by Ruth Thomas
‘But if we get in when they aren’t looking.’
‘You’re mad.’
‘But if we could.’
‘Where’s it going?’ asked Julia.
‘I dunno, do I. Somewhere. Probably another seaside.’
‘We can’t anyway, they’ll see us.’
The woman got into the car and sat in the passenger seat. ‘The rug, dear,’ she called to her husband. ‘You forgot the rug. Oh – and my blue coat. I left it upstairs, I think. On the end of the bed.’
The man went into the house, and the woman began to study a large map. She was using a magnifying glass, and peering at the map very intently.
‘What’s she doing?’ said Nathan.
‘She’s reading,’ said Julia, without much interest.
‘We could do it now,’ said Nathan. ‘Quick, before he comes back.’
Julia said nothing.
‘Come on, Ju. Come on, let’s.’ It was too bad – the opportunity was there, and it was being missed.
Julia was cold, in spite of the early morning sunshine. She had had no breakfast and little to eat the day before, so she was also hungry. But above all, she was tired. The caravan did seem to offer, if nothing else, shelter and rest.
‘Come on, Ju. Let’s . . . eh?’
‘All right.’
‘Brilliant!’ Nathan seized Julia’s hand, and dragged her with him across the road. The woman in the car was still studying the map. The caravan door was unlocked. Nathan scrambled up and turned to help Julia, hauling her inside. He closed the door carefully – it hardly made a sound. He looked around for a hiding place. There was a table at one end, with blue upholstered seats on either side. Nathan dived under the table.
‘Come on, Julia, hurry!’
With maddening slowness, she crawled after him. There were footsteps outside. The caravan door opened, and for one heart-stopping moment it looked as though the man was going to get in. But he only threw a rug and a couple of coats on to the seat by the entrance. ‘And let’s hope her ladyship doesn’t think of anything else,’ he muttered. He slammed the caravan door, and the children heard a key being turned.
‘He’s locked us in,’ said Julia, not caring very much.
‘I know,’ said Nathan, dismayed.
‘How we going to get out, then?’
‘I dunno. Out the window perhaps.’
‘How do they open?’
Julia climbed out of her uncomfortable hiding place to look at the window fastenings.
‘Keep your head down, stupid!’
‘Don’t call me that.’
‘No, you’re not stupid, you’re not stupid, but keep your head down. We don’t want nobody to see us before we even started.’
Julia lost interest in the window. She crawled along the floor, so Nathan wouldn’t shout at her again, and stretched herself along the seat at the back, taking the best bed as a matter of course. She covered herself with the red tartan rug which the owner of the caravan had so obligingly provided, and almost immediately delicious waves of sleep began to wash over her. A little jolt, as the caravan moved off, jerked her momentarily awake – and then she sank, down, down into warm and blissful slumber.
Nathan sat on the floor for a while, afraid to move in case his shifting weight should make the caravan tip. His eyes were on the man’s warm-looking coat, and at last he dared to crawl, slowly and carefully, towards it. The caravan went on riding smoothly, and Nathan dragged the coat back to where the table was. Then he curled up on one of the short seats with the man’s coat over him, and soon he too was fast asleep.
It was the lack of motion that woke them, hours later. Nathan raised himself cautiously, to peep out of the window from behind the orange curtain.
‘Where are we?’ said Julia, still half dazed with sleep.
‘I dunno. Oh yes – we’re in a car park. There’s a sort of caff over there. It’s all right, it’s all right, our man and lady’s going in. I expect they’re going to eat something. Good job they didn’t come in here to have their lunch. That’s good, innit. Eh?’
Nathan scanned Julia’s face anxiously. She’d been very boring since last night. Perhaps, now that she had slept, she would be better.
‘I want to go to the toilet,’ said Julia.
Now she mentioned it, Nathan was aware of the same need. That was awkward, seeing they were locked in. He began opening cupboard doors, looking for some means of improvisation – and was amazed to find a perfect little toilet unit, complete with fitted shower, in a corner of the caravan.
‘Look, Julia, that’s neat, innit. That’s really convenient.’ He was delighted with what he had found – surely Julia must be equally pleased. ‘This is a good caravan, isn’t it, Julia. It’s really comfortable.’
‘I’m hungry,’ said Julia.
‘There’s sure to be food,’ said Nathan. ‘They sure to have packed some food.’
They had. The cupboard under the fitted sink was crammed with tins and packets of biscuits.
‘What shall we have?’ said Julia, beginning to sound interested.
‘You choose,’ said Nathan to keep her happy.
‘Isn’t it stealing?’ said Julia, anxiously.
‘We could leave some money to pay for it,’ said Nathan.
Julia chose a tin of sardines and a tin of corned beef. They couldn’t find any crisps, which was a disappointment, but there were some cheesy biscuits which were almost as good. There was no Coca-Cola, so they had to make do with a can of beer each. They found some plastic plates to put the food on, and some forks to eat it with. They didn’t like the taste of the beer much, and it made them sleepy, so after they had eaten they settled down on their couches once more.
‘This is a nice caravan,’ said Nathan, who was feeling very mellow and content. ‘I wish we had a caravan like this, don’t you, Ju? I know – why don’t we buy one with our money, and live in it?’
‘We haven’t got no car to drive it,’ said Julia.
‘Oh no – I forgot.’
‘Shush,’ said Julia. ‘They’re coming back now.’
There was the slamming of doors, and the sound of the car engine starting.
‘I wonder where we’re going,’ Nathan whispered.
‘I hope it’s somewhere nice,’ said Julia drowsily. . . .
When she woke again, a couple of hours later, she was feeling much more herself. The unfamiliar lack of weight in the region of her head troubled her for a moment, and she put her hand up to feel her shorn hair. ‘Nathan – you awake?’
‘Yeah – what?’
‘It’s funny being a boy. ‘I’m glad I’m not one really. I much rather be a girl . . . Nathan?’
‘What?’
‘How we going to get out of this caravan when it stops?’
It was a question to which Nathan did not know the answer, and which he had avoided thinking about. He brooded. ‘I know what they do on the telly,’ he said at last. ‘But I don’t know if we can.’
‘What’s that?’ said Julia.
‘We rush them,’ said Nathan. ‘Soon as they open the door we push past and rush out. They’re so surprised to see us they don’t even think to run after us till it’s too late.’
‘Where do we run to?’ said Julia.
‘We find a place to hide, and then see.’
‘All right.’
‘We have to be quick though.’
‘All right.’
‘You have to run really fast, Julia.’
‘All right, I said.’
‘Follow me then.’ If he went on about it too much she’d take the huff again. ‘Keep as close behind me as you can, and keep your head down so they don’t see your face. I know – you can put on your plastic mac. Don’t matter if they think you’re a girl, you can be a boy again after. And I’ll have my anorak hood up. Are you scared?’
‘Course I’m scared.’
‘I’m not,’ said Nathan, untruthfully. ‘Nothing to be scared about. You’ll see.’
At last the caravan began to bump over uneven ground. Nathan sat up to look out of the window. ‘Julia – we’re there. We’re in a camping place. There’s all trees and bushes. Plenty of place to hide. Get your plastic mac, quick.’
Julia found the mac and put it on. Then she started fussing with the money bag at her waist.
‘Quick, get behind me,’ said Nathan at the door. ‘Hurry up, what you doing?’
‘The money for the food,’ said Julia.
‘We going to get caught,’ said Nathan frantically.
‘All right, I’m ready.’
Actually they had plenty of time. There was a long wait while the caravan was shunted backwards and forwards, and swung this way and that. Then the key was turned in the lock, and the children were poised with dry mouths and beating hearts, ready to spring.
The caravan door swung open.
‘Now!’ said Nathan.
He plunged to the ground and began to run downhill, away from the road, to where the trees and bushes were thickest. Astonished, the owner of the caravan stood open-mouthed, watching Nathan run. As Julia plunged out too, the man took an ineffectual step forward – but too late to grab her.
‘What’s happening, dear?’ his wife asked, getting out of the car.
‘Blessed if I know,’ said the man, scratching his bald head. ‘Looks like we had stowaways. See – there they go!’
‘Good heavens! Get after them, quick!’
‘At my age? You want me to have a heart attack?’
‘Well get the police. Get one of the other campers. There’s a young man over there. He could catch them for us.’
The man with the bald head shrugged. ‘Oh leave it. They’ll be gone to ground. Let’s just see what damage they’ve done.’
Nathan and Julia had long since reached the cover of the bushes. By some miracle, Julia had not crashed into a tree, or twisted her ankle, or tripped over a stone, or broken anything. She had arrived in one piece, reasonably close behind Nathan, though totally winded by the effort. She lay now, wedged between the roots of two shrubs, panting and heaving, each breath like an engine whistle.
‘Breathe quieter,’ said Nathan.
‘I can’t,’ said Julia.
‘Come on then,’ said Nathan. ‘Let’s get further away.’
‘I can’t,’ Julia whimpered. ‘Wait for me, Nathan.’
She couldn’t see him. Only a rustling from the bushes beyond told her where he had gone. Panicking now, Julia pressed towards the rustling. A sharp twig scratched her face and there was a nasty ripping sound as one pocket was torn from the plastic mac.
The ground seemed very steep all of a sudden. Charging ahead nevertheless, Julia’s feet began to slip. She slid a short way, taking loose earth and stones with her, then thumped on to her bottom, and continued on that. As she slid she gathered speed. She grabbed wildly at passing bushes and clumps of turf, trying to stop herself. It was all very painful – the seat of her jeans must surely catch fire, she thought. She wanted to scream but she didn’t; at least she had that much presence of mind.
The slope eased off, and with it Julia’s descent. She had stopped falling, she had a chance to look around her. She was sprawled on a little tussock of grass, and Nathan was up against a bush, a short way to her right. In front of her was an uninterrupted expanse of grey-brown: grey-brown stones, grey-brown mud, grey-brown water.
‘Nathan,’ Julia whispered, ‘look, we’re by the sea again.’
10
A dangerous moment
‘It’s not a very nice sea, is it,’ said Julia, disappointed.
‘Don’t matter,’ said Nathan. ‘Come on, let’s get away from that camping place. You still got your bag?’
She had lost it, of course. It had fallen out of her hand when she slipped, when she was only thinking of saving herself from crashing down the cliff to possible death. The children looked up the way they had come, but neither could see the bag.
‘Never mind,’ said Nathan, ‘it’s only got your girl’s things in it. You’re a boy now.’
‘What about my clean underclothes?’
‘You can buy more. You might as well take off that silly mac thing now. We don’t want nobody to see you in that. Hide it in the bushes.’
‘It’s not very warm here,’ said Julia, shivering. There was a fresh wind blowing off the beach, and her tee-shirt had no sleeves. ‘I think I better find the bag, Nathan. It’s got my anorak in it.’
‘No, come on, they might be looking for us,’ said Nathan. ‘Let’s walk along the beach. We bound to come to some shops soon, then we can buy you another coat. A better one, Ju, with a hood.’
Cheered and encouraged by the prospect of an anorak with a hood, Julia scrambled awkwardly down the rest of the cliff face after Nathan. She regretted the loss of the grown-up blouses and the skirt with the slit in it. They represented a brief, but on the whole very happy interlude in her life. She did not like being a boy, in jeans and tee-shirt. She remembered again about her awful hair.
‘Nathan,’ she said sheepishly, as they stood together on the beach, ‘I don’t mind if I wear that cap?’
‘You sure?’
‘I don’t mind.’ She felt now that she had been silly before, and unreasonable about the cap.
Nathan gave it to her, and she put it on. ‘Do I look like a boy now?’ she asked, willing to do her best.
‘You look fine,’ he said, not feeling too certain.
They stumbled along the beach, which compared with Brighton was almost deserted. There were only a few scattered groups from the campsite above, and none of them took the slightest notice of Nathan and Julia. Two kids scrambling down a cliff was a perfectly normal occurrence, and no one knew who was staying at the camp at any one time. People were coming and going every day.
It was hard travelling. The loose stones were uneven, and there were great rocks to be climbed here and there. Nathan lagged behind on purpose, to watch Julia picking her way over the obstacles. He was feeling increasingly unhappy about her disguise. ‘Julia,’ he said, catching up with her, ‘why don’t you walk a bit more like me?’
‘What for?’
‘So you look more like a boy.’
‘Oh, that.’ She was silent for a few minutes. ‘Do I actually have to be a boy?’ she said, at last.
‘What you mean?’
‘Couldn’t I just be a girl who wears this sort of clothes?’
‘Oh all right, if you like.’
‘It’ll be easier anyway. I shan’t have to keep remembering.’
‘All right.’ It was a pity his idea hadn’t worked, but never mind.
They battled on, over the rocks and the stones. Now they were the only ones on the beach, the only ones in a desolate sunless world, all grey, except for the reddish cliffs beside them.
‘I don’t like this seaside,’ said Julia, for about the tenth time. ‘There’s no sea.’
Indeed, the tide did seem to be a very long way out – a cold looking, slate-coloured strip on the far horizon, past the mud and the rock pools.
‘Never mind,’ said Nathan. ‘We sure to come to the shops soon, and the fish and chip places and the machines.’
But there was no sign of such civilized comforts yet, and Julia’s legs were beginning to be very tired.
‘Nathan, where we going to sleep tonight?’
‘You slept already – in the caravan.’
‘I know I slept, but we still got to have somewhere to stay tonight.’
‘Shall we go to another hotel?’
‘Course we can’t go to a hotel! Course we can’t!’
‘Why not?’
‘They’ll wonder why we came without our mum.’
‘Couldn’t we say our mum’s in hospital, like before?’
‘You’re silly, Nathan, you’re really silly. Course we can’t say that now!’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t look grown-up now, do I?’
‘Oh yeah – I forgot
. You could say you’re thirteen.’
‘That’s still not old enough.’
‘You could get some more make-up.’
Julia shook her head. ‘My hair’s wrong now. I wish I hadn’t of cut my hair.’
‘It’ll grow again.’
‘Where we going to stay tonight though? . . . You said about a tent.’
‘Oh yeah. I don’t think we can get a tent tonight though,’ said Nathan, unhappily. ‘It must be getting late.’
‘Why – what time is it?’
‘I dunno, do I. Must be five o’clock I should think. We’ll be lucky to find a shop open to buy your coat.’
‘I can’t stay all night without a coat, I’ll freeze!’
‘We might come to a shop though. Let’s hurry.’
‘You should have let me find my bag,’ said Julia, beginning to whimper. ‘You should have let me. Now I’m going to freeze to death.’
‘We could stay in that cave if we have to.’ Nathan had almost stumbled over its narrow entrance, and now peered in shortsightedly, glad to have found a solution to the problem.
Julia regarded the ‘cave’ without enthusiasm. It was not much more than a crevice in the rock.
‘Not without my coat. I’m going back for my coat.’
‘No – Ju, no, please The caravan man’s back there. He might be on the beach. He might see us, or the lady might. He might have told the other people to look for us. He might have told the police.’
‘I’m going anyway.’
‘You can have my coat!’
It was an enormous sacrifice. Julia looked at Nathan in disbelief. ‘Can I really?’
‘Yeah. Only tonight, I mean. In case we’re too late to buy one.’
They trudged on. Presently they came to some huge boulders that had to be climbed over. By now they had almost given up hope of finding any signs of human habitation. They seemed to be at the back of beyond. Suddenly Julia gave a cheer. ‘Hooray. Look, Nathan!’
‘What?’
‘Are you blind? Oh yes, of course, you are! Look though – houses, on top of the cliffs! And steps.’
They stumbled towards the steps and climbed them. Here, at last, would be the shops and the amusement arcades. At last they had arrived at a proper seaside.
But it was not like that at all. Only a quaint old street with little olde worlde cottages. There was a fish and chip shop though, and another place with a big map in the window, on the opposite side of the road. The children began to limp down the hill. Their legs ached, their feet were sore from walking so far on the stones, and they didn’t think much of the place they had come to, so far. But ahead of them was a sort of promenade, and what looked like a harbour only they hadn’t time to investigate because, oh joy, to their right was a miniature High Street, with all sorts of shops in it.