course we can."
She looked over at the pond, and gasped. There, in the middle of the park, was a white horse, almost invisible against the snow. Malcolm followed his mother's gaze, and silently took her hand.
"Wild horses are very nervous, Mummy," he told her. "We must be careful not to scare it when we skate."
The horse did not seem nervous. It stayed around the pond as they skated. Nancy was filled with a wild warm joy, as she and her son glided over the ice. The horse almost seemed to be watching over them. She gazed at her son, awed at what a small,
complete person he was. How had she and Geoffrey created this serious little human being, she wondered. No matter what happened, he was the best thing they had ever made together - ever would make together.
The white horse stayed with them all afternoon, as they tripped over their skates, laughter frosting in the air. Nancy felt absurdly safe, almost protected, as it nickered and snorted at their antics. After a while, it was joined by a brown horse, who stood quietly, benevolently nearby.
"You know, I like you more when you're happy," Malcolm said at one point. "Of course I love you all the time. But it's more fun when you're happy."
Too soon, the sun slipped beneath the horizon, and the air went from nippy to nose-biting. She sighed, and took Malcolm's hand as they skated for the final time towards the edge of the pond. The cold struck her, and she shivered involuntarily. It had got late without her noticing. She hoped that Geoffrey would still be at work when they got in.
*******
Geoffrey had in fact already been home, and left again. Had anyone been there to see him, he would not have appeared surprised to find an empty home. One might almost have seen him smile as he walked upstairs, then a few moments later, walked down again, holding something, and shrugging on his coat. One might have been confused when he walked out of the back door, and returned a few moments later. He left again almost straight away, heading for the bar.
