The picture shows all three cottages. To take it the photographer must have been standing on the other side of the road, in the rough grass that segues into the marshes. Was it taken at sunrise? It抯 hard to tell because the colours have faded so much. There are no people present, just the three houses and a car. Ruth has no idea of the make. She could ask Nelson or Judy but she thinks they have enough on their plates on the moment. The houses are painted pink and there抯 a hedge in front of them. A tree in the garden of the right-hand house seems to be in blossom, which means the picture was taken in spring. The tree抯 not there now. The weekenders cut it down when they paved over the front garden.
Ruth moved into her house, 2 New Road, twenty-two years ago. She had been part of a dig that had discovered a Bronze Age henge buried in the nearby sands. The excavation turned out to have long-lasting and devastating consequences, one of which, for Ruth, was a passionate love of Norfolk. Ruth applied for a lecturing job at the University of North Norfolk and bought the cottage, which was then uninhabited. Who had owned it? She has the title deeds somewhere, but she remembers that the previous resident had been an elderly man who had died on the premises, probably in Ruth抯 bedroom with its view of the ever-changing marshes. She tries not to think of this fact too often. The house was then passed to his children who had been anxious to sell it as quickly as possible. Ruth got the place very cheaply and had loved it from the first. Even though she had first co-habited with her then-boyfriend, Peter, the cottage had seemed always and only hers, although nowadays Kate and Flint would probably claim joint ownership.
慦hat are you doing, Mum??
Ruth jumps. Even Flint looks up guiltily. Kate is at the foot of the stairs in her Peppa Pig pyjamas, which are slightly too small for her. Her dark hair is standing up around her head. She looks very grumpy and very young.
慙ooking at this picture,?says Ruth, showing Kate. She抯 interested in her reaction.
慣hat抯 our house,?says Kate. 慦hy抯 it pink??
慖 think it was taken a long time ago,?says Ruth. 慍an you tell why??It抯 never too early to start home-schooling.
態ecause of the car,?says Kate, as if it抯 a stupid question. Which perhaps it is. 慉nd there抯 no satellite dish on Sammy and Ed抯 house.?
Ruth hadn抰 even noticed this. Kate likes the weekenders who sometimes invite her in to watch their superior home entertainment.
慙et抯 have breakfast,?says Ruth, in her new jolly lockdown tones （lightly tinged with hysteria）。 慣hen maybe we can go for an early morning walk.?
慖 hate walks,?says Kate. She and Flint look at Ruth with identically mutinous expressions.
At nine o抍lock Ruth sets out for the supermarket. She leaves Kate watching a Harry Potter DVD. So much for the 憂o screens before lunchtime?rule Ruth devised last night. But Kate finds the wizarding world very comforting and Ruth hopes it will make her forget that this is the first time she has ever been left alone in the house. At least Kate has Flint, sitting on the sofa watching Dumbledore narrowly, and Zoe next door. Ruth has texted Zoe and put her number in Kate抯 phone. 慛P,?Zoe texts back. 慔ere if you or Kate need anything? Ruth is halfway to Lynn before she realises that NP means 憂o problem?
At the supermarket she is momentarily distracted by the people standing, spaced at odd intervals, around the periphery of the car park. Then she realises that they are queuing. The shop is only allowing a few shoppers in at a time, so the rest are waiting patiently, resting their legs like weary horses, for their turn amongst the consumer durables. Ruth joins the line. She is wearing a scarf tied around her nose and mouth and feels rather ridiculous. Most people are not wearing masks although some have plastic gloves, which immediately makes Ruth think that the handle of her trolley is crawling with coronavirus germs. She must make sure that she doesn抰 touch her face before she has a chance to wash her hands whilst singing a suitably revolutionary song. Right on cue her nose starts to itch.
Once inside the shop Ruth catches the panic-buying bug and starts loading her trolley with cat food, toilet roll, wine and other things that suddenly seem essential. Calm down, she tells herself. Most items are in stock, although the pasta and rice aisle is almost empty. She can shop once a week and order things online. She can抰 stop herself adding two paperbacks and a jigsaw puzzle of Norwich Cathedral. It takes a long time to get through the checkout but Ruth finds herself feeling almost tearfully grateful to the smiling woman who scans her groceries. She抯 not wearing a mask which strikes Ruth as very remiss on the part of the supermarket.