The returned key

For three summers, Aisha had watered Mrs Cole's plants while she visited her sister. The arrangement was simple: one jug for the pots by the window, half a jug for the fern, nothing for the cactus. This year Mrs Cole left a second page of instructions, including the number of a neighbour in case anything went wrong. Aisha put it beside the kettle. She had just finished school and was saving for a journey with her friends. The money Mrs Cole paid her would cover the train ticket. She checked the dates on the calendar and wrote her name beneath them.

On the fifth day, she forgot. Her friends had called from the swimming pool, and she had gone straight there after work. She remembered at midnight, when it was too late to visit without alarming the neighbours. The following morning, the fern's leaves hung low over the pot. Aisha watered it carefully and moved it away from the sun. By evening it had begun to recover. She told herself that one missed visit was not the same as failing to do the job. She crossed the date off the calendar as usual.

When Mrs Cole returned, Aisha handed over the key and began describing the plants. The tomatoes needed tying up. One flowerpot had cracked before she arrived. The fern was fine now. Mrs Cole paused at the last phrase. ‘Now?’ Aisha looked at the envelope of money on the table. She could have said she meant now that the weather had cooled. Instead she explained the missed visit. Her account became shorter as she spoke, until she stopped trying to include the things she had done correctly on other days.

Mrs Cole went to look at the fern. She touched one leaf and said that it had belonged to her mother. Aisha had not known this. She offered to give back some of the money. Mrs Cole shook her head and paid the agreed amount, but said that next time she would ask the neighbour. There was no raised voice. Aisha found the quiet decision harder to answer than an accusation. She put the envelope in her bag and apologised again. Mrs Cole thanked her for telling the truth, then asked whether she would help lift the heavy pot back onto its stand.

They moved it together, one hand beneath each side. Outside, Aisha stood by the gate with her bag against her leg. She had enough money for the ticket, exactly as she had expected. The next morning she wrote down what had happened, without describing it as a misunderstanding. She folded the page into the notebook where she kept her travel plans. When a friend asked whether she could look after his rabbit during the trip, she checked the dates before replying. She said she could not. It was a small answer, and she took longer over it than he expected.

Focus on the final three paragraphs, from ‘When Mrs Cole returned’ to the end.

A reader said: ‘Mrs Cole responds fairly: she recognises Aisha’s honesty without pretending that the lost trust has immediately been restored.’

To what extent do you agree and/or disagree? Evaluate the response and its effect on Aisha, using evidence and analysis of the writer’s methods.