Goniff was feeling miserable. This in itself was unusual as he was the one who kept the rest of the team smiling. He was the optimist of the group and always managed to find something to be cheerful about no-matter how much trouble they were in, always reassuring them that they would get out of trouble and back to England even when he wasn't sure himself how this could be done. This made him a great asset to the team and in times when he was feeling as he was now .the rest of the guys would do their best to cheer him up
..This time however nothing they did seemed to have any effect, not even theWarden giving them a three day pass did anything to lift the depression he had fallen into. He told them that they would be better going without him and he would really rather stay at the mansion by himself anyway, As much as they were wiling to help Goniff , the chance of three days in London was too good anopportunity to miss so they decided to what he asked and leave him alone. As they picked up their passes from the Warden he asked if they has managed to persuade Goniff to go with them . Casino said no and that he was still being a miserable little limey and that he wouldn't tell him what was the matter even when he had asked him..He said o.k. he would deal with Goniff and told them to stay out of trouble and be back on time and not to make him come looking for them. They looked at him as if he was crazy and told him they were always on their best behaviour and didn't know what he was worrying about, then turned on their heels and raced to the waiting jeep before he changed his mind.
Goniff stood by the window and watched them go. He just couldn't be bothered to do anything right now. He didn't know what was the matter or how to fix it, he just knew he was miserable and wanted to go home. It would be his Birthday in three days. Another year that he had been away from home , with the good chance that by this time next year he would be dead and he would never have made it home at all. He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He was glad they were gone , the last thing he wanted was them turning his birthday into an excuse for a party as he knew they would want to do if they were here, , he would just lie here and be miserable , it was after all his choice how he spent his Birthday, now wasn't it.
Craig had tried everything he could think of to cheer Goniff up, but all to no avail . He was all set to admit defeat when he suddenly thought of Angel .Maybe she could think of something that the rest of them couldn't . He left the mansion and decided that there was no time like the present and he would go and talk to her now to see if she had any better ideas than he did.
He knocked on her door and called hello as he entered . She called back that she was in the kitchen and would bring coffee out if he wanted to make himself at home. She smiled at him as she entered the room and asked what she had done to get such an unexpected visit. He said he had a problem and that he needed another perspective on it so see if between them they could find a solution .She listened as he told her about Goniff and how worried he was about him , as nothing he did seemed to have any effect on the mood he had fallen into. She asked if there was anything different happening that could be worrying him and he said it was his birthday in the next couple of days but apart from that nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
She asked him how he had spent his last birthday ,and he told he had spent it alone at the mansion and hadn't really done anything special at all , as she hadn't been there to share it with him there hadn't been any point in celebrating. She smiled at him , and she saw in his face that he now knew just what to do.
The guys were as good as their word this time and arrived back on time and sped into the mansion trying to hide the presents that they had bought Goniff. They had decided that like it or not he was going to enjoy his birthday even if it killed them. They had laid out a great spread in the kitchen of all of the things he liked to eat the most , but despite all their efforts he just nibbled at the food and hardly cracked a smile , even when they brought him in a beautiful birthday cake it didn't lift his spirits any. They were on the verge of giving up and leaving him to his misery .
Angel had been watching Goniff and hoped that Craig's idea would work . She slipped away and a few moments later said that some girl from the village wanted to talk to and wouldn't take no for an answer, probably someone wanting to wish him Happy Birthday. So he had better get into the office and answer the got up and went into Craig's office and as he picked up the phone he heard a very familiar voice saying `OOOH Rodney , is that really you? Happy Birthday son. Goniff's voice faltered as he said `Hello mum it's so good to hear you how are you ? And then just said `Oh mum`.Craig went towards his office and shut the door , giving Goniff some privacy.
Casino said maybe this would cheer Goniff up , cause he didn't know how much longer he could take him being miserable, He asked the Warden what had given him the idea and said that when Angel had asked him what he would have wanted most for his birthday he had known that it would just have been to talk to her .Sothe most natural thing to do was to arrange for a phone call from his mum . She said that some times you just needed to know that family were near, even if itwas only on the came out of the office a few minutes later with the biggest grin on his face they had seen in weeks. He looked at Craig and said thanks Warden , sorry I've been a pain. He looked at the food on the table and smiling said how good it looked . He picked up a sandwich and started to eat with gusto . The others looked at each other and smiled and told him to leave some for somebody else .He laughed and said he couldn't help it if he was always hungry if was just the way he was . Craig looked at him and said `I wouldn't have you any other way Goniff` nice to finally have you back. They gave Goniff the knife and told him to cut the cake. With great precision he cut a small piece for each of them and then sat with the rest of the cake in front of him, Casino asked him if he was really going to try and eat the rest of the cake himself . He looked at him ,`Just watch me mate`, he said `Just watch me`.