Taken Away
Page 23
I flung an excited glance out the window and threw my stuff together in a haphazard attempt at tidying. I almost ran out of the room before I remembered Dom. He was only now pushing his blanket back, and swinging his legs to the floor. I gripped the table to stop myself from helping as he got to his feet. I matched his hobbling pace to the door.
The day was a blinding glare as we stood in the shade of the apple trees, and we shielded our eyes with our raised hands. Dom caught on before I did and released a soft exclamation of joy. Ma’s smiling voice said, ‘Your uncle John traded his motorbike for it.’
It was a great big pastel-coloured Volkswagen van. It had huge blue and yellow flowers painted on it, and it seemed to be crammed to the roof with squirming people. The engine shut off, and it was only then that I noticed all the cousins grinning at me from the windows. Aunty Pet and Aunty Breda were wedged tight into the front seat. I could just about see my Uncle John, leaning back from the steering wheel and laughing at someone over his shoulder.
The side-door creaked and groaned and finally slid open in a metallic squeal of protest. An improbable number of human beings began to tumble out. Kids were scrambling over each other in an attempt to be first out the door, and I knew by the look on their faces that there was already some mischief afoot. Dom grinned and raised his hand in greeting.
Aunty Breda stuck her head out the window and yelled, ‘To hell with the bleedin’ bus strike!’
They all cheered.
Dom grinned at me. ‘Race yah,’ he whispered, and together we ran, neck and neck, out from beneath the shadows of the house and into the clear promise of a magnificent summer.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TO MY DEAR Elise Jones, thanks for the major laughs and the wonderful editorial insights. Jumper over head, lady! Jumper over head!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BORN AND RAISED IN DUBLIN, Ireland, Celine Kiernan has spent the majority of her working life in the film business. Trained at the Sullivan Bluth Studios, her career as a classical feature character animator spanned over seventeen years. She spent most of her time working between Germany, Ireland and the USA.
Celine wrote her first novel at the age of eleven (it was excruciatingly bad), and hasn’t stopped writing or drawing since. She has a peculiar weakness for graphic novels as, like animation, they combine the two things she loves to do the most: drawing and storytelling.
Her popular Moorehawke Trilogy has been internationally acclaimed. For more information about Celine, see her blog: celinekiernan.wordpress.com/