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piled on top of chests, pillars ofold newspapers, half a bicycle in the hallway that just appeared there one day, not to mention the forest's worth of books. Ms MacDonald used the imminence of the Rapture and the Second Coming as an excuse ('What's the point?') but really she was just a slovenly person. Ms MacDonald had 'got' religion (goodness knows where from) shortly after her tumour was diagnosed. The two things were not unrelated. Reggie thought that if she was being eaten alive by cancer she might start believing in God because it would be nice to think that someone out there cared, although Ms MacDonald's God didn't really seem the caring sort, in fact quite the opposite , indifferent to human suffering and intent on reckless destruction.
    Dr Hunter had a big noticeboard in the kitchen, full of all kinds of things that gave you an insight into her life, like an athletics certificate that showed she had once been a county sprint champion, another to show that she reached Grade 8 in her piano exams and a photograph (,when I was a student') of her holding aloft a trophy, surrounded by people clapping. 'I was an all-rounder,' Dr Hunter laughed and Reggie said, 'You still are, Dr H.'
    There were photographs on the noticeboard that charted Dr Hunter's life, some of Sadie over the years, and lots of the baby, of course, as well as one ofDr and Mr Hunter together, laughing in the glare of foreign sunshine. The rest of the noticeboard was a medley ofshopping lists and recipes (Sheila's Chocolate Brownies) and messages that Dr Hunter had left to herself -Remember to tell Reggie that Jo e Jingles is cancelled on Monday or Practice meeting changed to Fri PM. All the appointment cards were pinned there too, for the dentist, the hairdresser, the optician. Dr Hunter wore spectacles for driving, they made her look even smarter than she was. Reggie was supposed to wear spectacles but on her they had the opposite effect, making her look like a complete numpty, so she tended only to wear them when there was no one else around. The baby and Dr Hunter didn't count, Reggie could be herself with them, right down to the spectacles.
    There were a couple ofbusiness cards on the noticeboard as well , stuck up by Mr Hunter on returning from 'working lunches', bu t really it was Dr Hunter's noticeboard.
    A woman had come to see Dr Hunter yesterday afternoon. Sh e rang the doorbell two minutes after Dr Hunter came home an d Reggie had wondered if she had been parked nearby, waiting for D r Hunter to arrive.
    Reggie, the baby balanced on her hip, led her into the kitchen an d went to tell Dr Hunter, who had gone upstairs to get changed ou t of the black suit she always wore for work. When Reggie came bac k downstairs the woman was examining the noticeboard in a way tha t Reggie thought was too presumptuous for a stranger. The woma n looked a bit like Dr Hunter, same dark hair that skimmed he r shoulders, same slim build, a bit taller. She was wearing a black suit too. She wasn't the Avon lady, that was for sure. Reggie wondered if she would ever have a life where she got to wear a black suit.
    Dr Hunter came into the kitchen and the woman took a card from her bag and, showing it to Dr Hunter, said, 'Can I have a word?' and Dr Hunter said to Reggie, 'Can you look after the baby for a few minutes, Reggie?' even though the baby was doing his suicidal starfish thing, his little plump arms held out to Dr Hunter like he was asking to be rescued from a sinking ship, but Dr Hunter just smiled at him and led the woman away into the living room and shut the door. Dr Hunter never ignored the baby, Dr Hunter never took anyone into the living room -people always sat at the big table in the comfY kitchen. For a minute Reggie worried that the woman had something to do with Billy. She would be revealed as the sister of Bad-Boy Billy and would be cast out. Reggie had never mentioned to Dr Hunter that she had a brother. She hadn't lied, she had simply left him out of