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Chapter Seven
A Busy Day
Esmerelda walked outside with her sisters and made her way to the nearest bank she could find, opening her account she saw she did indeed have the money from her gran, in fact she had £5000. Esmerelda nearly fell from shock at the numbers on the screen, when her grandmother had said she would lend her money she thought it would be a normal amount, not an excessive amount, she had to convince her grandmother to take some of it back, it was way to much but she would worry about that once they were more settled for the night.
The hard part was deciding where to go now she had a choice and didn't have to hide anymore. She had liked the last area they had stayed in and in a way she wanted to start afresh, she didn't want to be anywhere near her parents so Esmerelda paid for a mini coach and budded the girls in, they would be going on a two hour journey to the north, but the girls were interested in looking around so they didn't get bored.
"Do you really think he will let you have custody?" Ethel asked as she tucked into the sandwich she had being brought for lunch.
"If I do a good enough job he can't exactly say no" Esmerelda told them feeling so relaxed, more relaxed than she had in a long time as she didn't have to worry about her parents.
"You always do" Sybil said sweetly and Esmerelda kissed her head happily. She was so excited about starting this new adventure, she knew things would be hard but she would cope, her sisters were worth the sacrifices.
Sybil sneezed, her cold still bad and Esmerelda knew that was one of the first things she would have to sort out.
After the two hours the girls got of the bus and walked from the bus station into the town, it wasn't an area they had been to before but the accents gave away the fact they actually were in the north. Esmerelda knew for the first few nights at least they would have to stay in a hotel again, at least until she had a chance to go flat hunting.
"Hi there can I book a room for two nights please" Esmerelda told the man at reception. He nodded and took her money, booking her into a room on the second floor, if Esmie needed to add more time on she could but this would do for now.
"Thank you" Esmerelda told the man as she led her sisters to the bedroom. It was one of the nicer ones they had been in.
"Esmie, now we don't have to run, can we go back for the cats?" Sybil asked, missing her familiar. Esmerelda wasn't worried, their butler fed them so she knew they wouldn't be starved, but she did miss her kitten too.
"Once we have a permanent place to stay, most hotels don't allow cats" Esmerelda told them, knowing having them would make things only much more complicated.
The younger two sighed but accepted it and Esmerelda decided to take their minds of it.
"Come on I need to go see if there is an estate agents around here, we need a flat, we can't keep hotel skipping" Esmerelda told them and the girls followed her outside. It was still bitter cold though so she waked into a clothes shop before the estate agents, she didn't know if, or when, they would be able to pick up the rest of their stuff so she wanted them wrapped up. Sybil coughed and sneezed, her cold still bothering her.
"Let's pick a nice coat and then we can go to the chemist to get you some medicine" Esmerelda told her sister. Ethel and Sybil became excited then at the novelty of a new coat. Esmie stayed close to them but let them look. The girls ran to the aisles and looked happily.
"Make sure it is a warm one" she told them knowing if she didn't give them any rules they would probably end up with a zipped jacket that was thin and wouldn't stop them getting cold.
"Esmie this one says it is supposed to be extra warm" Ethel told her holding up a waterproof coat that had special lining that retained body temperature. Esmerelda smiled because it was on sale, not that it really mattered right now but she didn't want to blow all her money on coats. Ethel smiled because it was purple and Sybil found the same one in pink and gasped happily.
"Try them on though, we need to see if they fit" Esmerelda told them as the girls put on the coats. As they did that she started to look for one for herself, not wanting to freeze either.
"It is perfect" Sybil said spinning around in the pink coat happily.
"Great, put it in the basket, how is yours Ethie?" Esmerelda asked looking at her other sister. Ethel smiled as she admired herself in the mirror.
"Well that was easier than I thought" Esmerelda said as Ethel put it in the basket. Esmerelda picked up two coats, a navy blue and a red. She didn't know which to go for though.
"Not red, red makes me think of Mildred" Ethel said with a scowl on her face
Esmerelda rolled her eyes about her sisters silliness but she tried the blue one on and liked it so she didn't mind having to sacrifice the colour, it made the decision easier anyway.
"Right we need to get hats and gloves and scarves too, it is to cold not to wear them" Esmerelda told her sisters who squealed as they found ones that matched their coats in blue, purple and pink. Esmerelda knew they needed more clothes as well but she had other stuff to do today and time was running out, they would do that tomorrow. Finally, after nearly two hours, they went to pay and left, the three girls wrapped up like eskimos in coats, hats, scarves and gloves.
"Thank you Esmerelda" Sybil said gratefully
"Yes thank you" Ethel said and Esmerelda smiled, glad they still knew how to be thankful.
They walked a little bit further until they came to a chemist, Esmerelda asked for some cough medicine but then started to become worried, she was sure you had to be eighteen to buy medicine and obviously she didn't have any ID as she wasn't eighteen.
However the woman clearly saw her with two kids and thought she was their mother as she gave it to her without question, Esmerelda knew she could get the woman in trouble but that wasn't her fault.
"Thank you" Esmerelda said and then quickly made to leave before the woman noticed anything. She wasn't even sure it was wrong but she ran anyway. She took them to some toilets to give it to Sybil so it could working as they shopped before they carried on, on their way.
Esmerelda and her sisters walked for a while, as they had never being there before they didn't know where anything was and Esmerelda was just starting to think that they didn't have an estate agents around here when she saw one a little ways ahead.
"Come on" Esmie told her sisters with a smile as she went to look in the window at the property's for sale.
"I will arrange to look at a few" Esmerelda told the girls as they walked in and Esmerelda asked if she could arrange some viewings. Esmerelda had money and choice now, they wanted a flat that suited them.
The woman nodded and showed Esmerelda even more options they had they hadn't had space for in the window, Esmerelda thought they all looked the same but she ended up choosing three, one had a garden which she liked for the girls, one was a bit bigger than the others and the other was just in a good location.
"Great, hopefully one of these suits you" the woman told Esmerelda. The woman seemed kind but that was probably as she wanted her property sold.
"I want the one with the garden" Sybil said as they left
"No, the one with the more space will be better" Ethel rebutted, disagreeing.
"They will look different inside, let's just wait and see which one is the best, it can take a while" Esmerelda warned them, Ethel and Sybil though were focused on something else.
"Can we have dinner now?" Ethel asked and Esmerelda nodded and took them to get some pizza, something they would both eat despite their pickiness, although she did still have to order half cheese and half pepperoni as Ethel will only eat cheese pizza.
"Eat up" Esmerelda told them as they both picked up a slice
"Mmm yum" Ethel said as she chewed.
"No talking with your mouth full, swallow your food first" Esmerelda told her sister, knowing one thing that came with raising them was making sure they had good manners and morals. Ethel swallowed her pizza before she kept talking, clearly something had gone into her head.
Esmerelda watched them eating and smiled, she knew she would have to give her Grandmother some of the money back but right now she was glad she didn't have to worry about them starving. Once they were all full of pizza, they went back to the hotel and Esmerelda remembered something else she had to do tomorrow.
Now they were safe she wanted to take the girls to a doctor, to see if anything could be done for curse burns, she knew there might be some treatment option so first thing tomorrow she would try book an appointment. She fell asleep with that thought, exhausted, and ready for the next busy day tomorrow.
