man for a hike up his mashed-potato mountain.
‘Come on, eat up nicely, children, or you won’t get any pudding,’ said Mum, bustling past. ‘It’s spotted dick and custard.’
Jodie and Harley cracked up laughing. Mum glared at them and patted me on the back.
‘Eat up, chickie. You’ve worked really hard this morning. Good girl!’
She was treating me as if I was one of the little ones. I behaved like one too, messing around with my food, squashing it all up to make it look smaller.
Mum sighed and tutted at me. I couldn’t even eat the silly spotted dick dish either. I just sat and stared at it.
‘Hey, don’t you want your pudding, Pearl?’ Harley called.
I shook my head.
‘Can I have it then? Your mum’s a brilliant cook,’
said Harley.
I pushed the plate towards him. I pushed a little too hard, so that the full plate nearly whizzed straight past and launched itself into mid-air like a flying saucer, but he caught hold of it in time.
‘Here, have mine too, Harley,’ said Jodie. ‘Hey, roll up, roll up, watch the Incredible Hurling Harley eat three puddings in one go, and then he’ll explode, custard spouting from every orifice, spotted dick spattering everything in sight.’
Harley waved his spoon in the air and golloped the pudding in three mouthfuls.
‘God, you’re incredible. I’d have to walk bent for a week if I noshed that lot,’ said Jodie. ‘You’ll have to walk it off. Let’s take Old Shep for a long walk, eh?’
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‘You take him. I’m busy this afternoon,’ said Harley.
‘Doing what?’ said Jodie.
‘Doing my stuff,’ said Harley.
‘OK, suit yourself,’ said Jodie. She got up off the bench and nodded her head at me. ‘Come on, Pearl.’
She had such a nerve!
‘Come on what?’ I said.
‘Come on, let’s take Old Shep for a long walk.’
She frowned at me. ‘You’re not really scared of him, are you? He won’t hurt you, he’ll just lick you to bits.’
‘I’m not the slightest bit scared of him,’ I lied.
‘But I don’t want to go for a long walk. I’m tired.
After stripping the wallpaper from our bedroom.’
Jodie stood staring at me. Then she shrugged.
‘OK, Miss Goody-goody Two Shoes. I’ll take Old Shep for a walk by myself.’
‘I’ll come!’ said Zeph. ‘I’d much sooner walk Old Shep than do more sploshy old painting.’
Miss Ponsonby didn’t object. Maybe she was glad to be free of him for a bit. She took Sakura and Dan off with her. Jodie went off with Miss French to collect Old Shep.
‘What are you going to do, pet?’ Dad said to me.
‘Mum says you’ve made a grand job of your bedroom. You have a think what colour you want it painted – though you’ll have to wait a bit, I’ve got that many jobs to do.’
‘That’s OK, Dad. I’ll read for a bit,’ I said.
‘You and your books,’ said Dad.
I went down the hall towards the kitchen. I think Harley might have called after me. I didn’t turn round.
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I went to my room. The stripped wall looked very bare and ugly, with scrape marks all over it. I felt sore and scraped too. I lay face down on my bed, trying not to worry about Jodie. I didn’t see why I had to run after her and take that scary werewolf for a walk, especially when she’d been so mean about the room. She was the one who should be feeling bad, not me. Everyone always said I should stand up to her, not let her boss me around so much. I’d done just that – but now maybe she’d stay cross with me. I dreaded it when she went all sulky and wouldn’t talk to me.
I hated it that she’d talked to Harley all lunch time. Jabber-jabber, whisper-whisper, chuckle-chuckle. They were probably laughing about me. I didn’t want to think about it. I sat up and reached for Mrs Wilberforce’s copy of The Secret Garden. I couldn’t concentrate for a page or two but then I got sucked into the story. I read solidly for more than an hour, lost in Misselthwaite Manor with Mary.
Then I started glancing at my alarm clock, wondering when Jodie was coming back. She’d said she’d take Old Shep for a long walk. Surely this was a very very long walk?
Mum was concerned too. She put her head round the bedroom door. ‘Where’s that sister of yours?’
‘I don’t know, Mum.’
‘I want her back here where I can keep an eye on her. She’s running wild already. What do you think she’s up to now?’
‘I don’t know, Mum.’
‘I’d send your dad after her but he’s busy banging a banister back into place. Dear, dear, it might be grand, but I’m telling you, the whole place is falling 149
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to bits. Pearl, do get your head out of that book.
You’ll strain your eyes.’
‘I’m fine, Mum.’
‘No you’re not, you’re all red-eyed and frowny.
Look, you nip out and see if you can spot your sister.
You can get a bit of fresh air at the same time.’
‘Oh, Mum! I don’t know where to look.’
‘Don’t be so wet. Just trot up the lane to Miss French’s house. I’m sure our Jodie will be hanging round there. And you can always pop in on Mrs Wilberforce, tell her you’re enjoying her book.’
‘No, Mum!’
‘Yes!’
‘I’m too shy.’
‘Don’t be so soppy. Think how horrible it must be for poor Mrs Wilberforce, stuck in that wheelchair of hers, unable to get out and about and see folk.
You go and have a little chat with her.’
‘Please don’t make me. Can’t I just stay here?’ I begged.
‘Oh, for pity’s sake! I’ve got one daughter who clears off Lord knows where, while the other one wants to hide away in her bedroom all day, mouldering.’ Mum gave me a light tap on my bottom.
‘Come on, up you get and do as I say, chop-chop.’
So I got up and set off, clutching The Secret Garden to my chest. I went past the outbuildings and then turned down the sandy lane, trees crowding in on either side. There was no sign of Jodie and Old Shep.
I didn’t feel brave enough to go and bang on Miss French’s door. I rehearsed what to say inside my head. I even rehearsed what I was going to say to Old Shep – Here, boy, there’s a good boy, down, boy –
in a firm, friendly voice so he wouldn’t bite me.
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I was trembling by the time I knocked on the door. It was a waste of time anyway, because no one was in. I thought of going to Mrs Wilberforce’s bungalow as Mum had suggested, but that seemed scary too. I wasn’t at all sure what to say to her. I was only halfway through The Secret Garden anyway so I didn’t want to swap it just yet.
I wandered along to her house all the same. I even tiptoed up the garden path and breathed in the sweet jasmine scent. I put my hand out – but didn’t knock at the door. Her house was very silent.
Maybe she was having a rest after lunch. If so, it would be unkind to disturb her. I’d come back tomorrow or the day after, whenever I’d finished the book.
I backed down the path again and started trailing back to the school. I decided to find a quiet little grassy patch to tuck myself away where I could read my book. I tried to remember where the badger set had been. I’d got about halfway down the lane before I’d had to rush off to have a wee. I was sure it was the left-hand side somewhere . . .
I wandered in and out of the trees, peering round every likely bush, when I suddenly stumbled, tripping over Harley’s leg. He was lying on his stomach, stretched out in a long line, reading his book. I gasped, but managed not to
scream, because I saw the badger set behind him.
He smiled at me. ‘Hi,’ he said quietly. ‘Don’t look so worried, like you’re Little Red Riding Hood and I’m the Big Bad Wolf.’
‘Sorry!’ I said foolishly. ‘You’ll think I’m stalking you or something. I’ll leave you alone. I know you’ve got stuff to do. You need some peace.’
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‘I said that to Jodie. Come on, keep me company.
I don’t think we’ll see any badgers, they’re mostly nocturnal, but we could get really lucky. One time I saw a mother with a cub.’
‘Oh, I want to see a baby one too!’ I said, squatting down beside him.
‘Typical girl,’ said Harley, but he was just teasing.
We sat together, staring at the dark entrance to the badger set. We waited expectantly. Nothing happened.
‘I wish we could magic ourselves small enough to walk in,’ I whispered.
‘I wish I could magic myself small, full stop,’ said Harley.
‘Oh no, it’s great to be tall because . . .’ I tried desperately to think of something. ‘You can reach things.’ This sounded so limp that Harley laughed at me.
‘As in, Oh dear, we’ve kicked our ball on the roof, let’s send for Harley the Human Crane to reach it for us? ’
‘Or, Oh dear, the giraffe’s got an itch on his head, let’s send for Harley the Human Crane to scratch it for him,’ I suggested.
‘ Nice one. OK, OK – Oh dear, the weathercock’s stopped spinning on the church spire, let’s send for Harley the Human Crane to twirl it for us.’
‘Not bad. What about, Oh dear, King Kong’s jumping about on top of the Empire State Building, let’s send Harley the Human Crane to snatch him off,’ I said.
We played the game until we were snorting with laughter, our hands over our mouths so as not to 152
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alarm the dozing badgers. Then we reversed it, and I was Pearl the Mouse Child, scampering in and out of burrows and rescuing dropped coins and diving in and out of cat flaps.
‘You’ll be like a little Borrower,’ said Harley.
‘Have you read that book? It’s great, you’d love it, Pearl.’ He looked at the lovely old copy of The Secret Garden. ‘Is that from Mrs Wilberforce? Hey, it’s a first edition! You’d better be extra specially careful with it. Put on your kid gloves before turning each page.’
He started reading a few paragraphs and then swapped back to his own Hardy book. He lay on his stomach again. I hunched up beside him, leaning against the mossy bank. The sun came through the leaves of the trees and shone warmly on us, making my skin glow. It gently dappled the pages of my book, so I undid my hair and let it swing forward like a curtain, shading it.
‘You’ve got lovely hair, Pearl. You should always wear it loose like that,’ said Harley, looking up.
He went back to his book, frowning a little as he read, but every now and then he glanced up and gave me a grin. I smiled back shyly, as warm inside as out, feeling happy happy happy. Then I went back to Misselthwaite Manor and wheeled Colin to the secret garden while the robin flew over our heads.
A real bird sang on a branch above us, and when it flew off, I was sure its chest was red. I felt as if I was straddling two worlds at once, not quite sure what was real and what was imaginary. I’d stepped into a real world better than any fantasy. I hoped the badger would come and peer at us. I especially 153
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longed to see the baby badger. I imagined it scampering out on little legs, pink snout quivering in the sudden sunlight. It stayed tucked up in its set.
I knew I should be getting back to my home.
Mum would have long since started panicking. She fussed enough when Jodie went missing, but she went into full-scale shrieking-alarm alert if I ever disappeared. But I sat where I was, beside Harley, savouring every second of my happiness.
When I went back at last, Mum was in tears again and I felt dreadful. I didn’t tell her I’d been with Harley. I didn’t exactly lie, I just said I’d gone looking in vain for Jodie, and then sat reading my book. Jodie had long since returned and was now off again, supposedly gardening.
‘Though it beats me why she’s so keen to work with Mr Wilberforce in the garden when your dad and I could badly do with a helping hand. What is it about this gardening? Our Jodie’s never so much as planted a bulb in her life.’
I was pretty sure Jodie still didn’t care about planting or pruning – or even Mr Wilberforce. She just wanted to hang out with Jed the gardener.
She still seemed to be steering clear of me, but when I went back to our bedroom, I found Kezia the kitchen maid had company. There was a little pencilled drawing of Pansy the parlour maid standing beside her. She had a speech bubble saying, Kezia is just like a sister to me and she’ll always be my best friend, no matter what.
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Harley dabbed her back, giving her a purple beard.
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11
Dad drove Mum and Jodie and me into Galford the next morning. It was Melchester’s nearest town.
Melchester village only had one general store. Dad needed to buy any number of items from a DIY
shop and Mum needed new kitchen equipment, so it was an official trip. Jodie and I went along for the ride. It was a long ride, a good twenty miles or more.
The town itself was a shock, with its ugly concrete car park and shabby 1970s shopping centre. It was really only one high street with a few smaller streets leading off it, but it seemed like a huge city centre after the isolation of Melchester.
Dad parked the car and we wandered around a little, aimless and dazed, before Mum got us organized. Jodie wanted to go off and find a McDonald’s but Mum wouldn’t let her.
‘We’re all going to stick together. I’ve had enough of you girls wandering off.’
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‘We’ll have to get them reins, you know, like toddlers. That way we’ll drag them round with us all the time,’ said Dad. ‘Now, where do you think the B and Q might be?’
He found an old-fashioned hardware shop instead, and spent ages happily fingering nails and screws and locks, ordering all sorts of stuff. We chose the paint for our bedroom quickly enough.
Mum wanted us to pick pink or pale primrose or light blue. We groaned in unison and decided on deep purple.
‘But it’ll look so dark,’ Mum said. ‘You want something fresh and light and pretty for a bedroom.’
‘Let the girls choose what they want,’ said Dad.
‘And you can choose what you’d like for our room, Shaz. Any colour, even shocking pink.’
Mum chose china blue, and picked out chintzy white curtains decorated with little blue eight-eenth-century people in the fabric shop down the road.
‘It’s a French design. So classy!’ she said.
She wanted us to pick something similar but Jodie found a roll of cheap black velvet.
‘You can’t have black, Jodie. And that isn’t even curtain material, you noodle.’
‘It’ll make glorious gothic curtains, Mum. And look, we could have a black fur rug on the floor. It would look so great. Oh please please please,’ Jodie begged. She lay on the fun fur rug, batting her eyelashes hopefully.
‘Now stop that. Get up! You can’t have a whole new roomful of stuff. We’re not made of money,’ said Mum.
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‘Couldn’t I have that black rug as my birthday present?’ I said.
‘You don’t want black, Pearl. Maybe a nice white furry rug? Or there’s a pink one with a teddy?’
‘Mum! I’m way too old for teddies,’ I sa
id. ‘I’d like black. Please. ’
Mum eventually gave in. When we got back to Melchester College, Jodie and I started painting our room straight after lunch. Most of our stuff was still in boxes so it was easy enough to pile them out of the way and cover our bed with an old sheet. We wore our oldest clothes too, but Mum still fussed, so Jodie had the brilliant idea of stripping off to our underwear.
We were happily sloshing paint around in our knickers, both of us speckled all over in purple, when Mum came in – with Harley!
Mum gasped, Harley groaned, I yelped, and Jodie roared with laughter.
‘For pity’s sake! Put your clothes on, girls! What are you thinking of!’ Mum hissed, outraged.
She bustled Harley out of the room so quickly he forgot to duck and bumped his head on the door frame. Jodie carried on laughing, staggering about, clutching her stomach. It was all right for her. She was wearing matching underwear for once, her black bra and little black briefs. She looked gorgeous. I looked awful in dreadful baggy big white pants. I wanted to die.
‘Come into the kitchen the minute you’re decent,’
Mum called.
‘Oh God,’ I moaned. ‘I feel so awful! Harley saw my knickers!’
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inflame him,’ said Jodie, stepping into her jeans.
‘Hey! Don’t look so woebegone, it’s funny.’
‘No it’s not. It’s the most embarrassing thing ever,’ I said. ‘I can’t ever face him again.’ I threw myself on the bed, crawling under the cover.
‘So what are you going to do? Hibernate under your duvet? Don’t be so daft. Come on, get dressed.’
Jodie threw my jeans and T-shirt at me but I cowered where I was.
‘Idiot,’ she said, and went off whistling towards the kitchen.
I lay on my bed, hands over my face, heart thudding. Then Mum came back into the bedroom.
‘Pearl? What are you doing, you silly girl? Get up!’ she said tugging me out from under the duvet.
‘Come on. Harley and Jodie are eating my butter-scotch cookies in the kitchen. You come and have some too.’
‘I can’t come,’ I said, starting to cry.
My Sister Jodie Page 12