Every inch of me was covered in mud and the more I rolled around trying to get enough grip to stand upright, the worse I was making it. Gwyn groaned beside me and I swiped the sludge from my face and saw him gripping his side. Without thinking I scrambled towards him and ran my hand along his stomach, bringing my face close to his.
“Oh my god, are you ok?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” he said, and he burst out laughing. “It only hurts a little. You look ridiculous.”
“You don’t look so great yourself,” I said, eyeing him up and down. He’d gotten just as filthy as I had and as we scanned the damage, we both noticed my hand still rubbing up and down on the side of his body.
“We need to get cleaned up,” I said, pulling away quickly. “I can’t go home looking like this. I don’t even have anything to change into.”
“Come on,” he said. “Pull me up. We’ll go to mine and get sorted out.”
Around an hour later we were back on the road towards the farm. Mair was out when we got to the cottage so we quickly changed out of the filthy clothes and Gwyn heated water for a bath. He was a perfect gentleman, leaving me alone in the room while I got cleaned up, and then he let me borrow even more of his clothes to go home in.
“You really didn’t have to walk me back,” I said as we neared the gate. “You must be worn out.”
“It’s ok. I left my bell there anyway,” he said, and we both burst out laughing.
“When we got to the back door I paused and turned to face him. “I’ve had a really nice day.”
“I’m glad.” he replied, with that smile that kept making my stomach flutter. I turned to push the door open and he leaned in close behind me. “Happy birthday.”
A crowd of cheers went up as I stepped inside the kitchen and I froze on the spot, overwhelmed. Mrs Hopkin stood front and centre and immediately grabbed my face, planting a kiss on my cheek.
“Happy birthday, my love,” she said. She kept my face gripped in her hands as she leaned back to take a look at me. “You kept us waiting long enough. He was supposed to have you home ages ago.”
“My fault,” he said, stepping into the kitchen behind me, and she swiped at him with her tea towel.
The rest of the family had all gathered around the table and even Teddy looked less annoyed by my presence than normal.
“I hope you like carrot cake,” Mair said, ripping away the cloth that had been covering it on the table.
“You didn’t make it, did you?” I said with a grin.
“I don’t like you that much,” she replied.
“Well, it does need to be edible,” Mrs Hopkin said with a cheeky wink. “I did what I could. I didn’t have much in the pantry, what with it being a Sunday and you keeping it a secret.” She raised her eyebrows at me and it was all the telling off that I needed for not informing her.
“How did you know?” I asked, and all eyes turned to Betty. She giggled nervously then tucked her hands behind her back and dropped her head low.
I felt overwhelmed by the effort they’d all gone to on such short notice and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning wildly at everyone. Little white ribbons hung around the table and stretched from the cabinets on either side of the room and on either side of the cake were two plates filled with sandwiches.
I hadn’t known any of them for very long but the kindness they’d shown me made me a bit emotional, so I looked at them all staring at me and said proudly with all of my chest, “Dolf,” causing the whole room to erupt into laughter.
“Close enough,” Gwyn said, giving me a pitiful tap on the back. I turned to him in confusion but it only seemed to make him laugh more.
“I think you mean, ‘diolch’,” Sophia said, and I brought my hands up to my face to hide my embarrassment.
“A toast to the old chap?” Gethin called out. He handed me a drink and everyone raced to pick up a cup.
“Dolf,” Mair said, raising her glass in the air and the whole family fell about laughing again.
Once we’d demolished the cake the twins had insisted that we play a game. I was unsure of the types of games they might play so I deferred the decision to Howell, who ran from the room and came back with a strip of cloth. He’d chosen blind man’s buff.
Unwilling to let her dishes be at the mercy of an idiot in a mask, Mrs Hopkin had ordered us all outside into the yard to play and within moments of stepping foot on the cobbles, Nellie was tying the cloth around my face.
I don’t know who it was that grabbed me but they spun me round and round with such force that I worried I might be sick. With the final spin, I was let loose and I had to take a second to let the dizziness subside so that I didn’t fall over and smash my head against the floor.
I heard the first clap and I spun around in the direction of the noise, throwing my arms out and reaching wildly to catch someone. Another clap came from the opposite side and I spun again to a chorus of giggles. Every time I thought I was getting somewhere I’d hear a shuffle of feet and another clap in the distance and get turned around again.
By now the family were all laughing and I was finding it easier to track their voices, but they moved faster than I could and I still thrashed about without hitting a target. This continued for several minutes until suddenly I could hear the clicking of heels on the cobbles getting closer to me.
I moved towards the footsteps and clasped my hands onto someone. “Got you,” I shouted, and all the laughter around me ceased. I pulled the blindfold from my eyes and a young woman stood in front of me that I’d never seen before.
I took a step back from her as I tried to catch my breath. “I’m sorry,” I said, a little embarrassed, and she raised her hand up and slapped me across the face.