Finding Home by Kate Field (books for 6 year olds to read themselves .TXT) 📕

then?’ Janet asked Mim one Thursday morning when she arrived for her shift in the deli. ‘What’s it all about?’

‘Haven’t you heard? I didn’t think there was anyone left who hadn’t been given all the details by Lia. We’re renovating the caravans to provide holidays for people who need a break and can’t afford one.’

It was early March now, and in the couple of weeks since work had first started on the caravans, they had made great progress. Bobby had cut the grass all through the field on his ride-on mower, which had instantly transformed the site. The weeds had gone from the gravel road, and all the planters had been cleaned up and filled with small plants and bulbs. They had chosen the paint colours for the exterior of the caravans and were waiting for a break in the weather to make a start on that job. It was all going remarkably well, and Lia was proving a better project leader than anyone had expected.

‘I can’t afford to take a break. Do I qualify?’

Mim laughed, although she wasn’t sure if Janet was joking or not.

‘No, it’s not for people who already live here. It’s for those who don’t know where the next meal is coming from, and can’t even dream of taking a holiday. Or for people who have had a tough time through illness or caring for others. We can’t change their lives, but we can give them some time away from the worry of ordinary life.’

She took off her coat and hung it on the peg in the corridor at the back of the shop. She’d wondered about approaching Janet about the charity before but hadn’t found the right time. Now seemed the perfect moment, as she had already shown an interest. She pulled her apron over her head.

‘Would you be willing to help?’ she asked. ‘We’ll need to supply the basics – you know, toilet roll, washing-up liquid, cooking oil, pasta, and rice. All those sorts of things. The butcher has offered to provide sausages and bacon, and the Sandcatcher Café will bake a cake for each set of guests. Lots of local businesses are happy to help.’

‘More fool them.’ Janet pushed past Mim to turn the shop sign to ‘open’. ‘I’ve not worked hard for the last fifty years to give away my profits. It’s not going to help my holiday cottage business, having free caravans available, is it? My business is my pension. It’s a bit rich that those Howards expect us all to contribute to their latest scheme. They’re worth more than this entire village several times over and don’t need to worry about the future. No, charity begins at home in my book, and that means right here.’ She pointed upwards to her flat above the shop. ‘Don’t let me catch you promoting this idea on my time. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.’

‘I’d offer to boycott the place,’ Karen said, when Mim repeated Janet’s words at the next swimming meeting, ‘but I never go in. I can’t afford it. Three pounds for a loaf of bread. Who pays that sort of money?’

‘You’d be surprised.’ It had amazed Mim that the shop had a good trade, despite the prices. Many of the customers were old people from the village who didn’t have a car; there was no bus service and they had no choice but to buy their groceries from Janet. It frustrated Mim to see them being overcharged, and she slipped an extra potato or slice of cooked meat into their order as often as she thought she could get away with it. Now that March was rolling on and the weather was turning milder, more tourists had started to visit the shop too, apparently prepared to pay any price for something with a ‘local produce’ label.

‘I did warn you that some people would be against the scheme,’ Heather said, pulling off the baggy trousers she was wearing over her wetsuit. ‘Littlemead is relatively unchanged by the tourist trade, and they’d prefer it to stay that way. I’m surprised Janet is one of them, as her business relies on tourists. What a misery. I don’t know how you can stand to work for her. I’d probably have walked out within an hour.’

‘I can’t afford to have principles. I need the money. It’s not too bad now she leaves me alone most of the day, and I like working in the Boat.’

‘How long are you going to stay there?’ Heather asked. ‘Are you looking to move on? I thought your experience was in hotels.’

‘My experience is, but I don’t have any qualifications to back it up. Or a reference. I can’t see Janet giving me one any time soon. I’ve plummeted in her estimation again now because of my involvement with the charity.’ Mim laughed. ‘Although I might be flattering myself that I’d ever risen.’

‘Howie might provide a reference,’ Karen said. ‘He’s a good sort. Paula would too, now you’ve worked for her a couple of times. There’s no harm in looking for something else, is there? You don’t have to be stuck with Janet forever.’

Mim mulled it over as she swam. The sea was rough this morning, and it tossed her around so much that it took a huge effort to move forward at all. It was tempting to stop fighting and drift wherever the waves carried her. Was that what she was doing with her life? She’d done it for the last ten years with Gordon; after years of struggling, it had been a relief to be able to drift. He’d given her the stability she craved, and the security of knowing she could get out of bed in the morning and return to the same bed that night. No one else could understand how precious those things had been to her. He had changed her life. Perhaps it was time to stop drifting and change her own life now?

A dry spell of weather was