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Chapter Thirty-Four
A Day Out
One weekend Julie had suggested to Esmerelda, Sybil, and Mildred that they all went out together somewhere as she looked after Ethel. The pregnancy had stopped the girls being able to do all the things they wanted to as everywhere they went they had the worry about whether it will be safe for Ethel. Mildred and Sybil had agreed to it but Esmerelda had taken some convincing.
"What if something happens to Ethel as we are gone?" the girl panicked as she looked at Julie as if her idea was insane.
"Esmie I am not denying the fact she could go into labour when you are out, but the shopping centre is ten minutes away by bus, unless you go to Jamaica and back you will get back in time" Julie told the girl. Sybil giggled at that.
"Oh come on Esmie it will be fun" Sybil whispered. Ethel was still asleep so they were trying to keep quiet.
"Alright..." Esmerelda reluctantly agreed. "But if anything happens..." Esmerelda said looking at Julie.
"Don't worry if she so much as sneezes I will call you" Julie said sarcastically as she led the girls out of the flat.
"Are you sure you know where you are going Mildred?" Julie asked her still panicking about her young girl.
"Mum I have lived here all my life, of course I know" Mildred replied with an eye roll. Julie ignored her rudeness before looking very serious.
"Whatever you all do stay together, if something makes you uncomfortable run to the nearest safe place and call me, I will come and pick you up" Julie told them.
After what had happened to Ethel she had been terrified of letting any of the girls out alone again, but they were teenagers, well all except for Sybil, and she couldn't keep them locked up forever. She still wasn't going to let them out separate just yet but she believed they would all be okay if they are together.
The three girls faces changed to one of seriousness. They all knew what she was saying to them. If some man follows you run away, though he is unlikely too if he has to take down three girls. Mildred nodded and kissed her mother's cheek.
"We will mum don't worry, we will be just fine" Mildred told her as her and the blonde girls left.
The bus stop was right next to the flat, a bus was coming as they got to the stop and they made it in time.
"That was lucky" Sybil said as Mildred got on and paid for all three of them. They all took a seat at the back so they could sit together. Esmerelda was playing with her hands nervously as if she was just about to take some test or something. Mildred and Sybil looked at each other and then at the girl confused.
"Are you okay?" Mildred asked wondering if the girl just did not like buses or something.
"I am worried about Ethie, what if something has happened?" Esmerelda asked biting her nails, a nervous habit she had had since her young childhood years.
"We left less than two minutes ago, I doubt anything has changed" Mildred pointed out.
"But what if it has?" she asked as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a mobile phone.
Julie had given each girl a mobile when they had moved in. They were not one of the fancy touch screen phones that had all these apps and features. It was a simple flip phone with buttons and a small screen. Julie had not given them these phones for them to talk to their friends, she had got them so she always had a way to contact them and so they had a way to call in an emergency. The girls really didn't need any better phones because non of their magical friends had one, so they couldn't contact them on it anyway.
Esmerelda went through her contacts (well the little she had, she only had Julie, Mildred and her sisters) and selected Julie before ringing her. The woman answered straight away, thinking maybe the girls had forgotten something.
"Esmie?" she commented as she answered the phone.
"Is Ethie and the baby okay?" Esmerelda asked her in a right old panic about it. Julie had to hide the shock from her voice.
"Esmie it has been less than two minutes, she is still asleep, the same as she was a minute ago" Julie replied.
"So she is okay?" Esmerelda asked for clarification.
"Yes, if something happens I will call you, just go enjoy yourself" Julie told her before hanging up. Esmie put her hand to her chest, directly where her heart was in relief.
"Ethel is okay" she told her sister and foster sister. Mildred just smiled at her awkwardly.
Neither of the three girls were stupid enough to break the rule of staying together, all of them were scared at the back of their minds of what had happened to Ethel happening again but Mildred wished so much they could break it. She really liked Esmerelda now, but the girl had an annoying habit of panicking about Ethel.
She rang Julie again before they got of the bus and then seemed to relax after that. Mildred and Sybil had hoped that meant she would enjoy the day and stop worrying. The first shop they went into was Primark. Esmie was there for five minutes before pulling her mobile phone out of her pocket. She quickly dialled for Julie.
"Esmerelda, Ethel is fine" Julie said as she answered the phone knowing exactly why she was calling. Esmerelda ended the call and smiled at the girls.
"Esmie, I really don't think we need to keep calling Julie, Ethel will be fine" Sybil told her sister who did not look convinced.
When this carried on and she kept ringing Julie, Mildred suddenly had an idea. She rang her mother and asked her if it was okay if they went to the cinema and came home a bit later. Julie agreed but told them to call her as she didn't want them getting a bus at that time. She would pick them up, bringing Ethel out for ten minutes would not kill her.
"New experience for you both" Mildred said happily knowing neither of them had been to a cinema before.
They picked a family friendly film, as Mildred was not sure what the girls would like, and only Esmie could get in films higher than a fifteen anyway. Mildred had wanted to come to the cinema so badly as Esmie had to turn of her phone. It meant she could not bug her and Sybil by ringing Julie all the time and it meant Julie got some peace of it.
When the message saying she had to turn of her mobile came on, Mildred thought the girl was actually about to faint, she looked horrified.
"What if something happens to Ethie and Julie can't get hold of us?" Esmerelda asked looking like she was about to burst into tears.
"Then she can come and pick us up, come on Esmerelda, just turn your phone off and try and enjoy yourself, you never let yourself relax" Mildred told her truthfully.
Esmerelda sighed as she turned her phone off. She was on edge as the film started, worried about Ethel but then she started to relax a bit more and Mildred was pleased to see her starting to enjoy it. She thought it was unhealthy for the girl to not be able to enjoy something.
After the film was finished Sybil smiled at her sister before hugging her.
"I am glad you managed to sit through it" Sybil told her as she hugged her tight and proudly. She had honestly thought she was going to walk out and ring Julie.
"The distraction helped, I just hope Ethel is okay" Esmerelda commented as she turned on her phone. Seeing she did not have any messages from Julie and no pictures of Ethel holding a baby in her arms reassured her everything was okay.
"Come on, we best ring mum, or she will be panicking" Mildred told the girls as she ran her mother. She arrived ten minutes later to pick the girls up.
"How are you Ethie?" Esmerelda asked as she got into the car, Ethel looked at her with a tired look but beamed at her overprotective big sis.
"I am just fine mother dearest, you can stop panicking now" Ethel said sarcastically causing everyone in the car to laugh at the joke and for Esmerelda's heart to soar in her chest at her little sisters words.