Mum wants to know if you can come visit us this summer, with aunties Ellie and Doris when they come to visit. She liked you very much, Mum did, as did the whole family. As you can tell from my address, I live in Hornsea, which is about 25 km south of Bridlington. I believe I told you over Christmas that I lived in Hornsea, but neglected to tell you where Hornsea was. Like Scarborough, it's right on the Sea (the Ocean, Mum is telling me over my shoulder). We have a place in Cornwall, too, that my parents let to friends of theirs. Its right on the ocean, and there's a tiny summer cottage on the property which we can have all to ourselves. By late fall it's usually empty, so I'm hoping that we can go there sometime in September or October, just you and I, without a bunch of older people bothering us.
Please say you'll come. And write soon!
Your friend, Tess
Pamela smiled to herself and read the letter over several times before giving it to Ellie and Doris to read, but waited until they finished reading to take it back, as though afraid to let it out of her sight.
'You and Tessa enjoyed each other's company very much, didn't you,' Ellie said thoughtfully as she handed Pamela what she knew to be the girl's most prized possession of the moment, and went back to kneading bread dough.
'I've never had a friend like her before,' Pamela was able to say without bitterness.
'Nor she, you,' Ellie told her. 'I've never seen her look so happy.'
'Tessa? I can't imagine her being unhappy,' Pamela said.
Ellie smiled a small, enigmatic smile. 'Around you, my girl, it's hard not to find something to smile about. Especially not since you threw out Norrie's preserves! The poor woman was positively scandalized.'
Pamela couldn't help but make a face. 'But Ellie, they were growing. I was afraid she might actually try to feed them to someone.'
'Yes, well, they had been sitting in the cupboard for a good long time. Fifteen years at least would be my guess. They were rather a fixture in this household, but perhaps you've inadvertently saved us all from a fate worse than death.' She managed to say this without cracking the least hint of a smile, or pausing in her kneading. 'Regardless, you will help Norrie make some more in the near future, won't you? At least, let her feel that she's participating in some small way. It doesn't take much to make the poor soul happy. All it takes is a little kindness.'