Sloe Gin

Mother’s gone missing. Well, I say she’s gone missing. Basically Dad hasn’t seen her since she went to visit Grannie H yesterday afternoon. That’s where she said she was going at any rate. Grannie H swears blind that Mother never turned up but she quite often also swears blind that it’s 1969 and Des O’Connor is about to propose marriage so no one knows what to think. All this info has come from Sal by the way. She phoned again this morning when I got back from morning lessons. She’s decided that Mother’s having an affair with Derek Barnscroft from the next road. Christ knows where she’s got that from but she’s insisting she witnessed “obvious chemistry” between them at last year’s parish Christmas sherry and mince pie morning. When I suggested she go round to Derek’s house and ask if Mother was there she said I was being confrontational.

To be honest I think it’s all probably a lot more mundane than Sally’s painting it. Mother isn’t nearly colourful enough to have an affair. Unfortunately it’s rather more likely that she’s had a few too many gins, decided to go for a drive, got lost and had to pull over in Chislehurst woods to sleep off an early hangover on the back seat. The exact same thing happened at Easter but Dad said we should keep it from Sal cos she’d only worry. I knew full well that he meant that Sal would totally overreact and start announcing to all and sundry that she was from a damaged family. I’ll give the old man a ring later and see if there’s an update but I’m not going to make a bloody song and dance about it.

Drinks last night were excellent. Wendell got smashed on Hargreaves’ sloe gin and passed out in the bathroom. We all got sent to our studies but we congregated in Henry’s room and watched our poor housemaster drag Wendell, half unconscious, across the yard outside to his lodgings. Don’t think he’ll be invited back in a hurry. Bloody teachers. They’re a liability..