Eva's Holiday

by Judi Curtin

  Now it was my turn to be angry. I could hardly believe what she’d just said.

  ‘You lied to me,’ I shouted. ‘Everything you told me was a lie. You just wanted me to feel sorry for you. You …’

  I felt so stupid – how dare Kate trick me like that?

  Kate interrupted. ‘That’s not the way I meant it. I—’

  Now I interrupted her. ‘I was kind to you. I helped you to save Jeremy. I—’

  ‘And you only helped me because you thought my father had died? What kind of friend does that make you?’

  Now there were tears in my eyes. From the sound of her voice, I thought Kate might have been crying too, but I didn’t want to look at her. I didn’t want to see her.

  ‘At least I’m not the kind of friend who makes up stupid lies about dead fathers,’ I said quietly, and I began to walk away.

  Kate didn’t try to follow me.

  By the time I got home, I could hardly see, I was crying so much.

  ‘Here comes our little heroine,’ said Mum, as I pushed open the kitchen door. I just had time to notice the big banner, saying WELL DONE EVA, made out of pages torn from Joey’s sketch pad.

  Then Mum saw my face, and rushed over to me.

  ‘Eva, what on earth has happened?’ she cried. ‘Did that man change his mind? Is he going to cut down the tree after all?’

  ‘No,’ I shouted. ‘He’s not going to cut down the tree, even though I wish he would. I wish he’d chop and chop until there was nothing left except leaves and sawdust.’

  ‘I don’t understand, Eva,’ said Mum. ‘What’s going on? Is it Kate? Has something happened to Kate?’

  I shook my head, ‘No, unfortunately nothing has happened to Kate. She’s alive and well – just like her father.’

  Dad and Joey came in then. When Dad saw how upset I was, he came and put his arm around me. Joey patted my back, like I was a baby.

  ‘What’s happened, love?’ asked Dad.

  Mum answered for me.

  ‘She’s had some kind of falling out with her friend.’

  ‘Kate is not my friend,’ I shouted. ‘I am never, ever going to talk to her again.’

  ‘I know you don’t really mean that,’ said Mum. ‘But what were you saying about Kate’s father?’

  I wiped my eyes.

  ‘It was all lies. Kate made the whole thing up. There was no injured bird, no truck, no accident – the whole thing was one big made-up story. Her father just went away – and I don’t blame him, since he had such a horrible daughter.’

  ‘Eva!’ said Mum, but I ignored her.

  ‘Kate told us all a big load of lies, just so we’d feel sorry for her,’ I said. ‘And the worst thing is, I believed her! I believed every single stupid, lying word.’

  ‘We all believed her,’ said Dad.

  ‘Yes, but you weren’t her friend. I was supposed to be her friend. How could she lie to her friend?’

  And then at the thought of it, I started to cry again.

  ‘I’m going up to my room,’ I said. ‘And I don’t want to be disturbed.’

  Mum and Dad looked at each other, but they stood back and watched as I went upstairs.

  I threw myself on to my bed and cried until my head hurt, and my throat felt like someone was sticking sharp needles all over it.

  And then I fell asleep.

  I woke up to see Mum standing at the end of my bed.

  ‘I’ve brought you up your tea,’ she said.

  ‘I’m not hungry.’

  Mum put the plate on the locker, and sat down on my bed.

  ‘I know you’re upset, Eva,’ she said.

  ‘Upset isn’t a big enough word for the way I feel,’ I said.

  Mum stroked my hair.

  ‘Kate might have her reasons. It can’t be nice for her, being abandoned by her dad, and by her mum. She—’

  ‘It’s not nice for me being lied to. I really thought she was my friend. I thought I could trust her. And all the time she was lying.’

  Mum sighed. ‘Why don’t you give her a chance? You could go over there and talk to her. I’ll go with you if you like.’

  ‘I am never going over there. I am never going to have anything to do with her again. I wish she was dead. Just like her father. Or just like her father isn’t,’ I corrected myself..

  Mum sighed.

  ‘You don’t mean that, Eva,’ she said.

  ‘I do. I wish I’d never met Kate. I wish I was at home with Victoria and Ruby and Ella, my real friends. I wish this whole stupid summer had never happened.’

  Mum leaned over and hugged me. ‘You poor thing,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you come on downstairs? I’ve made a lemon cake – your favourite.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ I said. ‘But I think I’ll just stay here for a while.’

  Mum stood up.

  ‘OK,’ she said. But if you want to talk some more just give me a call.’

  When she was gone, I sat up and ate the food she had left for me. Then I lay down and closed my eyes and cried some more.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  When I woke up the next morning, I had a headache. I had hardly slept all night, and when I did, my sleep was haunted by horrible, dark, ugly dreams. I kept dreaming that Kate was laughing at me for believing her lies.

  I dragged myself downstairs where Mum, Dad and Joey were having breakfast.

  Dad was reading the local paper.

  ‘Look. We’re famous. We’re on the front page,’ he said.

  I took the paper from him. It was the group photo from the day before. There we all were, grinning happily. Kate’s arm was around my shoulder, and mine was around hers – like we were very best friends.

  I handed the paper back without a word.

  ‘Aren’t you happy any more about saving the tree?’ asked Joey. ‘Do you need me and the lads to help you to save something else?’

  ‘Shhh, Joey,’ said Mum. ‘It’s complicated. Eva’s a bit upset, that’s all. Now eat up your breakfast.’

  Just as I was pouring myself a bowl of cereal, there was a loud knock at the door. I got such a fright, I held the cereal packet over the overflowing bowl until Joey said, ‘Wow, you must really be hungry.’

  As I tried to shovel the cereal back into the packet with my hands, there was another knock.

  ‘Who could that be?’ said Dad.

  ‘Maybe it’s a TV station wanting to interview Eva about the tree,’ said Joey getting up.

  ‘If it’s Kate, I’m not here,’ I said quickly.

  ‘But you are here,’ said Joey. ‘Am I supposed to tell her a lie?’

  ‘I don’t care,’ I replied. ‘You can tell her anything you like. You can tell her I’ve been run over by a truck – not that anyone except me would believe such a stupid lie.’

  ‘Eva!’ said Mum in a shocked voice.

  ‘OK, OK,’ I said. ‘Don’t tell her I’ve been run over by a truck. Tell her I’ve gone off to make some new friends. Some real friends.’

  Seconds later Joey was back.

  ‘It’s Martha,’ he said. ‘So I didn’t have to tell any lies. And she wants to talk to you, Eva.’

  I felt like running upstairs and hiding under my bed, but one look at Mum and Dad told me that wasn’t really an option.

  Martha was leaning against the garden wall.

  ‘What do you want?’ I said, but not too rudely.

  ‘Kate was afraid to come over herself, but she really wants to talk to you,’ she said.

  ‘Well, I don’t want to talk to her.’

  Martha sighed, suddenly looking very old and very tired.

  ‘Kate told me what happened between you two. She told you a very stupid lie, and I can see why you’re upset, but … well … can you try to understand her? She’s had a hard time. She never knew her mum properly, and she hasn’t really got over her dad’s leaving. I’ve done my best, but I know I’ve never been a very good replacement. And Kate has been so happy this summer, since she met you. It’s the f
irst time since her father left that she’s seemed like a normal, carefree young girl. And … can’t you make an old lady happy by talking to her?’

  And what could I say to that?

  ‘All right,’ I said slowly. ‘I’ll talk to her. But that’s all. OK?’

  Martha gave me a watery smile.

  ‘Thank you. You’re a good lass,’ she said.

  I followed Martha as she walked very slowly down the small road that led from our house to hers. As we came close to her house, Kate suddenly stepped out from a bush, making me jump.

  ‘I’ll leave you two to it,’ said Martha, walking slowly into her house.

  I looked at Kate. She was back in one of her old tracksuits, and her hair was all messy. She looked just like she had the first day we met, all scruffy and defensive and silent.

  ‘So you want to talk?’ I said.

  She nodded.

  ‘Yes, but not here. Let’s walk up to the field – to the Island of Dreams.’

  I felt like hitting her. I’d thought of that field as such a special place, but now it was all spoiled because of Kate’s lies.

  But still I followed her.

  I walked a few steps behind Kate as she led the familiar way. The field was empty, and only the flattened grass showed that anything unusual had happened there recently.

  Kate went and sat against Jeremy, and because I felt stupid standing up, I sat down too, facing her.

  ‘So start talking,’ I said, keen to get it over with so I could escape from Kate forever.

  When Kate started to speak, her voice was so low that I had to lean in close so I could hear her.

  ‘My mum did go away when I was a baby,’ she said.

  ‘So you did manage to tell me something that was true,’ I said in a hard voice. ‘What a surprise.’

  Kate gave me a hurt look, but I ignored it. After all, who was the injured party here?

  Then she continued. ‘And of course, I often missed having a mum, but I had a dad, so things didn’t seem too bad. But Dad didn’t have a job, and we hadn’t much money, so we had to live with Martha. And sometimes things were fine, and we had lovely times together. All the stuff I told you about camping and having picnics near Jeremy, that was all true.’

  I made a face, which Kate ignored, and then she went on, ‘But sometimes Dad and Martha used to have terrible fights. There was loads of shouting and banging of stuff, and slamming doors.’

  That sounded a bit like my house on a good day, but I didn’t feel like sharing that with Kate.

  ‘And then one day, when I was ten, there was this really, really bad row, and Dad went in to his room and started to pack up all his stuff. He’d done that a few times before, so I wasn’t too worried at first. I thought he’d just calm down, and later on we’d all laugh about it. But then he kept on packing, until everything he owned was crammed into two big suitcases. He sat me down and told me that he was leaving. I was crying, but he told me that he had to get away, or else he’d go crazy. He said he was going to England, and that he’d get a job, and find a nice place for us both to live. He said he’d find a lovely house with a big garden, with swings and a climbing frame. I said I didn’t want swings and a climbing frame. I said I didn’t care where we lived. I just wanted to go with him. But he wouldn’t let me. That evening he left. And he never came back.’

  I thought she was finished, but while I was wondering what to say, she continued. ‘And will I tell you the worst thing?’

  I didn’t answer, so she said, ‘When I was small, I used to ask why Mum left, and Dad said that it was because she didn’t have time to get to know me. He said that if she’d known what a great kid I was, Mum would never, ever have left me. And then he left. That meant … that meant … he mustn’t have thought I was a great kid any more.’

  By now, huge, fat tears were rolling down Kate’s face, and I knew for sure that she was telling the truth this time.

  I forgot how angry I had been with Kate for lying to me. All I could think of was the poor girl crying, and begging her father not to leave her.

  ‘And … and … does he ever write, or call … or …?’ I asked.

  ‘He never calls – maybe because he’s afraid to talk to Martha. He does write sometimes. He sends me a card on my birthday.’

  ‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it?’

  Kate gave a small unhappy laugh. ‘Is it? Would you be happy if all you ever got from your dad was a card, with a London postmark and no return address?’

  I put my head down.

  How could I guess what it was like to be Kate?

  How could I imagine my mum and dad just walking off and leaving me forever?

  Suddenly I had an idea.

  ‘You could trace him – and your mum. There are people who specialise in that kind of thing. I’ve seen a programme on TV about it.’

  Kate shook her head slowly.

  ‘Mum and Dad know where I am. They just don’t want to be with me. And for all I know, they could be back together. They could be living happily ever after with a new baby – one they both really love.’

  Suddenly I remembered something else.

  ‘So that’s why Martha feels guilty. Your dad left because of a row with her. And now she takes it out on you.’

  Kate shook her head.

  ‘Not really. Martha does her best. She’s only cranky some of the time’

  I made a face.

  ‘Like the day I went to get the tent from her.’

  ‘Yeah, sorry about that.’

  There was one more thing I had to know.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me the truth? Why did you make up all that crazy stuff about the truck?’

  It took Kate so long to answer that I had to check to see that she hadn’t fallen asleep. Then, after ages, she spoke.

  ‘I never talk about my mum and dad, and when you don’t have any friends, that’s not really hard to do. But then you came along, and you were so nice to me, and at first, when you mentioned family, I just avoided the issue, and I thought I could get away with it. But then I went to your house for lunch that day and I saw you with your mum and dad, and you looked so happy together – like a perfect family from an ad or a soppy TV programme or something. And you were all so nice to Joey, and to me.’

  ‘But Mum and I fight all the time,’ I said. ‘And Dad drives me crazy sometimes, and in the beginning, I couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Joey.’

  Kate gave a sad smile.

  ‘It still looked perfect to me. And then when Joey asked about my family … I hadn’t really planned to tell lies … I’d never told lies like that before. The words just sort of came out on their own. I couldn’t stop them, and then I couldn’t change them. I didn’t know how to tell you that it was all made up, so I just kept on pretending – even though I was afraid all the time that Martha, or Lily or someone else would tell you what really happened.’

  I still didn’t understand.

  ‘But why tell the lies in the first place?’

  Now Kate spoke quickly.

  ‘Because I couldn’t bear to tell the truth. I was ashamed. I couldn’t find the words to tell you that my mum and my dad both just walked away. That they didn’t love me. That I wasn’t worth loving.’

  Poor Kate.

  No wonder she didn’t care how she looked, or what other people thought of her. She thought she was a waste of space, because her mum and dad had left.

  Now tears came to my eyes. I scrunched over and hugged Kate so tightly that I must have hurt her.

  ‘It wasn’t your fault,’ I said fiercely. ‘None of it was your fault. I don’t know much about these things, and I’ve never met your parents, but your mum and dad must have had some kind of problem – something that made them leave. But it wasn’t you – I know it wasn’t you.’

  Kate didn’t answer. I could just hear her sobs, and I could feel the shoulder of my best t-shirt becoming damp from her tears.

  A bit later, we both wiped our eyes, an
d lay back on the grass. Soon Kate was snoring softly, and not long afterwards, I fell asleep too.

  It had been a very long few days.

  Chapter Thirty

  I woke up as a shadow crossed my face.

  ‘That’s not fair. If there’s a sleepover party going on, why am I not invited?’

  It was Lily. Kate and I sat up. Kate gave me a panicked look, and I tried to show her with a small shake of my head, that I hadn’t told Lily the story of Kate’s dad and the non-existent truck.

  Her secrets and lies were all safe with me.

  ‘So do you two have crazy plans for the day, or can we just do normal stuff like talking about clothes and lipstick?’ asked Lily.

  ‘If you leave out the lipstick,’ said Kate. ‘It’s a deal.’

  And the three of us laughed.

  The next few days were fun.

  Kate took us to the place where she found her fossil, and we spent a whole afternoon searching for treasures.

  Sometimes we went to the beach and hung out, and sometimes we sat in the Island of Dreams and leaned against Jeremy and talked about nothing.

  Some days Kate wore the clothes that Lily had lent her, but when they were being washed, she was back to her old tracksuits. Lily offered her more stuff, and I offered to lend her some of my clothes, but Kate was too proud to take anything else – and I think she knew we didn’t want any of her tracksuits in return!

  ‘You need some more clothes,’ said Lily one afternoon. ‘Have you got any money Kate?’

  Kate shook her head.

  Lily sighed.

  ‘Me neither. What about you Eva?’

  I searched my pockets.

  ‘I’ve got thirty-two cent,’ I said.

  ‘I wouldn’t take your money anyway,’ said Kate defiantly, showing traces of the girl she’d been at the start of the summer.

  ‘Leave it to me,’ said Lily. ‘I’ll think of something.’

  One day we collected two huge buckets of blackberries, and carried them back to my house.

  ‘You should make jam,’ said Mum.

  Lily’s eyes sparkled.

  ‘That’s it,’ she said. ‘I have a plan.’