Chapter 3 INSIDE THREE HOUSES
1050 Words
Soon the three families were friendly with one another. Apparently Mrs. Berkeley decided that the Mackenzies were nice enough to know, and she smiled and nodded to Mrs. Mackenzie when she met her out shopping.
Mrs. Kent was also very friendly, and soon the three women had been to tea with one another. Mrs. Berkeley's house was nicely furnished, and had some lovely rugs and pictures. Mrs. Kent's things were beautifully kept, and she took a great pride in her house.
But Mrs. Mackenzie really didn't like either of the women next door very much. She shook her head when her husband said he was pleased that she had found friends each side of her.
"Mrs. Berkeley is so discontented," she said. "They had a big house, and because her husband lost his job, and had to get one not so good, she is very bitter. She thinks he is no good and she told him so."
"Very disloyal of her, then," said her husband. "You'd not say a thing like that about me if I lost my job and we had to move!"
"I could never say a word against you, anyhow whether you deserved it or not," said Mrs. Mackenzie, darning a stocking quite fiercely. "And you don't deserve it, Andrew. I had half a mind to tell Mrs. Berkeley not to talk against her husband behind his back. I will too, one of these days!"
"Maybe she's just letting off steam to you," said Mr. Mackenzie. "She might not tell anyone else."
"Oh, but she says things in front of the children!" said Mrs. Mackenzie, indignantly. "What would you say, Andy, I'd like to know, if I told you you were a nitwit in front of the twins and Pat? That's what she said to her husband-in front of me and her children!"
"It's bad for the children," said her husband. "But maybe she said it in fun, Jessie."
"That boy is fond of his father," said his wife, still darning at top speed. "It's going to be hard for Tom if his mother tries to turn him away from Mr. Berkeley. It looks to me as if the girls side with her all the time."
"Now don't you get yourself all worked up about other people's children," said Mr. Mackenzie. "We've enough on our hands with ours. What do you think of that other boy-Bob Kent?"
"I like him," said Mrs. Mackenzie. "But he does need a father! He bosses his mother around-or tries to, because she won't let him! I know why he does it, he thinks he's got to be the man of the house; and he adores his mother, but she wants to rule him. She gets tired of his
domineering ways, and pushes him off. Poor Bob-he'd be all right in a proper family, like ours. He's as good as gold with little Pat." "Yes. He's nice with Pat," agreed Mr. Mackenzie. "Pat's our problem, isn't she? She's all drawn into herself, too shy, too alone-can't say boo
to a goose!"
"Yes. The twins make her miserable because they don't want her. They're quite sufficient for each other," said Mrs. Mackenzie, laying down her darning for a minute. "And it's so natural for twins to be like that, that I can't really blame them! Families are difficult, aren't they, Andy?"
She smiled at her husband. He smiled back. "They are never too difficult to handle if you face the problems, Jess," he said. "But we've all got to pull together. Pat will be all right. We all love her and that's what matters-even if she does feel one on her own. But maybe Bob will be good for her. And she'll certainly be good for him! He needs a brother or sister as much as he needs a father."
"That boy Tom is fond of his father," said his wife, still darning at top speed.
"He wants a father like you," said his wife, taking up the stocking again. "He could do with a spanking now and again. He's a nice boy, but too big for his boots, sometimes. He just wants keeping in order. Like you keep the twins in order!"
Her husband grinned, and began to fill his pipe.
"Poor Donald! He got a whacking last week, didn't he, for borrowing my bicycle without telling me, and putting it back in the shed covered with mud! But he knew he deserved it."
"Well, you're his father, and if fathers can't keep their boys on the right road it's a poor look-out for the boys!" said his wife. "Anyway he knew he'd earned the whacking. He won't borrow things without asking again!"
So they talked over their neighbours, and in their turn their neighbours talked over the Mackenzies.
"Not quite our style," said Mrs. Berkeley to her husband. "We wouldn't know them if we were still living in our other house."
"Speak for yourself, Amy," said her husband. "I like that Scotsman next door. And Mackenzie's a good fellow, and his wife seems a very nice little woman. I don't like the way you look down on people. I never did."
"And I don't like the way you find fault with me!" said his wife. "Who lost his job and brought us down to this, I'd like to know! This potty little house, and having to send the children to school with boys like that Bob Kent!"
"I don't see much wrong with Bob Kent either," said her husband, exasperated. "He's friendly with Tom and seems a jolly sort of boy. Tom wants a boyfriend. He's only got sisters, and he's a proper boy: the two girls tease him so, too."
"Oh, there you go again-it's always Tom that's in the right, and the girls that are in the wrong," said Mrs. Berkeley, her voice rising.
"Don't let's discuss the matter," said Mr. Berkeley wearily, unfolding his newspaper. "I wish we were like the Mackenzies. I'm pretty certain they don't nag and bicker all the time."
"Mrs. Mackenzie doesn't need to nag her husband!" said Mrs.
Berkeley bitterly. "He does things without being nagged at. He ..."
The two girls came into the room. Mr. Berkeley frowned at his wife to
make her stop. But she went on, raising her voice.
- Writer
