Finding Home by Kate Field (read book .txt) 📗

homeless when Bea and Bill found her. She hurried on. ‘You know I told Bea that I’d only live in the caravan if she let me do some jobs to pay my way. She’s not given me anything to do, so I’m not running up expenses.’

‘That’s ridiculous,’ Corin said. ‘Next you’ll be telling us that you never switch a light on.’ Mim shrugged. She wasn’t daft enough to tell him that. The cheap torch she’d bought was surprisingly powerful. She only needed the lights on when she was cooking. Corin sighed. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so stubborn.’

‘Stubborn and looks like a dog?’ Mim smiled. ‘Steady on, I might get big-headed.’

Corin laughed and refrained from further scrutiny, just as Mim had hoped. She turned back to Lia.

‘Did I miss something?’ she asked.

‘Yes, you did. Corin thinks we should set up a charity and do it all officially.’

‘Does he?’ Mim pulled a face. ‘That sounds complicated. And expensive.’

‘It’s not too difficult,’ Corin said. ‘Olly can arrange the legal side. He’s done it before. You two need to come up with a name.’

‘I’ve already thought of the perfect name.’ Lia sat forward, grinning in excitement. ‘I came up with it last night. Mummy will never object when she hears it.’ She paused to build the moment. ‘As You Like It holidays. What do you think? Isn’t it the most perfect title, darlings?’

Chapter Eight

It had taken Mim a few weeks to get used to swimming in the sea, even with the benefit of one of Ros’s old wetsuits, but now she couldn’t imagine going back to a swimming pool again. The sea was alive, sometimes helping her in the direction she wanted to go and sometimes making her fight against it. Her confidence and her strength were growing with every swim. No two days were ever the same and she relished the challenge of facing and conquering the unknown.

She also relished the growing friendship she shared with Karen and Heather. They had nothing obvious in common: they were different ages, came from different backgrounds, and had very different family circumstances. It was hard to say why it worked, but it did. For the first couple of times Mim had been reluctant to join them in the campervan, wary of interfering with an established relationship. Karen and Heather had swiftly put an end to any doubts and dragged her into their circle. Mim had never enjoyed female friendship before, never had any confidantes to talk to and with whom to share mutual support. It was one of the most precious discoveries of this new life in Devon.

She told Heather and Karen about the idea to use the caravans when they met up the following Wednesday.

‘Who will it be for?’ Karen asked. She was always the more practical of the group. ‘People on low incomes? You’d need to think how low. And how would you find them?’

‘I don’t know,’ Mim admitted. She’d been swept up in Lia’s enthusiasm for the idea, and they hadn’t worked out the practicalities yet. ‘It’s a good point. It seems arbitrary to set an income limit. Income doesn’t tell a whole story, does it?’

‘My second cousin went on a holiday with a similar charity a few years ago,’ Heather said. ‘I think it was in Wales. She was a single mother at the time – she’s married since then – and was struggling to manage because she was looking after a disabled father and her little boy with chronic asthma. A four-day break meant the world to her. She was nominated by a social worker.’

‘I like that idea,’ Mim said. ‘It would be good to have an objective assessment of who would benefit from a break. I wonder who could get involved. Teachers? Doctors?’

‘Health visitors?’ Heather suggested. She passed round a Tupperware box of cupcakes – another reason why Mim enjoyed these swimming sessions. The cake supply could keep her going until teatime.

‘You should open it up,’ Karen said. ‘Not just for low-income families. What about young carers? Or anyone with a caring role who needs a break? You should make one of the caravans accessible.’

Mim thought about the layout of the caravan field. There was already good access for vehicles, but each caravan was surrounded by a veranda that had only step access. Her caravan was fairly open-plan inside, but she hadn’t been in the others to see what they were like. She didn’t even know what condition they were in and how much work it would take to make them fit for use. She didn’t mind the cold and damp patches in hers but holidaymakers would deserve a higher standard. She sighed.

‘The more I think about it, the more impossible it seems,’ she said. ‘Lia’s enthusiasm hardly seems enough to carry us through.’

‘Is Lia behind this?’ Heather asked. She looked surprised. ‘I didn’t realise she was enthusiastic about anything other than fashion and holidays. She always seemed the weak link in the family. A bit flaky, if you know what I mean.’

‘Is that what Bobby says?’ Mim asked. Perhaps her suspicions were wrong, after all.

‘No, he never mentions her. That’s my point. He’s always had something good to say about the rest of the family. He was delighted when Corin came back. But he’s never said anything about her.’

Interesting. Perhaps Bobby didn’t mention Lia because he knew his sharp-eyed sister would see straight through him. Mim was about to ask where Corin had come back from when Karen interrupted.

‘It’s not impossible if you have the money. You’ll need some to get all this off the ground. Where’s that coming from?’

It was another good point and one Mim couldn’t answer. She’d asked Corin and Lia the same thing when they had first discussed the charity and they had told her not to worry about that. It was a pointless instruction, as worrying about money had been one of her chief occupations for so long that it was as automatic as breathing.

‘Don’t build your hopes up