The following day, Eleanor knew that, there were no more excuses. She needed to be brave and attempt to make some soap.
Thankfully, Tom had told her that he was going to be working in the studio that day and therefore any disasters wouldn’t be made with an audience.
She stared down at the ingredients and the pots and pans. Soap was just an alkali mixed with fats. But she also needed the scary-sounding lye, otherwise it would just be a saucepan full of fatty oils floating in hot water. Yuck.
It was just water, natural oil, butters or wax and caustic soda. What could possibly go wrong?
But by mid-afternoon, the pile of ruined saucepans was growing. Thankfully, the basic mixture was beginning to take shape after many disastrous attempts. There was probably time for one more attempt before she had to head home and give the animals their tea. So she started again.
Eleanor changed the measurements for the carrot oil and the last of the shea butter that she had brought with her. She wondered if she could add in the other essential oils that she had made. After all, it wasn’t as if she didn’t have the time on her hands these days. Then she shook her head. That would come later if she could ever get her soap to set properly. A big if.
Thanks to Arthur’s generosity, she now had a small camping stove. So in a saucepan, she slowly melted the fat and oil. Once that was done, she measured out the water to make the lye solution and weighed the sodium hydroxide. Then came the tricky bit. She put on the big thick gloves and plastic apron that she had borrowed from her mum. The goggles she had had to order over the internet. They were uncomfortable but necessary. Outside of her workroom, she tipped the sodium hydroxide into a big pan of water and stirred it with an old wooden spoon until she couldn’t feel any more grit at the bottom. Then she went back inside to bring out the melted carrot oil and butter mixture. Coming back out, she came face to face with Tom, who laughed in surprise as he wandered into the courtyard.
‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Is this a science lab or a beauty parlour?’ he said, throwing down an old tool bag.
‘Neither,’ she told him, placing the mixture onto the ground and pushing back her goggles as she straightened up. ‘It’s a dream factory.’
‘Good name,’ he said. ‘Maybe you should be the one writing lyrics.’
Despite the fact that Eleanor had become a lot less concerned about her appearance since she’d been back in Cranley, she felt hot and bothered that Tom had found her looking like this. Her hair scraped back. Her goggles. Her old clothes. She felt a right mess.
‘I thought you were supposed to be in the recording studio,’ she told him, nodding at the tool bag.
‘I got side-tracked,’ he told her. ‘One of Sam’s tenants in the village needed a new front gate so I said I’d make one for them.’
‘I bet they were impressed that their carpenter is an international singing star.’
He grinned at her. ‘I think the young mum was more grateful that the kids could run round in the garden safely.’
‘I might have to think about paying you to fix my mum’s gates,’ said Eleanor. ‘The thought of Buttercup and Daisy getting out gives me nightmares.’
‘Of course,’ he told her. ‘And I won’t need paying.’
‘Oh. Well, thanks.’ She hid her blushes by pushing down her goggles and picking up the melted carrot mixture.
‘So what’s happening?’ he asked. ‘Why the nuclear fallout fashion today?’
‘It’s for the lye solution over there.’
He glanced over. ‘Okay. Is it that bad?’
‘It’s just a chemical reaction that makes the fats,’ she told him. ‘You know, the oil and butter into soap.’
He smiled. ‘Fascinating. Were there witches in your family tree?’
She made a face. ‘Almost definitely on my father’s side, I should think.’
She went over to stand next to the lye mixture, working up the nerve to pour it in again.
‘Can I help?’ he asked.
‘No,’ she quickly told him. ‘And stand back! Sorry, but it’s really dangerous. This stuff is highly corrosive. So be careful, unless you want to lose the top layer of your skin.’
‘Well, I’m feeling rather attached to it at the minute, so I’ll stay over here.’ Tom leaned against the door.
Under his watchful eye, Eleanor picked up the lye solution and carefully poured a very small amount into the melted mixture. She stared down, watching it closely. But it didn’t fizz, so she very slowly poured the rest in. Putting down the pan, she stirred the mixture until it was blended but still runny. Then she straightened up and gave him a smile. ‘I think we’re about there.’
‘Is it safe?’ he asked.
‘Only if you trust me,’ she told him.
‘Good thing I do,’ he replied, walking over to peer into the pan. ‘It looks like pancake batter.’
‘Well, here’s hoping it’s fifth time lucky,’ she told him and took the mixture back into her workshop to pour it into the mould.
‘Now what?’ he asked, leaning on the door frame.
‘We wait until tomorrow. And pray.’ She glanced around the messy workshop. ‘And wash up,’ she said, grimacing. What a mess.
‘Do you want a hand?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘It should be fine. Hopefully it won’t take too long.’ So after he had left, she tidied up everything and waited to see what would happen.
In fact, she was so long waiting that Annie wandered up later on as the sun began to sink lower in the sky.
‘We’ve already had dinner. Even Tom’s back at the house,’ she said. ‘Are you okay?’
Eleanor was sitting outside in the courtyard on the bench. ‘I was waiting for my soap to set.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘How sad does that sound?’
‘I think it sounds exciting,’ said Annie, giving her a nudge with her elbow. ‘Come on. Give us a look.’
But before they could head into the workshop, Annie’s phone rang. She picked up. ‘Hi Neal,’ she said, frowning. ‘Is everything okay?’
Eleanor’s heart lurched as her mind ran through the possible scenarios for Megan’s husband calling Annie.
‘With us?’ Annie looked around wildly. ‘Yes, I think she’s up by the bar. The signal’s terrible in there. I was just outside calling Sam. Do you want me to give her a message?’
Eleanor watched Annie’s face grow pink as she began to look flustered.
‘Okay!’ she said into the phone, faking a cheerful grin. ‘I’ll let her know.’ But once she had hung up, her face immediately dropped. ‘Neal thinks we’re out with Megan at The Club,’ she said.
Eleanor was astonished. ‘That fancy new bar in Aldwych? But if she’s not out with us and she’s not with Neal, who’s she with?’
Annie bit her lip and looked concerned.
Eleanor thought quickly. ‘Did you talk to her today?’
Annie shook her head. ‘No. What about you?’
‘Yeah, but it was just a normal conversation. I thought she sounded okay. She said she can give me some unused cupcake trays to use for the soaps. Said she never bothered to make cakes anyway.’
‘Maybe she was a bit low?’ said Annie.
‘Actually I thought she sounded excited, you know?’ said Eleanor, recalling how her friend had been on the phone.
‘Well, whatever she’s up to, I think we should find out,’ said Annie.
‘Let’s go,’ agreed Eleanor.
They quickly walked away and back up to the house, the soap long forgotten.