This was not going to be a good day for Cindy.
It was an accident; surely they would understand that. Well, Mrs Rogers probably wouldn’t, she could get very angry sometimes. Betty would understand, she and Betty had got on from the time they had first met; they just sort of hit it off from the word go.
She stood looking down at the pieces, little white fragments with patches of blue. The noise it made when it hit the floor was terrible. She kept hearing that sound in her head. But this really was an accident. It could have happened to anybody.
She found herself wandering from room to room, waiting for them to get back from the shops. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t allowed in the front room when they were out, but the door had been open and Cindy had gone in just to have a look around.
She was sitting in the armchair when she heard the car pull into the driveway. This was it; there was no getting around it. Betty would understand. She went to the window and watched them taking bags out of the car. She heard the front door go. She heard Betty yelling “Cindy, we’re home” from the hall.
Cindy didn’t go through to welcome them home the way she normally did. She just stood in the room next to the scattered pieces and waited.
The door was pushed fully open and Mrs Rogers came in. When she saw what had happened she just stood, wide-eyed, with her hand over her mouth. Cindy thought she looked kind of funny.
“Oh! No! Just look at this will you?” she cried.
Betty came in asking, “What is it Mum?”
“Look, Grandma’s blue Willow mug” she cried. “How did she get in here?” pointing at Cindy.
Betty went over and picked her up. “It was an accident Mum, she didn’t mean it”.
She knew Betty would understand. She had always loved her, from the time she was a little kitten she had loved her.