慖s Cathbad in charge of Covid regulations now??
慦ell, he is a scientist,?says Judy. Her tone is defensive but it抯 strangely hard to tell with the mask on.
He was a scientist, thinks Nelson. Now he抯 a freelance druid. But he doesn抰 say this aloud.
慣eam meeting when everyone gets in,?he says.
慗o says we should only have Zoom meetings from now on.?
慦hat the hell抯 zoom??
慏idn抰 you read her email??
Nelson lets his silence answer this.
慖t抯 a video conferencing platform,?says Judy. 慉 bit like FaceTime on your phone.?
Nelson抯 grown-up daughters like to use FaceTime. Nelson prefers a phone call. He rang both girls last night. Rebecca, living in Brighton with her boyfriend Asif, sounded quite upbeat about lockdown. They would both work from home and go for long walks by the sea. They might even get a dog. Laura, a primary school teacher living in King抯 Lynn, was more nervous. She wasn抰 sure how she could teach eight-year-olds online. She wasn抰 sure how she抎 get on with her flatmates when they were all in the house all day. It抯 going to be one of the hardest things, thinks Nelson, being so close to Laura and not being able to see her. It抣l be hard for Michelle too, he knows. She抣l feel torn between her mother and her daughters. Even so, says a little voice in Nelson抯 head, it抯 strange for Michelle to have stayed away so long. She could have come home before lockdown was announced. Now she抯 trapped in Blackpool.
慦e抣l have a proper meeting in the open plan area,?says Nelson. 慖抣l even wear a mask.?
Cathbad and his children are doing yoga in the garden. Miranda, aged seven, spends most of her time trying to stand on her head. Michael, aged ten, takes it more seriously. He dislikes games at school but is actually well-coordinated with a good sense of balance. Maddie, Cathbad抯 grown-up daughter, has unexpectedly joined them and she is like a poster for yogic prowess, standing on one leg in tree pose, her golden hair shining in the weak sun. The rescue hens, Darcy, Shirley and Motsi, watch her admiringly. The children chose the names although Cathbad still secretly thinks of the chicken sisters as Alecto, Tisiphone and Megaera, after the Eumenides, or Furies, the Greek goddesses of vengeance.
Cathbad has a pretty shrewd idea why Maddie has 璵aterialised this morning, but he says nothing until he has finished the session, raising his thumbs to his third eye and lowering them to his heart. Michael copies him. Miranda has wandered off to find Thing, who is excluded from yoga because he finds downward facing dog unbearably exciting. Maddie whispers a reverent 憂amaste?
慦e抮e going to start every day with yoga,?Cathbad tells Maddie, as they walk back to the house. 慖抦 trying to make home-schooling a real adventure. We抣l tell a continuing story and illustrate it with things that we find on the beach or on our nature walks. The school have sent some work sheets but I don抰 think we抣l bother with them. Michael and Miranda can learn science, history and geography from the world around them.?
慖 can help,?says Maddie. 慖抦 good at telling stories.?
慔ave you come to stay then??says Cathbad, measuring coffee carefully into his Italian espresso machine. The children have already got out the flapjacks. Thing is hoovering up crumbs.
慖f that抯 OK with you and Judy.?
慪ou抣l have to ask Judy but I抦 sure it will be. We抎 love to have you.?Cathbad feels an atavistic satisfaction at the thought of having all his children with him during lockdown. With the hens and the vegetable patch they抣l be almost self-sufficient. There抯 no need for any of them to venture into the terrifying world of coronavirus. Except Judy, of course.
慖 think I抣l go mad if I stay at the flat with no outside space,?says Maddie. 慣he lease is up next month and Jody抯 going to move back home too.?Maddie抯 flatmate Jody is a nurse. Cathbad thinks that she抣l need all the creature comforts she can get in the weeks ahead.
慖 expect I抣l be furloughed,?says Maddie. 態ut I can still do freelance work.?