The Wadhams: Little Miss Mischief
We’re delighted to bring you the continuing adventures of Life & The Wadhams, featuring the younger members of the family. Not yet met the Wadhams? Read the background on My Weekly’s best-loved family, then come back and enjoy the next generation’s adventures as Mike and Polly Wadham’s elder grandson, Alex Clark settles into family life with wife Natalie and toddler son William in their flat above Pretty Polly’s, the hairdressing and beauty salon which Natalie runs. They’re now expecting twins, and house-hunting with Natalie’s grandmother Julia.
There were still three months to go to Ruby Clark’s fifth birthday, but what that little girl didn’t know about causing havoc would fit onto the side of a chewing gum wrapper, as her exasperated dad, Jim, often said after a day of mayhem and mischief.
Her parents would be glad when they could finally pack her off to school –in the last few months it was becoming apparent that Ruby was outgrowing nursery’s boundaries, and was more than ready for the challenges of the primary classroom. Jim and Pinky could only hope it would tire her out!
Meanwhile, their challenge today was that, with her nursery closed due to ongoing strike action, they had no childcare. Jim had urgent work on at the garage, Pinky, a teaching assistant, was not on strike, and their older daughter Jennifer, who had offered to look after Ruby along with her nephew William for the day, had just called to say she’d been up all night with a bad case of winter vomiting caught from one of her elderly patients.
She was hardly fit to look after herself, let alone a four-year-old and a two-year-old.
Blissfully unaware of the adults’ dilemma, Ruby was engrossed in trying to teach family cat Milly to sit up and beg in the way that terrier Tyson did when he wanted a treat, while the chat went on above her.
“We’ll just have to let Natalie and Alex know we can’t have William today,” Jim said. “Then… I don’t know. Maybe I could take Ruby into the garage with me for a few hours.”
He looked dubiously down at his little daughter, who had firm hold of Milly’s front paws, oblivious to the cat’s pained expression. Milly was a tolerant cat, but she had her limits. Ruby was going to get scratched soon.
“Ruby, let Milly go,” Pinky commanded. The little girl huffed but dropped the cat’s paws. Milly dashed off in search of her sister Molly, and Ruby threw herself down to the floor and began purring.
“I’m a cat, I’m a kitty cat,” she said in a sing-song voice as she began wrapping herself around Pinky’s ankles.
“Lovely, darling,” Pinky said absently. “Jim, you can’t possibly take Ruby to work with you. Can you imagine what havoc she’d wreak in the garage? And I don’t want to let Alex and Natalie down either – it’s today they’re going off to look at houses with Julia. The appointments are all organised, and they’re so excited about it. At least Natalie is …”
Pinky knew their eldest child Alex was still somewhat ambivalent about setting up home with Natalie’s spiky grandmother Julia. The house and granny flat they chose would have to offer them full independence from each other before he would consider a move, even if he had to string up hammocks for their expected twins in the flat that was now too small for his family.
“I’ll just have to phone in to the school and tell them I can’t come in today.”
“I’ll look after the kids!”
Pinky almost jumped out her skin as a deep voice sounded behind her. She still wasn’t used to younger son Matty’s newly-broken voice.
He reached around her to the fridge to take out the milk, swigging it straight from the bottle.
“Oh, I don’t know, darling. It’s good of you to offer but – ”
“That would be great. Thanks, son.” Jim butted in, ignoring his wife’s raised eyebrows.
“What? He’s nearly sixteen, and it’s only till three o’clock. Besides, Polly will be around if there are any real problems.”
“Amanda will help out, too,” Matty said, referring to their neighbour’s daughter, his best friend outside of school.
“Well, I suppose if there are two of you. Ruby is one person’s work,” Pinky pointed out.
“She’ll behave today.” Matty glared down at his little sister. “Won’t you, Ruby?”
Ruby put her head to one side. “Miaow,” she said non-commitally.
Today was going to be fun!
Alex and Natalie were perfectly amenable to Matty and Amanda looking after William along with Ruby for a few hours. Both were sensible teenagers who could be trusted, and both had experience of small children – Matty with Ruby, and Amanda with her own toddler brother, Jake.
Ruby commandeered her little nephew before his mum had even taken his coat off, inviting him to snuggle down in the large cardboard box she’d lined with blankets, and join her in being a cat.
The pair purred, mewed and giggled as they pawed at the blankets, while Natalie ran through William’s schedule with his uncle Matty.
“We should be back around two,” she finished. “But some of the properties are quite far out of town, so we may be held up a bit.”
They left, and Amanda and Matty settled down to discuss plans for the day, one eye on their charges who were still happily playing cats.
“Better make the most of this,” Amanda said. “I don’t suppose we’ll see nearly so much of William once they’re all living miles away. They’ll probably have to change his nursery, too.”
Ruby’s ears twitched like the cat’s she was pretending to be. She side-eyed Amanda and Matty, but said nothing. But her small mind was working overtime.
“Right, who wants to bake biscuits?” Amanda asked.
“Cats don’t bake,” Ruby said in a growly voice.
“Then they don’t get to eat biscuits,” Amanda replied smartly.
In a moment Ruby was up and out of her basket, her faithful acolyte right behind her.
“We’re people again, aren’t we, William?” Ruby declared.
“I’s a boy,” William confirmed. “I likes biscuits.”
“I know you do.” Amanda laughed. “We’ll make loads, and you can ice some for your mum for Mother’s Day.”
“Me, too!” Ruby demanded. “I want to give Mum biscuits. Mine will be the best,” she added, unable to resist a competition, even with a toddler.
The biscuit making took up most of the morning, and spread over most of the kitchen.
Amanda despatched Ruby and William to carry two carefully iced cookies up to their Grandpa Polly and Grandpa Mike while she and Matty cleared up the mess, then Matty took Tyson for his walk.
By the time he came back, it was lunchtime, and Amanda had fish fingers cooking under the grill for them all.
“Give the kids a shout, will you?” Amanda asked, expertly flipping the fishfingers over. “They’re still upstairs at your grandma’s.”
“Ruby! William!” Matty roared from the bottom of the stairs. “Lunchtime.”
There was no answer. No sound of footsteps on the stairs. Sighing, Matty took the stairs two at a time, and knocked on the door of his grandparents’ self-contained small flat.
“Time for the kids’ lunch,” he explained to Polly when she answered the door.
His grandmother looked puzzled. “But Matty, they’re not here. They came up with biscuits for us, but went away again straight away. Aren’t they back downstairs with Amanda?”
“No,” Matty said. “They’ll be playing cats again in the sitting-room, I suppose. I’ll go and round them up now.”
But it turned out rounding up Ruby and William would be as difficult as herding kittens. For the two small children were nowhere to be found.
Matty checked the lounge, then Ruby’s bedroom and his own, and even his parents’, which Ruby was not supposed to enter without invitation.
“Could they have gone out into the garden?” he asked Amanda, perplexed.
“Not without me seeing them. Oh, Matty, they couldn’t have gone out the front door, could they? I’d have heard them, surely.” She paled. “Let’s search the house again.”
This time, Matty looked under the beds and behind settees, and into the family’s two bathrooms, but there was still no sign of either child.
The worried pair looked at each other, at a loss what to do.
“We’ll have to tell your grandma,” Amanda said eventually. “And I’ll call my dad. He might have seen them from the window.”
“They might have gone to see Jake,” Matty agreed, grasping at the straw.
But before Amanda could reach for her phone, a demanding voice came from the doorway.
“I’m hungry.”
“Ruby!” Matty sighed in relief. “Where have you been? And where’s William?”
Ruby looked around her. “Don’t know.” She shrugged.
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Matty demanded. “You went together up to Grandma’s, and you must have come down together.”
“Miaow,” Ruby said, dropping to all fours and purring around Amanda’s legs.
“Oh no you don’t.” Matty picked his little sister up firmly and gave her a light shake. “Where is William?”
Ruby’s lip pouted out. “Miaow!” she said again.
“Ruby, this isn’t funny.” Amanda spoke to her firmly. “You have to tell us where William is.”
Ruby shook her head obstinately.
“No I don’t. And you’ll never find him. Can I have my fish fingers now?”
Matty looked at Amanda in despair. When Ruby got into this mood, there was no budging her.
“We’ll have to search the house again. He must be here somewhere. You –” He plonked Ruby firmly on two feet to the floor “– are getting no lunch until William turns up, you little horror.”
This time Ruby’s lip pouted as he pulled her firmly by the hand into her own bedroom.
“I’m telling Mummy you called me a horror. And I’m never telling you where William is! Never!”
She spoke defiantly, but her eyes gave her away as they darted to the big cupboard in the corner of the room.
Alex had already looked there, but he hadn’t investigated the cardboard box covered in cushion. He now recognised it as the “cat bed” Ruby and William had been playing on that morning.
And there was William, curled up as tightly as any kitten, looking angelic and innocent, while his young aunt looked decidedly crestfallen.
“He’s going to live here, with me. I’m going to bring him food, and drink and everything.” She looked from the sleeping toddler to Matty and Amanda, and promptly burst into tears. “Alex and Nat’lie aren’t getting to take him away, far away from me. It’s not fair.”
Understanding now, Matty crouched down to her level.
“You little idiot. It doesn’t matter where Alex and Natalie go to live, you’ll still see William.”
“But ’Manda said they were going miles away!” Ruby wailed. “And we wouldn’t see them no more.”
“No I didn’t!” Amanda said, shocked that the little girl should have misunderstood her so easily. “I just said they might move a bit further, and that he might move nursery. It doesn’t mean you won’t ever see him. In fact, you’ll probably see more of him when the new babies come, ‘cos Natalie and Alex will need lots of help.”
Ruby sniffed, but already her tears were drying up. William stirred and opened his eyes.
“Come on,” Matty picked him up and took Ruby’s hand. “Let’s go and get your fish fingers.”
By the time Alex and Natalie reappeared at No. 23 Elderslie Terrace, peace was restored and Ruby was back to her usual insouciant self. She and William were now puppies, stalking Tyson around the house as he searched in vain for a peaceful spot to lay his head.
Amanda having gone home, Polly had joined Matty in babysitting duties. He was beginning to think his mum was right, and Ruby was too much for any one person!
“How was the house-hunting?” Polly asked.
“Great!” Natalie sounded excited. “There was one house in particular that looked perfect – a very modern detached house with an extension at the side that will be perfect for Gran.”
“Did you like it, Alex?” Polly probed.
“I did!” Alex sounded more enthused now about the proposed move with his grandparent-in-law than he had done previously. “It’s spacious, and well appointed, with two separate doors for the flat and the house. The garden’s a good size, too.”
“And the best thing is it’s just half a mile away from here, on the new estate,” Natalie chipped in. “So if we do all decide to go for it, we won’t have to move far.”
“See.” Matty looked at Ruby and winked. “Nothing to worry about, after all.”
“Woof!” she said and stuck her tongue out at him.
But if a little puppy-dog-girl could be said to look relieved, Ruby certainly was!
Join us next month for more adventures with the Wadhams clan.
