mostly Sunny
with a chance of storms
Also by Marion Roberts
Sunny Side Up
mostly Sunny
with a chance of storms
marion roberts
To Susannah Chambers – best and trusty editor,
despite being an avid objector to the word iota.
First published in 2009
Copyright © Marion Roberts
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
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National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Roberts, Marion, 1966-
Mostly sunny with a chance of storms
978 1 74175 859 7
A823.4
Cover and text design by Design by Committee
Cover illustration by Ali Durham
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
1.
I was fresh back at Mum’s place after spending the weekend with Dad and Steph and my new baby half-sister, Flora. True to form, Mum had me doing chores within the first five minutes. I’d hardly even said hello to Willow before I found myself bundling the washing off the line because it looked as if it was about to bucket down.
Would you believe Mum chose the moment right when I had my arms full of half-dry socks and undies, to tell me the biggest piece of news since I found out Flora had been born.
‘Sunny,’ Mum said, bunching a sheet into the laundry basket. ‘I’ve got some exciting news. At least, I hope you’ll think it’s exciting.’
‘You’re not having a baby are you, Mum? Because lately that’s what people have meant when they’ve said they have exciting news.’
Mum laughed and looked a little embarrassed. ‘Ah, no, sweetheart.’
‘Disneyland?’
‘Not quite.’
‘What then?’
Mum unpegged the last of the washing, and I heaped my pile onto the top of the basket.
‘Well, you know how you just loved your grandmother’s big old house?’
‘Yep.’
‘How would you feel about moving there? All of us. Granny Carmelene’s house is ours now. She left it to me in her will.’
Mum looked dead excited, and I guess she thought that I’d be excited too. And maybe I should have been. I mean, it’s not every day your family finds out they’ve inherited their very own big old white-and-black mansion. But to be honest, I found the idea about as exciting as a wet sock, and I guess it showed on my face.
‘I thought you’d be thrilled, Sunny,’ said Mum. ‘You love that old house.’
‘I loved the house because it was Granny Carmelene’s. When she was alive! I can’t imagine living there now. It’d be sad.’
‘There’s always the option to sell it, Sunny, but—’
‘That’d be even sadder! What if dodgy developers bought it and turned it into fifty apartments? Granny Carmelene would—’
Just then, Willow came hurtling out the back door and raced at full greyhound-speed around the side of the house to the front gate. She must have heard it clicking open with her supersonic hearing.
‘Aaaagh!’ came Saskia’s voice. ‘No jumping, Willow! Down! S-u-u-u-n-n-y!’
‘I think she might need rescuing,’ said Mum, picking up the laundry basket. ‘I’ll take this lot inside. We’ll talk more later.’
‘Willow!’ I called. ‘Come, Willow!’ Within moments she was circling me frantically, doing laughing-hyena laps of the clothesline, looking over her shoulder the whole time, hoping I would chase her. I stood up tall and clicked my fingers.
‘Willow, sit!’ I said in my best obedience-school voice. But she must have heard the gate clink open again because instead of sitting she streaked back to the front of the house. It was Lyall coming home, and by the sound of his voice he was finding Willow’s welcoming ceremony a little less distressing than Saskia had.
‘That dog needs help,’ said Saskia, wiping the side of her face with her scarf. ‘She tried to bite my earlobe.’
Willow finally came trotting back, puffing like anything. with a look on her face that said, Oh, sorry, Sunny, you asked me to sit, didn’t you? I knew I’d forgotten something.
I made the ‘sit’ hand signal again (because apparently they work better on dogs than words do), and Willow sat up tall at my feet and said, I’m a good girl, really, Sunny, most of the time. Just to be sure, I held her by the collar.
‘Hey, Sunny, you’re back,’ said Lyall, dumping his bag. ‘Did you hear the news?’
‘Shoosh, Lyall,’ urged Saskia through clenched teeth. ‘Dad said not to say anything yet.’
‘News about what?’ I asked.
‘About how we’re going to be moving into your Grandmother’s old place.’
‘Lyall-luh!’ squealed Saskia, punching his arm. He shrugged her off as if she were a blowfly.
‘’Course I know,’ I said casually. ‘What do you think I am, Lyall, chopped liver?’ I averted my gaze downwards and noticed my knuckles all clutching and white, strangling the life out of Willow’s collar. ‘Come on, Willow,’ I said, making my way to the back door. I marched down the hall and stomped straight past Mum in the kitchen. Then I slammed my bedroom door as hard as I could, hoping I might even shatter a window or two, because that would really be saying something along the lines of, Good one, Mum. Make sure I’m the last to know, why don’t you. Can you imagine? Even the precookeds knew before I did.
I sat on the bottom bunk feeling dead powerful for my door-slamming effort, and for how the whole world was locked on the other side.
Then I slouched on the bottom bunk and waited, because everyone knows when you slam the whole world out, you’re secretly hoping that the world will barge back in and say, Whatever is the matter, Sunny?
But no one came, not even Willow. I felt pathetic, like Eeyore, and I soon realised that there were certain things (like Mum coming to rescue me in my sulkiest Eeyore moments), that had been left behind in the good old days before Carl and his kids moved in.
To make matters worse, I could hear the muffled voices of Mum and Lyall and Saskia from the kitchen, and I’m pretty sure they were laughing and saying cringeable things like, Just leave her be, and Sunny just needs some Time Out.
Finally, Willow wedged her snout sideways under the door, making small sooky whimpers.
‘Come on, girl,’ I said, opening the door just enough for her to squeeze through. I even let her jump up on the bed because there was nobody about to tell me not to, and we lay down together with both our heads on the one pillow, and I told her all the reasons why moving into Granny Carmelene’s big old white-and-black mansion was the dumbest idea on earth.
For starters:
My school is exactly three minutes away from here, my favourite and only home. I can make it on time even if I accidentally s
leep in until five to nine (provided I skip breakfast and don’t do my hair).
If we move, my best friend, Claud, would suddenly be a long bus-ride away. What is the point of a best friend who lives on the other side of town?
Claud and I happen to be co-owners and operators of Pizza-A-Go-Girl, a successful Friday night pizza delivery business that is right on the verge of going world-wide. Granny Carmelene’s doesn’t have a shed or a wood-fired pizza oven. Surely Pizza-A-Go-Girl would become Pizza-A-Gone-Girl in five minutes flat.
There is no beach at Granny Carmelene’s. There is a big chance Willow would sink into doggie depression if she can’t race about on the sand. (The fact that the new house has its own private patch of river in no way makes up for this.)
Boris would most definitely not survive another move, as it’s a well-known fact that cats are bad at travelling.
I am a person who isn’t so good with change. And, let’s face it, I’ve had to adjust to a lot lately: Carl and his kids moving in; my baby sister, Flora, being born; Mum giving up smoking. I mean, another big change could really tip me over the edge.
Living in a huge mansion might make us become big fat rich snobs.
How about all those paintings at Granny Carmelene’s with the accusatory eyes that follow you around the room and make you feel guilty for stuff you haven’t even done? Seriously, who needs that?
There would most definitely be a higher likelihood of tubes with fangs living at Granny Carmelene’s. Everybody knows snakes live near rivers, and besides, Mum even told me that there are tiger snakes there, and they’re not the type of snake to slither away when they hear you coming, they’re the type of snake that chases you.
Willow agreed with every one of my points (except maybe the one about Boris), until Carl came home and she jumped down from my bed and scratched at the door to be let out. I closed the door quietly behind her, not feeling ready to go and join the others. My anger with Mum had given way to throat-aching sadness. The very thing I’d been trying to stomp and slam away.
You see, I hadn’t told Willow that the real reason I was so upset was not because I didn’t want to move into Granny Carmelene’s house, it was simply that I couldn’t bear to.
Since Granny Carmelene had passed away, I’d been doing my very best not to think about her. Not one little bit. Even the slightest memory made me giddy and sad and feel as if I had to sit my whole body down – like after a gut-wrenching rollercoaster when you have to put your head on your knees and wait for the world to stop spinning.
Every single inch of Granny Carmelene’s house was soaked in memories and would make me ask questions that, as far as I knew, nobody could help me answer. Questions like: Where exactly does a person go when they stop being somewhere and you suddenly have to deal with them being nowhere. I mean, where exactly is nowhere?
2.
I figured the best approach was to simply ignore the whole moving into Granny Carmelene’s house thing entirely. I stayed in my room until the last possible moment. Back in the good old days I would have been able to extend the last possible moment basically forever, but these days there was a real chance I would miss out on being fed. Especially with Lyall around. So I just slipped into my place at the table without saying anything at all.
We ate in perfect silence until Saskia had to go and spoil it. ‘Come on, Sunny, the whole house is surrounded by oodles and poodles of lawn. Willow would love it.’
Mum and Carl both looked up hopefully from their dinner plates, and I gave them both the eyebrow.
Lyall shovelled his last wedge of roast potato into his mouth then leant over with his fork and stole one of Saskia’s.
‘Lyall! Manners, please,’ said Carl. Then he turned to me and said very earnestly, ‘Sunny, I understand your reservations, but we do have to make a decision at some stage. Preferably soon.’
‘It’s true, Sunny,’ said Mum. ‘A house like that needs to be lived in. It’s what your grandmother would have wanted.’
‘Mum, are there any more potatoes?’ I stood up, went into the kitchen and brought the baking tray back to the table. ‘Who else wants some more?’ I asked. ‘There’s probably enough for one more each.’
‘Me please!’ Lyall and Saskia sung out. Carl nodded too.
‘When would we move then?’ I asked, looking Mum straight in the eye.
Until Saskia blurted out, ‘Next week!’
‘Saskia!’ Carl scolded.
And it was right at that moment that I realised moving to Granny Carmelene’s was inevitable. I was totally outnumbered. Everyone was just going through the motions of having a discussion about it to make me feel as if I had some kind of choice. Mum had probably already booked the removalists. I tried to hold Mum’s gaze but she was busy trying to catch Carl’s eye for some support.
‘More wine, love?’ he asked, filling up her glass.
‘Well, Mum?’ I asked.
And because she knew she was completely busted she lowered her voice and said, ‘We more or less tossed about the idea of being out of here just before the end of term. Then we’d have the whole winter holidays to settle in.’
Lyall and Saskia took to the task of eating their potatoes with similar levels of concentration required for a maths exam.
‘So, what you really mean, Mum, is that we’re moving next week, like Saskia said?’
‘Really?’ she said. ‘Gosh, no, that can’t be right? Is it that soon, Carl?’
‘The end of next week,’ confirmed Carl. ‘And you get to take the Friday off school!’
‘Terrific,’ I said.
‘And we’re all getting new beds!’ squeaked Saskia, earning herself a triple glare from Lyall, Mum and Carl.
‘Can I please leave the table?’ I asked, putting my knife and fork together.
‘Sure, sweetheart,’ said Mum.
‘Can I have your potatoes?’ Lyall asked with his mouth full.
‘Knock yourself out, Lyall.’
I left my half-eaten meal on the table, went back to my room and climbed up to the top bunk – because I didn’t feel like any company, not even from Willow. Plus, it’s always in the top bunk that I come up with my best inventions. I was going to need something, fast! Some kind of state-of-the-art anti-grief contraption, kind of like my trusty old Stash-O-Matic, which used to hold all my secrets until I threw it into Bass Strait. A Sad Thoughts Obliterator? A No-Thinky-Granny-Thingy?
Mum came in eventually to tuck me in. She must have sensed I wasn’t in a talking mood becuase she just kissed me on the forehead and gave me one of her it’s all going to be okay looks.
I lay awake most of the night waiting for the perfect design to come. But nothing did. Not even eventually.
Then, right when I was about to give up, they arrived. Not a contraption, but a duo. Bruce and Terry. Grief bouncers. Who would have thought?
Bruce and Terry were just like those guys you see outside nightclubs whose job it is to keep the riffraff out. It was brilliant! With Bruce and Terry on the door, I could be assured that no nasty, throat-achy feelings would be allowed access to my brain. While Bruce was keeping sad feelings away, Terry would be preventing big questions from barging in. With no sad thoughts and no big questions, maybe I could be happy at Granny Carmelene’s after all? I mean, stranger things have happened, right?
‘Ahem, Miss, before we clock on as your personal Grief Bouncers, we are required to ask for a brief – a set of instructions, if you will. Oh, and I’m Bruce. Pleased to be invented by you.’ Bruce held out his hand and shook mine.
‘Pleased to meet you too,’ said Terry.
‘I like your suit,’ I said as he shook my hand. (Don’t ask me why, but Bruce and Terry were definitely retro. I must have imagined them from one of those old cop shows. Bruce wore a tight shirt and flares, and Terry was in a chocolate-brown suit with the widest lapels ever.)
Realising that it wasn’t polite to stare at other people’s clothes for too long, I got out my notebook and scribbled down
a list of instructions.
No sad thoughts
No achy throat
No missing of Granny Carmelene
No wondering where on Earth (or not on
Earth) she might have gone
No grief of any kind.
Bruce read the list and then passed it to Terry.
‘Not a problem, Sunday,’ said Terry. ‘You can take it from me that you will not have one sad thought about that grandmother of yours. Not one.’ Terry wore a gold chain and spoke in a British accent a lot like how Carl sounds when he’s pretending to be Michael Caine. He also pointed at me when he spoke, as though I was in trouble, which gave me a lot of confidence in his abilities.
‘Even if I’m living in her house, Terry? Can you be absolutely sure?’
‘Tell you what,’ said Terry. ‘You have one sad thought, and we’ll give you your money back – guaranteed. Won’t we, Bruce?’
Bruce nodded earnestly.
‘I’ll give it a go then,’ I said, suddenly feeling very tired. For a moment, I pictured Granny Carmelene’s big old house, as empty as can be, on its own bend in the river. And I remembered how it also had a tower (Granny Carmelene said it was called a turret), which had the cutest red carpety stairs leading up to it from the second storey landing. And I thought about how if we did move into the big old white-and-black mansion, the turret could possibly be my bedroom. Can you imagine? My own tower! (That’s if the precookeds didn’t suddenly want it for themselves. Siblings, I tell you; the minute they see you want something they become desperate for it themselves. They can’t help it; it’s in their breeding.)
3.
You’ll be really pleased to know that I’m not going to tell you about the actual moving. Let’s face it, even if we were rock-stars or royalty I’d be stretching it to find something interesting to say about packing our whole life up into boxes. Especially if you have a full-blown aversion to cardboard like I do.
Let’s just say that moving had one major advantage. We got rid of Boris, the meanest brute of a cat that ever lived. Who would have thought? It was Carl’s idea, because of him being an environmentalist, and all the wildlife Boris was sure to destroy the minute he was let loose at Granny Carmelene’s. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that Boris got put down or anything. He went to live with Lyall and Saskia’s mum, so technically they still owned him. Perfect. I could tell Willow was also dead relieved when she watched Boris getting packed into his cat box and taken away in Carl’s car.
Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Storms Page 1