The Swallow and the Hummingbird Read Free Page B

hair,’ she said, nibbling a piece of toast like her sister had done.
    ‘My dear, is it really necessary?’
    ‘I want to look nice for George too!’ she insisted, knowing full well that George had absolutely nothing to do with it. ‘I thought I could do my hair like Lauren Bacall. Besides, it’s George’s welcome home party tomorrow night. You never know who’ll be there. Maybe I’ll meet the man I’m destined to marry. I want to look my best for him.’
    ‘Why don’t you come to Megagran’s with me?’ Hannah said. Mrs Megalith had been rather rudely nicknamed Megagran by Humphrey many years before. ‘The bluebells are out in the wood and her garden’s looking lovely. We can have lunch. Make the time go faster.’
    Maddie screwed up her nose. ‘She’ll only insist on giving me a reading.’
    ‘And tell you to get a job.’
    Maddie rolled her eyes. ‘She never tells me what I want to hear,’ she complained.
    ‘That’s because she would never lie.’ Hannah began to clear away the breakfast. ‘You know Megagran. She takes those cards very seriously.’
    ‘Tools for Spirit,’ said Maddie, imitating her grandmother’s deep voice. ‘All right, I’ll come, but only because there’s nothing better on offer.’
    Maddie wished those GIs hadn’t gone back to America. She smiled secretly to herself as she thought of them all returning to their wives and girlfriends with her Polyphotos in their breast pockets.
    Hannah and Maddie cycled up Mrs Megalith’s drive as petrol was still scarce. Spring had thrown the countryside into flower and painted the trees and bushes with a fresh palette of colour. The pink hawthorn and white apple blossom glistened among the phosphorescent green of leaves and grasses. The sky shone a cerulean blue upon which small white clouds floated like foam on the sea. Hannah breathed in this delightful scene, feeling God’s presence in the beauty and power of nature.
    ‘Isn’t this rose quartz glorious?’ said Mrs Megalith as her daughter and granddaughter appeared through the kitchen door. She raised her eyes above her spectacles and smiled at them warmly. Maddie looked at the crystals of every colour and size placed in rows on the kitchen table and grimaced at the strong stench of cat.
    ‘What are they for?’ she asked, scrunching up her nose at her grandmother’s eccentricity. Ever since Megagran had visited India between the wars she had been obsessed with the strangest things.
    ‘This, for example,’ she replied, holding up the rose quartz, ‘is the stone of gentle love. Its energy is soft and silky and calming. It restores harmony and clarity to the emotions. But the poor little fellow needs a good clean. I’ll wash him with salt then leave him in the garden for twenty-four hours so he can soak up the elements. He’ll feel a lot better after that.’ She patted it affectionately. ‘Still loafing around, Madeleine?’
    Maddie rolled her eyes. ‘I’m going to marry someone very rich so I won’t have to work,’ she said, raising her eyebrows provocatively at her grandmother.
    ‘That might be harder than you imagine. There’s been a war, in case it’s escaped your notice,’ Mrs Megalith replied, digging her chins into her neck. ‘How’s our Rita?’ she asked Hannah.
    ‘She needs a rose quartz, I should imagine,’ said Maddie, picking up a fulgurite absent-mindedly.
    ‘So excited,’ enthused Hannah. ‘I doubt she’s been much use on the farm today.’
    ‘Dear girl. I hope young George marries her this summer. She’s been a paragon of patience. Pass me my stick.’ She waved her bejewelled hand at her granddaughter then struggled to her feet. Her sky-blue dress fell about her legs like a tent, supported by the ledge of her large breasts and her thick shoulders. ‘Now, come and see the garden. It’s like heaven out there.’ They walked down the corridor where cats draped themselves across the sunny window ledges. Maddie sneezed. She didn’t much like