The Need Fairy

Mother's Day

The preoccupation with antiques and attic hunting had lost its charm. There was a sad spirit in the house and Cleo had no idea of how to deal with it. She bought another book entitled, 'Unquiet spirits: how to live well in your haunted home,' by Doris Moore, but this only had the effect of making her feel sadder than ever. Tony noticed and did his best to make his wife feel a little better.

One of his efforts to boost Cleo's mood came on mother's day. Despite the cold weather outside, the kitchen was steamy and the fans were on. Tony was cooking his speciality, melt-in-the-mouth spaghetti bolognaise. Open packets, discarded vegetables, a variety of jars, tins and bottles, herbs and seasonings, as well as all sorts of kitchen implements and utensils, lay to hand and a little further away from Tony's preparation area.

The onions, garlic and peppers had been prepared with great concentration and were now gently frying over a low heat. Tony was on the verge of adding the mince when the kitchen door opened and a moist looking Cleo, with damp hair and rain splattered coat, stepped into view. She looked flushed and pleasantly agitated, clutching her shoulder bag in an over protective way.

'Did you get what you wanted?' Tony enquired, slowing down his culinary endeavours to take into account his wife's sudden arrival.

'I did,' said Cleo, reaching into her bag and producing an unusual object; a large, black-lacquered egg with delicate gold decorations and a fine painting of the Madonna and child on the front.

Tony was looking at his wife with great curiosity, 'You bought that. It looks expensive.'

'I didn't buy it and it is expensive. It's worth five thousand pounds. I found it in the attic.'

'I thought you weren't going up there anymore. You haven't been up there in over a week.'

'I know, but I thought about it the other day. I thought, you know, I've been silly, nothing but good stuff has been coming out of that attic.'

'Well, except for that horrible story.'

'Well, except for that. Anyway I started thinking about that episode of the Antiques Garden Party and I thought, "I wonder." So I went up there and I could see something black and gold gleaming from one of the boxes. I had a good feeling about it and I was right. It was this and it's worth five grand.'

'Five grand,' Tony considered the amount, 'Is there much more sorting out to do? There may be something even more valuable hidden away up there. I was also thinking, when we've finished sorting it out, we could use it for something more constructive, a games room possibly.'

'There's just a few more boxes to look through. Who knows, we might even find some vintage toys for a child's nursery,' Cleo mused.

'Hmmm,' Tony's mind turned to food once more, 'dinner will be ready in half an hour's time. I bought the new Star Trek film for us to watch it with. You can set it up in the living room.'

Tonyprompted his wife to leave the kitchen, which she dutifully did, and hereturned to the bolognaise.