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few days earlier.
    Dick had followed me up. He took hold of my hand as I emerged into the bedroom again. “I want to talk to you, honey.”
    “Look, Dick. I am truly sorry for irritating you this morning.” I tried to free my hand. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get a move on. I want to spend some time with my mother today. You can’t deny me that.”
    “I would never want to,” he said in a gentle voice. “You do understand why I punished you, don’t you, Gilli?”
    “Yes, sir, I do.”
    “Sir?” He raised his eyebrows a little. “It’s rare for that word to voluntarily fall from your lips, especially outside of a play situation. I suspect it’s a general lower case sir rather than a title. Is it your way of distancing yourself from the situation, from me?”
    I shrugged.
    “I don’t think we’re in any kind of a ‘sir’ situation. Daddy will do on this occasion and you haven’t answered my question. Why did I discipline you?”
    “Because I was getting on your tits by being a stupid boring little bitch. I need to stop being a dipshit and get over things faster than I do.”
    “No.” He gave my hand a shake. “Tell me again, without all the pejorative language.”
    “What does pejorative mean?”
    His voice sharpened. “Stop playing games, Gilli. Even if you don’t know the literal meaning of the word you’re intelligent enough to work out the context. Why were you punished?”
    “For pushing boundaries and challenging your authority with aggressive play because I’m resentful about a ruling.”
    “That’s it.”
    “May I go now please?”
    “I’d prefer you to breakfast with me, and then maybe we can return to bed, and finish on a sweeter note.”
    “I need to get going. I have to call on Eileen, Dot and Alma before going to see my mother.”
    “All right, honey. Go if you must.” He patted my hand and released it. “At least give me a kiss before you go running off.”
    I obeyed, pecking a kiss onto his lips before hurrying out of the bedroom and sprinting down the stairs. I wanted to be out of the house.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two - Intersections
     
     
    It was cold outside, and dull. The sun had risen, but was struggling to shine with conviction. It had obviously been to a party the night before and gotten shitfaced. It would take a while for it to shake off the hangover and do its duty. Ground frost lingered in dense white patches on the lawn. With no sunshine to make it sparkle, it had the appearance of a fungus infection.
    Setting down my bag of gifts I fastened my jacket and turned up the collar, debating on whether to go back inside and get a scarf and gloves. I decided against it. I’d use motion to keep warm.
    Picking up the bag I walked up the drive at a brisk pace, pausing at the gates to allow our neighbour, Mr Elders, to fly past, his heels almost striking sparks off the pavement. His Red Setter dog, Milly, was taking him for his first walk of the day. He managed to blurt out a morning greeting as the creature dragged him down the avenue at speed, totally ignoring his pleas to: ‘slow down, Milly, heel, Milly, heel!’ The animal was a menace. It had to have some form of canine ADHD. I’ve never really forgiven it for killing Clarice, Eileen’s gorgeous pet kitten. It still makes me sad, and guilty, to think of it. She was running after me when the dog got her.
    I walked up Eileen’s path, pausing for a moment to admire the fresh holly wreath adorning the front door of her house. It looked rich and festive, glowing red and green against the white paint. I didn’t disturb it. I seldom use the front door. I walked around to the back of the house, knowing Eileen was likely to be in her kitchen or conservatory. The back door was also dressed with a Christmas wreath fashioned by Eileen herself. It was an artificial one comprising of silk poinsettia interspersed with glitter dusted fir cones and little gold baubles. It looked pretty, as did the small potted fir