New Story – With new ideas and directions to hand. I’m writing this and posting it straight onto Steemit – You can’t get more exclusive than that! Episode 9

Ash went back to Justin’s just in time to meet Robin.

“Why is the door unlocked?” Robin said, trying the door.

Ash didn’t have time to answer, Robin rushed into the living room to check on Justin.

“Did that fucking lazy bitch forget to lock the door again?” he said.

“I dunno, wasn’t it locked?” Justin said, unconcerned.

Robin went up the stairs to the bathroom. “She’s not fucking cleaned in here either. She’s such a lazy bitch!” Robin said as he came back down.

“Yeah, well, but I can’t get anyone else to come in and clean.”

Ash got on with emptying the piss bucket as though nothing had happened.

Robin caught her attention as she came in from the back yard. “Has he given you a key yet?”

“No, and I haven’t asked.”

“Well if Brenda is going to be unreliable like this, you’d better have one. I’ll ask if it’s ok to give you my spare.”

Ash went home and dragged her feet every step. She just knew, despite Mrs Dunlop’s intervention, that she was going to cop for a lot of shit when she got home.

To Ash’s surprise, dad wasn’t home and mum didn’t say a word to her. She went in completely the opposite direction and totally blanked her. Ash went into the kitchen and her dinner was waiting for her on the side. It was still warm.

As a gesture, once she’d eaten her meal, Ash washed the dishes and put them on the side to drain. Then she went down to the fields to the other set of ponies.

As a direct contrast to the well-groomed pair in the other field, this group were a scruffy bunch.

“Ponies!” Ash called as she approached the gap in the hedge where she greeted the ponies.

Barbed wire and a couple of fence posts made sure the ponies didn’t escape through the gap and that’s how Ash got into the field.

She’d wander the field with the ponies following her. A stocky skewbald was the leader and the other ponies ranged in size, colour and shape. Only one didn’t follow and she could be a bad-tempered pony at times. Ash didn’t approach her, she let her come if she wanted.

Sometimes she’d see someone in the garden adjoining the house next to the field. Ash wasn’t sure she was allowed in the field with the ponies, so she kept out of the way as best she could. There was a footpath through the field, but Ash didn’t keep to the footpath.

Being with the ponies calmed her mind and she went home in a far better mood than when she had made her way home from Justin’s.

She was still getting the silent treatment when she went through the door, so Ash had a quick sandwich for supper and went upstairs to get ready for bed.

Hers and Stacey’s bed was shoved to the near wall, just behind the door. That was a surprise. Another surprise was the mattress on the floor under the window.

She guessed that was her ‘new’ bed.

Ash grinned. She hadn’t expected that. Mrs Dunlop must have really had a go on the phone.

Her grin fell when she went to make her bed. It was the piss-stained mattress from the bed, rather than a new one.

Stacey was downstairs, watching television with mum and Ash decided to rock the boat.

Ash checked which side of the piss-stained mattress was the driest and pulled the new one from Stacey’s bed. Replacing the piss-stained one, dry side up, she made Stacey’s bed and then pulled the mattress over to the window and made that up.

By the time Stacey came to bed, Ash was asleep.

Ash knew she’d get in major trouble when her swap was finally discovered, but for the time-being she was in a new bed and could sleep well knowing she wasn’t going to be pissed on before morning.

Winter would also cause a problem too; the window didn’t fit well and the curtains didn’t stop the draughts.

Morning and Ash’s alarm woke her for the first time in ages. She got up, got dressed, washed, teeth brushed and went down for breakfast.

Plenty of milk in the fridge!

Ash didn’t think she could eat three Weetabix, so she settled for the usual two. She put her dish on the side and went out of the house in a rush because she heard movement from upstairs and just didn’t want any questions.

“Here,” Robin said. “Your own key.” He handed the key to Ash and she put it in her pocket.

“How did you get this job?” she asked as they walked toward the steps leading up to Justin’s house.

“I think he’s a relation,” Robin said. “I started working for him before he got this bad, just calling round and chatting with him. When he first started using the piss bucket I didn’t like it at all but it had to be done. He’s only been using it about a year.”

“Yeah, but why did he need to get someone else to help you?”

“When I started at big school, it wasn’t too bad to start with, but he’s getting worse, he can’t make his own food now, and it’s a long time to wait from when I go to school to when I get home. Plus, I told him you needed a job…”

“Why would you do that?”

Robin looked at Ash. His expression wasn’t puzzled at the question so much as puzzled as to why Ash needed to ask it. He snorted and said, “Because you needed a job and you weren’t going to get one cos you’re not old enough.”

“Right…”

“I know it’s not much of a job, but it’s regular and a tenner a week is almost what I get! You really negotiated that one,” Robin said.

Images from google