‘Ah, good,’ said Mrs Brand. ‘I thought you might like that one. I was given that when I was your age. Look in the front.’
Ching Ching opened the cover and saw some old-fashioned, faded writing.
To darling Edna,
on Christmas Day,
Something for you to read in the two or three minutes each day you aren’t out with Tully or getting yourself into mischief!
With all my love,
Auntie Rebecca
‘Oh, thank you,’ said Ching Ching, trying to imagine old Mrs Brand as a girl her age. ‘I can’t wait to read it.’
Christmas lunch was loud, happy and delicious. They all pulled crackers, and even Mrs Brand wore her silly paper crown. Ching Ching sat next to her and while they were eating, Mrs Brand told her all sorts of stories.
After lunch, the boys went swimming and Ching Ching practised with her skateboard up and down the driveway.
She was starting to get pretty good!
‘Ching Ching,’ her mum called out. ‘It’s time to take Mrs Brand home. She needs to feed her cats.’
They drove slowly back to Mrs Brand’s house.
‘Thank you, Helen,’ said Mrs Brand. ‘I’ve had a lovely day. And thank you, Ching Ching. I love my flowers and I’m going to put my Christmas card right by my bed so I can see it when I wake up.’
‘I’ll draw you an even better one when you come for Christmas next year,’ said Ching Ching.
They waved goodbye, waiting until Mrs Brand was safely inside.
‘Well,’ said her mum, as they drove back, ‘another Christmas over.’
‘But Christmas isn’t really over,’ said Ching Ching. ‘We’ve still got dinner tonight, and then Boxing Day tomorrow, and all the leftovers to eat – ’
‘Urgh! Stop,’ groaned her mum. ‘Please don’t talk about food again at least until January.’
‘Why?’ asked Ching Ching. ‘I’m starving. I hope the others haven’t finished the trifle while we’ve been gone. And then there’s the gingerbread house – ’
‘Ching Ching!’ said her mum. ‘I mean it. You eat if you have to, but don’t tell me about it, please.’
Ching Ching was quiet for a moment, dreaming of gingerbread.
‘Now, tell me,’ said her mum. ‘Did you have a good day?’
‘Oh, yes!’ said Ching Ching. ‘I love my skateboard, and Mrs Brand was really funny. Did you know when she was my age, she had a horse called Tully and they were going to run away together so she didn’t have to go to school anymore?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ said her mum.
‘Yeah,’ Ching Ching went on, ‘and then when she was Daniel’s age, she got bitten by a snake and had to stay in hospital for seven weeks, and after that she thought going to school wasn’t so bad after all.’
‘Really?’ said her mum. ‘It sounds like you two had a good chat.’
‘Yes,’ said Ching Ching. ‘I’m really glad she came.’
They arrived back home. Ching Ching’s dad was playing football in the front garden with William, Henry and Daniel. Ching Ching leapt out of the car to join in.
‘Yeah!’ she yelled as she was tackled by Daniel and sat on by Henry. ‘Ouch!
This was the best Christmas ever!’
Best Christmas Ever
first published in 2005
this edition published in 2011 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
EISBN 978 1 742736 94 5
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia
Text copyright © 2005 Rowan McAuley
Illustration and design copyright © 2011 Hardie Grant Egmont
Illustration by Aki Fukuoka
Design by Michelle Mackintosh
Text design and typesetting by Ektavo
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