The Mysteries of Brambly Hollow

and brush, some rubber gloves, disinfectant and a clear bin bag, she cleared up all the mess, scrubbing Cassie’s carpet, trying not to think of what might be sticking to the wall in her bedroom, where she couldn’t get to it. She had been tempted to leave the cleaning up for David and George to do, but the sight and smell was turning her stomach, and now she’d seen them, there was no way they could stay there a minute longer than necessary; but she intended to keep and produce the evidence in all its horrific glory! At least she could ensure that there was no repetition of the fly incidents.
    The boys arrived home to a barely recognisable mother, who had jets of steam pouring from her ears and shooting from her nostrils, holding a bag of writhing sandwiches.
    “What on earth possessed you to hide these in our bedrooms?” The bag was shaken inches from their noses. When it was lowered, the boys stared at their mother with what could only be described as terror in their bulging blue eyes. Fortunately for them, Meli still recalled the last time they had got into a similar question and answer session over the mice, and fortunately for them, Meli was grimly determined not to repeat this, however furious she was.
    “What the devil were you up to, you morons?” She screamed at them at full volume, tipping the bag of mouldy sandwiches over their dinners, topping it with lumpy gravy and making them eat it.
    Refraining from this particular course of action labelled Let Rip, which was Plan A, Meli settled for plan B, labelled Calm and Reasonable in the Face of Severe Provocation.
    “I’m extremely cross, with both of you,” she told them, her lips taut as she restrained her voice. “I can’t for the life of me understand what you thought you were doing, but it was wrong. You must see that?”
    “But you screamed at us when we didn’t eat them, even though you knew we hated sandwiches,” David accused his mother with just a hint of boldness. Meeting the full force of her fiery look, his gaze buckled, still uncertain whether there was a Plan A, or whether this was it.
    “Yeah, you got so stressed, we thought we were doing you a favour by letting you think we ate them,” George pointed out in a whisper.
    “But why didn’t you just chuck them out in the bin? Or throw them away at school?”
    “Didn’t think of that,” David answered, grinding the toe of his sock into the carpet. “Sorry.”
    “Yeah, sorry,” George added.
    Meli’s fingers curled into fists, her nails like blades against the skin of her palms. A muscle in her neck began to twitch. “Okay, just go to your rooms for now while I think about this. You do understand that what you did was wrong?” She waited for their nods. “Especially when we had all the problems with flies. Why didn’t you come clean then?” Despite her resolve, her voice rose an octave.
    George’s eyes widened into oceans. “But mum, you would have gone ballistic,” he gasped.
    Secretly Meli had to agree with this, but like all good mums she didn’t want her kids to think that she was incapable of being reasonable. “No, I wouldn’t, and you didn’t give me the chance to prove it.” (At least the last bit was true anyway). “Off you go, and we’ll speak about it again later.” She turned away, trying to control Plan A, which was still simmering just below the surface. All the work they’d caused. All the hassle. They crept away so quietly that she didn’t hear a sound, not even a board creaking on the stairs. Cass was going to hit the roof.
    Returning from her workshop a little while later, Meli came across her daughter in the kitchen. Meli had already dedicated some time thinking about how she would share her discovery with Cass, but before she could spill the beans, Cass commented. “I’ve already heard.” She sounded remarkably calm. “Little sods.” Opening the fridge, she leant inside.
    “What do you mean? Little sods? Is that all you can say?” Meli’s knuckles were thrust into the hollows of her hips. Cass reappeared, with a slab of cheddar and some butter, and spent a moment checking the use by dates. Depositing them on the worktop, she went to a drawer for a knife. “Well, what did you expect? You did go on at them. You should have heard yourself.” Cass gave the knife the once over, as though checking it was clean.
    Meli’s eyes somehow registered anger and confusion at the same time. Of everyone, she had thought she could depend on