The Granddaughter
A bit scruffy, with messy plaits, a wrinkled school uniform, and a crookedly sewn collar and cuffs.
The girl looked unkempt, almost withdrawn.
Margaret Winthrop frownedwhy had she thought of that untidy child? She set aside her favourite éclair. Where was Peter? He promised to come earlytoday was the anniversary of her late husband, Edward.
She thought she heard a knock at the door.
“Whos there? Peter, is that you? Did you forget your keys?”
“Miss Winthrop, you left your keys on the chair.”
“What? What keys?”
Margaret opened the door and saw that same girl. What was this?
“Sedley? What keys? How did you know I lived here? Have you been following me?”
The girl shook her head. She wore an old woollen hat, a threadbare coat with a stain on the pocket, worn-out leggings, and shoes practically falling apart.
Only now did Margaret notice how beautiful the girls eyes weredeep blue, framed by thick dark lashes.
She had recently started teaching at the local school after retiring from the college. She couldnt stay idle for long. Strange, this girlshe never mingled with the other children. What was her name? Alice? Yes, Alice Sedley.
“Miss Winthrop, you left your keys on the chair. I called after you, but you didnt hear.”
“What keys? Oh thank you. Goodness, I mustve forgotten to put them in my bag. Old age, I suppose,” she joked weakly.
“Youre not old,” the girl said earnestly. “You were just in a hurry.”
“Thank you Alice.”
“Youre welcome. Goodbye, Miss Winthrop.”
“Goodbye”
Margaret closed the door pensively, then suddenly opened it again. She heard soft footsteps descending the stairs.
“Alice,” Margaret called down, the girl looking up. “How did you know where I lived?”
“I live in the next building. I see you walking to and from work sometimes. Theres a stray dog near the cornerI stay close to you so he doesnt growl at me. He doesnt like the smell of catsI feed them in the basement. His name is Rex. Im not scared of him.”
“And the address? I asked the ladies on the bench where you lived. I told them you worked at our school. We ride the same bus”
What a peculiar girl, Margaret thought. Is she watching me?
“Would you like some tea?” she asked suddenly, and the girl instantly agreed.
Rude, reallyshe shouldve refused.
Margaret poured the tea.
“Are you hungry?”
The girl shook her head, but Margaret knew better. Why am I bothering with her?
“You know what? Lets have supper together. I hate eating alone, and Peters late again. Here.”
She hurriedly pulled food from the fridge, feeding the girl, who ate neatly but ravenously.
“Thank you,” Alice murmured, eyeing the leftovers. “I should go. Your cooking is lovely.”
A starving child complimenting my cooking
Margaret packed the leftoversmeat, pasta, sweetsand handed them over.
“No need to thank me,” she said, but Alice took them anyway.
After the girl left, Margaret scolded herselfthis wasnt professional. What if the girl hugged her at school tomorrow? Or thanked her loudly for the food?
Peter arrived the next morning, sheepish.
“What day was yesterday?” Margaret asked sternly.
“Thursday. Todays Friday”
“Dont be smart, Peter.”
“Oh, now its serious. Mum, Im thirty”
“It was your fathers memorial. He deserved better.”
“Mum does it matter if we do it today instead? Lets just Im going to bed. Its my day off.”
“So youre tired? What were you doing all night?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Grumpy, Margaret went to work, expecting Alice to acknowledge herbut the girl just passed by with a polite greeting.
The cheek!
All day, Margaret tried to corner herwas she avoiding her?
Days later, walking home, she heard a scream.
Alice was there, a stray dog tearing at her coat sleeve.
“Get away!” Margaret shouted, shooing the dog. “Alice, are you hurt?”
The girls terrified blue eyes made her chest ache.
“He wanted toto hurt the kitten,” Alice sobbed.
Margaret hushed her. “Its alright now. Shouldnt you go home?”
“I cant. They wont let me. Ill hide him under the stairs if they dont chase him away again.”
“Who?”
“Them.”
At school, Margaret asked about Alice. Most shrugged, but the elderly maths teacher, Agatha, knew hera troubled family, parents who drank, a grandmother who barely cared.
Later, Margaret followed Alice, watching her sit on a bench outside her building, doing homework in the cold.
That evening, she argued with Peterdivorced two years ago, no children, always out. His ex, Natalie, had been lovely.
“Boring,” hed said. Now hed probably found someone more “exciting.”
Margaret stepped out for airand heard a slurred voice shouting, “Alice! Where is that wretched girl?”
A dishevelled woman stood by the doorAlices eyes, but older.
“Excuse me are you Alices mother?”
“Whats it to you?”
“Im her teacher. Where is she?”
“Asleep at home.” The woman turned away.
Margaret called into the dark, “Alice, come out. Its alright.”
The girl emerged from the shadows.
“Come home with me.”
“Shell punish me.”
“She wont dare.”
“If she loses custody, Ill go to foster care.”
“Who is she?”
“My grandmother. Mums gone four years now. She was sick. They get money for me”
Margaret took her home.
Peter stared when they arrived. “Whos this?”
“Alice.”
The girl stared back.
“You staying?” he asked.
“I dont know”
In the morning, Margaret fed her breakfast.
“Lets go.”
“Where? To a home?”
“The shops.”
Peter watched, thoughtful. “Whered you find her?”
“My student.”
At the store, Margaret bought her new clothes.
“What a lovely granddaughter,” the shopkeeper remarked. “She looks just like you.”
Margaret smiledher heart unexpectedly light.
Alice clung to her old coat. “Theyll sell the new ones or hurt me.”
“What do we do?”
“I dont know.”
“Café?”
“With you?”
Margaret hesitated. “Do you bake?”
“Can you make cake?”
“Not well.”
“Mum and I used to. Before she got ill.”
They baked, laughing, drinking teauntil Peter returned.
Margaret, for once, wished he hadnt.
“I should go,” Alice whispered.
“Ill walk you.”
Peter studied her. “Whats your name?”
“Alice. I told you,” Margaret snapped.
“Did she send you?”
Alice shook her head.
“Peter, whats going on?”
“Its Diana Sedley. Remember? Alices mother.”
The truth unfoldedPeters teenage love, a child he never knew.
“I didnt believe her. I was with Natalie”
Margaret held Alices hand at court, terrified theyd take her away.
Later, Alice asked, “Can I live with Grandma?”
Peter laughed. “What if she says no?”
“She wont. Shes lonely.”
“And Im not?”
“You have Elena.”
Margaret walked hand-in-hand with her granddaughter, uncaring of gossip. Shed found happiness at last.
Peter grew close to Alice, though things with Elena didnt last.
“Its not because of me?” Alice worried.
“Never. Id never trade you.”
At parent-teacher meetings, Peter met Alices teachernow, Alice had two mothers.
“Is it hard, having your grandma and mum as teachers?” friends asked.
“Nah. Its brilliant,” Alice laughed.
Sometimes, Alice still visited her grandmothercleaning, cooking, begging her to stop drinking.
The old woman wept, kissing her hands. “My darling girl”
And in those moments, even broken promises carried hope.
Family isnt always bloodsometimes, its love that finds you when you least expect it.
