Claire had parked her car next to Franceska’s at the edge of the lawn, where there was a kind of parking area. Then there was a fence, not too high, but with a gate which we had walked through. The lawn in front of the house was bigger than it looked in the photos, and as it was enclosed, it would be our playground. The cottage was detached and there were lush bushes surrounding the garden. The lawn looked neat and tidy, and the grass felt warm under paw. I turned and looked away from the house.
‘Wow,’ George said, joining me. We sat side by side for a moment taking in the view. There was a road, but on the other side of it was a sandy beach, which stretched to the water, glimmering in the sun. It was beautiful. Toby and Summer were jumping up and down.
‘Can we go to the beach now?’ Toby asked.
‘Well, darling, I’ve got to get unpacked and it’s nearly teatime,’ Claire said. ‘And we need to wait for Polly to arrive too.’
‘I tell you what, Claire, I take the children over, they’ve been cooped up in the car for so long and then you have some time to get organised,’ Franceska offered.
‘Yes!’ Toby grinned.
‘Come on, Tobe,’ Tommy said, taking hold of his hand, and they all headed off towards the beach.
Claire had her arms full as she stood next to us on the lawn watching them run off.
‘Right guys, come inside and I’ll get you fed,’ she said. I purred. ‘I know, it’s so beautiful here, isn’t it? I can smell my childhood,’ she said, before heading into the house.
Claire opened the door and George and I ran between her legs to explore. On first glance the house was a bit of a shock, compared to what we were used to at home. The carpet was shabby and almost threadbare. As we made our way through the entrance hall, I noticed the walls were all peeling. With George following me, the first room I came to was large and square with two big windows overlooking the lawn; I guessed this was the living room. As George jumped on the windowsill, I padded around. It had two big old sofas and two floral armchairs in it— I knew from the humans’ conversation that they had got them from a charity shop, just until they furnished it properly. There was an open fire on one side, and an old coffee table. It was a nice room, or it would be. I was happy to see there was also a television in the corner. I wasn’t sure how the children would have lived without that. I left the room and went to the next room, which was smaller, with two small sofas in it and a fire. Again the walls were peeling, and the carpet was thin. It had a window to the back of the house, where I could see a courtyard. I guessed the lawn atthe front was the main garden, and that was enormous. Anyway, the empty room held little interest so I went back to the hall and saw George there.
‘What do you think?’ I asked.
‘It’s a bit empty,’ George said. It wasn’t but I knew what he meant — it was un-lived in.
‘We’ll soon make it our home,’ I told him. There was another smaller room at the front of the house, on the other side to the front door, again it was empty, and next to that was a large kitchen. A massive table dominated the room, and although you could tell it was old fashioned — there were no fixed cupboards like we had at home — the kitchen felt a bit like the life of the house already. Claire was boiling a kettle and she was arranging cupboards. I was about to go upstairs to continue my tour of the house when a noise from the front interrupted me.
‘We’re here,’ I heard Polly call out.
‘In the kitchen,’ Claire replied. Henry and Martha ran in first, and made a fuss of both me and George.
‘Hi, love,’ Polly said, as she appeared. ‘Thank goodness we’re finally here.’
‘Bit of a drive, wasn’t it?’
‘Well the traffic wasn’t great, but then it is the start of the summer holiday.’
‘Cuppa?’ Claire asked.
‘Love one. Where is everyone else?’
‘Frankie’s taken the kids to the beach, they were stir crazy after being in the car for so long.’
‘Can we go? Please?’ Henry asked.
Polly groaned.
‘OK, come on then.’
‘I’ll put the tea on hold.’ Claire grinned. ‘But how about some food for you two?’ She looked at me.
‘Meow!’ Yes please.
I forgot about the tour of the upstairs, as we settled down to eat. The cottage had a nice feel about it, I decided. The rooms were big and, despite being old and a bit run-down, it was very light. I don’t know why but I thought that cottages were meant to be small and gloomy. Well that was what Jonathan said, until he’d visited of course. Seabreeze felt a bit like its name. It was big, it was bright, and when the work was done I knew it would be lovely. It was definitely a bit shabby now but I felt excited about the summer, not only were we going to have a lovely holiday but Seabreeze would be transformed into a dream house, I just knew it.
The children came back all covered in sand which they scattered like stardust through the house until they all emerged in the kitchen.
‘I was thinking, shall we take them to the pub for tea?’ Claire asked. ‘It’s just none of us are quite unpacked, and it might be easier.’
‘Cool,’ Aleksy said. The other children were all jumping about with excitement.
‘Look at all this sand,’ Franceska laughed. ‘I suppose we need to get used to this.’
‘Well, in my plans,’ Polly said, ‘which I’ll unveil properly later, I thought the utility through there,’ she pointed to a door at the back of the kitchen, ‘could be the sand room — and we can knock through so you come in the back door directly into it. That way the sand is containable. Oh, and that’s where the downstairs loo is too,’ she said. ‘Which works now, by the way, although needs replacing.’
I looked. I hadn’t noticed the room before, but now the door was open I could see it was actually quite big.
‘You’re a genius, Pol,’ Claire said.
‘Wait till you see what else I’ve got planned. I’m not sure that we’ll get it all done this holiday but we’ll give it our best shot! Anyway, pub sounds good to me. I’m too exhausted to think about cooking,’ Polly agreed.
The children were all ushered into the utility space where sand was emptied from shoes and clothes. Then they said goodbye to us and were off.
‘Right, George, while we’re alone I want to get the proper measure of the house.’
‘OK, Dad. I might nap, I’m a bit sleepy,’ he said. I followed him to the big living room where he curled up on the windowsill. The sun was setting but it was a warm spot. I went back to the downstairs rooms and wondered what the two empty rooms would be used for. The back door, which I was delighted to see had a cat flap in it, was right next to the wall where the utility room was. I decided not to go through it yet, because although he was asleep I didn’t want to leave George alone in the house. Instead I headed upstairs.
The stairs were uncarpeted and at the top was a big open landing. I decided which way to go and found myself nudging the door of the furthest room. It was a medium-sized room in which they had put two sets of bunk beds. I guessed this was for the four boys. The window looked out onto the sea, and I thought how lucky the boys would be to wake up to that. I also guessed it was going to be George’s room as he’d have to sleep with Toby. Luckily, if he did have to sleep in the top bunk, George wasn’t afraid of heights. I was a bit, but that’s a whole other story. I made my way to the room directly opposite which was a smaller room. There were two beds, both with pink covers. For Martha and Summer. They had got the short straw as the view out back was of other houses and fields, but then there were only two of them. Next to those rooms at the back of the house was a big bathroom. In it was an old fashioned bathtub, with a shower hose, a toilet and a sink. Again, it had all seen better days. I went to the rooms on the other side of the landing, and at the front was the biggest bedroom. It had a lovely view out over the front, and it also had a sink and a toilet in a small room off it. I knew this was what they called the master bedroom and Franceska and Polly insisted it was Claire’s room. There were two other small rooms behind it, which Polly and Franceska were staying in. All beds had been set up, and although it was going to be a bit of a squeeze, it was big enough for all of us. Just. I saw there was a staircase leading up to a door and I had heard them talk ofan attic room, but I couldn’t get through the closed door to explore that.