by Maria Farrer
To: [email protected]
Subject: Ruby Holton: ABSENCE
I regret that Ruby will be absent from school today. She has a high fever and is on medications. She may be away for a few days until she is fully recovered as we don’t want to pass on anything nasty.
Lisa Holton
Ruby read and re-read the email and pressed SEND. She thought it sounded pretty good. School probably wouldn’t believe a word of it, but there wasn’t much they could do. Fever was the best excuse and it gave her a reason to be off for a few days. She’d be missing the trip to the museum, but that was too bad.
She boiled the kettle and started to make breakfast. On the TV, a teenage boy was being interviewed. He was only fourteen but, apparently, he’d caused a big sensation busking on the streets, playing his saxophone. Now he was off to a special music school. The interview switched to a clip of him playing and people putting money into a basket at his feet. Ruby turned up the volume.
Mister P pressed his ear to the TV and started to swing his backside left and right in time with the music.
“Move yourself, Mister P,” said Ruby. “I want to watch.”
Mister P bounced from paw to paw then finally stood up on one leg and spun around, hitting his head on the light bulb and losing his balance.
Ruby leapt across the room, caught a mug as it fell off the table, and steadied the TV as it wobbled on its stand. “For goodness’ sake,” she said. “Take it easy. And where on earth did you learn to dance like that?”
The music came to an end and the camera panned in on the basket of notes and coins. He must be nearly a millionaire and it all looked so simple: Stand on the street, play a tune, and earn lots of money. Problem solved! She could do that! The only issue, as Ruby saw it, was that she didn’t play the saxophone—or any other instrument. She wondered if she still had Gramps’s harmonica somewhere. She rummaged around in her bottom drawer until she discovered it, wrapped in yellow tissue paper.
She tried a few notes, blowing gently into the old instrument and sliding it backwards and forwards across her lips. She blew a little harder. Leo put his hands over his ears and screwed his eyes tight shut. Mister P hid his head under a cushion.
It wasn’t going well. Ruby threw the harmonica onto the chair.
Knock, knock, knock.
Ruby stood rooted to the spot. Mom had told her NEVER to let anyone in because you never knew who it might be.
Knock, knock, knock. Louder this time.
Ruby went to the door. “Who is it?” she shouted.
“It’s Mrs. Moresby. What on earth are you doing in there?”
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door a crack, without taking it off its chain.
“It sounded as though you were about to come through the ceiling,” whispered Mrs. Moresby. “You’ll be getting complaints from the neighbors.”
“It was only Mister P dancing. There’s no law against that, is there?”
Mrs. Moresby raised her eyebrows. “There are no laws against dancing, but there are laws against having animals in the building and making too much noise. I suggest Mister P tries to be a little lighter on his feet.” Mrs. Moresby looked around her, checking left and right.
“You won’t tell anyone,” said Ruby. “About Mister P, I mean.”
“Of course I won’t. Your secret is safe with me and, to prove it, I’ve brought him some breakfast. I thought it might help quieten things down.” She tried to push a couple of packets of fish sticks through the gap, but Ruby stopped her.
“I can’t take them,” said Ruby. “Not until I can pay you.”
“These are a gift from me to Mister P. We’ll sort out the rest later. But you could let me in. That might make things easier.”
Ruby shook her head. Letting Mrs. Moresby in would not make things easier. “Mom doesn’t like strangers in the house,” she said, her eyes flicking in the direction of Mom’s room.
Mrs. Moresby fiddled with her orange beads. “Perhaps you could introduce me to your mom, if she’s here, and then I wouldn’t be a stranger anymore.”
“I can’t,” said Ruby, “She’s got the flu.” This was getting complicated. It was time for Mrs. Moresby to go back downstairs.
“Ruby, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but shouldn’t you be at school?”
Ruby did mind her asking. Mrs. Moresby was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.
“I’m getting the flu too. And so is Mister P. It’s a very nasty one, so I wouldn’t come too close.” At the sound of his name, Mister P skidded to the door and Ruby managed to
it closed just in time. She didn’t need Mister P getting involved in this conversation.
“Now look at what you’ve gone and done,” she said, turning to Mister P. “We don’t need people poking around up here and sticking their noses into our business. We DON’T need to draw attention to ourselves.”
Ruby slid down the door and sat on the floor. She tucked the boxes of fish sticks behind her back and looked up at the polar bear towering above her. It was pretty hard not to draw attention to yourself—the wrong sort of attention—if you had a polar bear in your home. She blew a few more notes on the mouth organ.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking,” she said, “but how long are you planning to stay—exactly?”
Mister P started to tap his paw to the sound of the mouth organ. Leo squawked from his playpen.
“Shhhh,” said Ruby, “both of you, or we’ll have Mrs. Moresby back on the doorstep.”
Ruby continued to play a tuneless rise and fall of notes, as thoughts went round and round. She knew Mrs. Moresby was right. She should be at school. And she wished she hadn’t been so rude because Mrs. Moresby had been kind to her and was only trying to help. It was just easier to keep people away—especially when they started asking questions.
But an idea was beginning to form in her head. If she could pay back Mrs. Moresby then that would solve one problem. Then it was just a matter of getting Mom back on her feet … and going back to a school where she had no friends … and getting a noisy polar bear out of her flat …
She stopped playing, but Mister P wouldn’t stop dancing. Ruby kicked out at his paw and he jumped away and continued to jig.
“Stop it! Please! You’re going to get us thrown out.”
Bang, bang, bang went Mister P’s paws on the hard floor.
“SHUT UP!” shouted Ruby and flung the mouth organ at Mister P in frustration. It hit him on the nose and he whimpered and lay down quietly, cradling his nose in his paws.
Ruby hung her head. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, “but sometimes you are such a pain.”
Mister P got to his feet, retrieved the fish sticks from by the door, turned his back and walked out onto the balcony.
Ruby waited a few minutes, waiting for her anger to simmer down, then followed him out.
“This is what happens,” she said. “I always end up throwing something at somebody. I don’t seem to be able to help it.”
Mister P looked at her wisely then, with a deep sigh, lay down. Ruby sat down next to the bear and he let her rest her head against his side. She ran her hand gently down his fur, over and over until slowly they both started to relax and close their eyes. Ruby wished they could stay here all day, just her and Mister P chilling out together on the balcony. But there was too much to do and Leo had started to squawk in his playpen, demanding her attention.
Dear Dad
Leo and me have got a friend staying. He’s a polar bear. I’m not lying. His name is Mister P and he’s all right most of the time, though he is rather large and noisy and annoying. The biggest problem is that he eats a lot and that gets expensive. I don’t want to bother Mom for the money so I’m thinking of busking. What do you think? The tips for playing the mouth organ would be appreciated.
Anyway, it’s my birthday in two days’ time. I haven’t got anything planned yet, but if you wanted to come round and meet Mister P then we could have
a party. I think Mom and Leo would like to see you.
Love, Ruby
Ruby held her letter up to the sky. She’d spent the afternoon trying to improve her musical skills while Mister P had entertained Leo. Or maybe Leo had entertained Mister P. She wasn’t quite sure. Anyway, Ruby reckoned her mouth organ playing was much improved and soon she’d be ready to perform in public. She just needed to find the time and place to do it. Maybe tomorrow would be the day?
CHAPTER 9
Moving and Grooving
Ruby never had any idea, from one day to the next, how Mom was going to be. This morning Ruby awoke to the sound of the radio on full-volume and Mom vacuuming the flat to within an inch of its life. The combination of the heat and all this activity had turned the flat into an oven. Ruby opened every window as wide as she could. She sometimes wondered if Mom’s VERY BUSY days were almost worse than the days when Mom didn’t want to get out of bed.
“You need to get this bear out of my house,” Mom shouted over the noise. “I’ve never seen so much white hair. It’s like living in a zoo.” Mom pointed the nozzle at Mister P and his fur flowed in long white waves towards the suction hose. Mister P backed off, showing his teeth and growling.
“He needs space,” yelled Mom, “And so do I.”
Ruby hit the switch on the vacuum. It was doing her head in and she didn’t want Mrs. Moresby back on her doorstep complaining about the noise and asking more tricky questions.
“Perhaps we could all go out,” suggested Ruby. Getting Mom out of the apartment often seemed to help Mom’s mood and today seemed like the perfect opportunity. They could all go to the park. She wanted to see if Mister P’s hot-air balloon was still there. She hoped it was, then she could prove to Mom that she hadn’t been making it up.
“I can’t possibly go out,” said Mom. “I’ve got far too much to do.” She pressed the ‘on’ button of the vacuum again. “And Leo seems a bit off color. I don’t think he should go anywhere so I’ll keep him here with me.”
Mom was right about Leo. He’d woken up with a snotty nose and hadn’t been interested in his breakfast. Now he was sleeping, in spite of all the noise.
Ruby dressed as quickly as she could. If Mom wasn’t going to venture out, then this could be her chance to give busking a go. But she’d need to be careful. She didn’t want Mom to get suspicious and she couldn’t risk being seen or someone might tell the school.
Ruby had already been thinking about the best place to go and she’d settled on the Highcross Shopping Center. It was a place she used to go with Dad—mainly because it had a big skateboarding shop—and she figured it was far enough away from home to be safe. There were always loads of people around and she thought she remembered seeing buskers there before.
She slipped on her dark glasses and pulled the rim of her cap down over her face. That way, even if she bumped into someone she knew, they shouldn’t recognize her. Mister P inspected her closely and walked to the table where Mom had thrown her own dark glasses. He picked them up delicately in his teeth.
“Hey, you can’t take those,” shouted Mom, switching off the vacuum. “Come back!” But Mister P let himself out the door and started running down the stairs. Ruby followed him, laughing. When they arrived at the bottom, out of breath, Ruby took the glasses from Mister P’s teeth and balanced them carefully on his nose. “Very cool,” she said.
It was too far to walk to Highcross so Ruby had to hope that Mister P would be OK on the bus. She needn’t have worried. He smiled at the driver, and took care not to bump into the other passengers, before settling down in the aisle. He sat quietly staring out the window and watching the city race by. Ruby was interested … it was almost as though he always traveled by bus!
“Done this before, have you?” asked Ruby as they reached their stop and climbed off.
Mister P raised his paw as if to say goodbye to the other passengers. A couple of them waved back and Ruby puffed out her cheeks. “You’re full of surprises,” she said.
As they made their way towards the shopping center, Ruby nervously fingered the harmonica in her pocket. She tried to imagine herself busking and it made her tummy feel funny—sort of sick and jumpy all at the same time. She wondered if busking was such a good idea after all. She slowed her steps and came to a stop in front of the skateboard shop.
The window was full of shiny new skateboards and a TV was playing clips of boarders doing insane tricks. She’d like to have gone in, like she used to with Dad, but it made her feel kind of sad being back here.
“Dad said he’d give me one of these for my birthday, one day,” she said. “If I could choose, I think that’s the one I’d like.” She pointed to a slick-looking board painted bright blue. “What do you think?”
Mister P was busy watching the TV screen. Ruby could see the colors reflected in his shiny eyes. A girl walked out with a huge package under her arm and Ruby tried to imagine what that would feel like—walking out with a brand new skateboard of your very own. Like that would ever happen. She’d have to busk for about a hundred years before she had enough money for a skateboard.
Ruby needed to stop dreaming and remember what she’d come here for. She needed money to pay Mrs. Moresby before she could even think about saving for anything else.
“Come on,” she said to Mister P. “Let’s get this over and done with.”
She found what she thought was a good spot, pulled the harmonica out of her pocket, and took a deep breath. Her mouth felt dry and sticky as she tried the first few notes. This was harder than she thought. Somehow, out here in the shopping center, the harmonica sounded like a car crash. People walked past her, but no one took any notice. How dare they ignore her! Ruby could feel herself getting more and more wound up. And the more angry Ruby got, the worse her playing sounded. People were actually going out of their way to avoid her.
“Don’t just stand there, Mister P, she hissed.
Mister P looked left and looked right. He quietly removed the cap from Ruby’s head and put it on the ground. Ruby panicked. Now everybody could see her face! Then Mister P grabbed the harmonica, stuck it between his teeth, and blew. His playing, if you could call it that, was even worse than Ruby’s. But then he started to hop from
and turning circles. Ruby took a few steps back and it wasn’t long before the first coin dropped into the cap, closely followed by another. Soon coins were flying through the air, clinking and clattering as the pile increased. Ruby wasn’t surprised; it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen and Mister P seemed to be enjoying every minute.
Ruby looked at the money in the hat. If Mister P carried on like this, they’d pay Mrs. Moresby back in no time at all. But now the crowd was getting larger and Ruby worried that things might be getting a bit out of hand. She didn’t want any trouble and she knew what happened when Mister P got overheated.
“That’s enough for today, Mister P,” she said firmly, “We need to leave.”
chanted the crowd.
“Come on,” said Ruby, trying to drag Mister P away. “Let’s quit while the going’s good.”
Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw a policeman coming round the corner and she had a feeling a policeman might not be so impressed with a busking polar bear. She grabbed the harmonica from Mister P, picked up her cap, and ran through the crowd. Mister P galloped along behind her and in no time at all they were racing out of Highcross towards the bus stop. A bus was just pulling in. “Quick!” shouted Ruby, leaping on and holding the door. Mister P squeezed on behind her, the doors hissed closed, and they collapsed into a seat, gasping for breath.
“We did it, Mister P,” she said as they peeped into the hat. Most of the money was small change, but there must be almost enough to pay back Mrs. Moresby. Ruby laughed. It all felt like a bit of an adventure and it had been fun going out and doing something different. It was good to have a break every now and again. But now she was ready to get home. She didn’t like to leave Mom for too long.
; She let the coins run through her hands.
“Good job, Mister P. Fish sticks for lunch!”
CHAPTER 10
Ducking and Diving
Ruby arrived back to the cleanest, tidiest apartment she’d ever seen, but there was no sign of Mom or Leo. She knew there was no real reason to worry, but a sense of unease nibbled away at her.
Leo’s pushchair wasn’t there so that meant they must have gone out.
The excitement of the shopping center suddenly seemed very distant. They took off their dark glasses, tipped the money into a plastic bag, and hid it under the bed. Then they headed for the park.
Mister P sniffed the ground as they walked down the street. He kept going through the park, slowing a little as he passed the place where his balloon had landed. There was no sign of it now and he continued until the edge of the pond came into view.
“There they are,” said Ruby, pointing towards Mom and Leo. “You’re good with that nose of yours.”
She stood and watched them from a distance. Mom was crouched down next to Leo’s pushchair. It was such a happy sight to see them out together. It looked so normal.
Mom stood up when she saw them coming.
“I thought you said you weren’t going out,” said Ruby.
“I changed my mind. Leo’s been a right little toad all day.”
Ruby bent down over the pushchair. “Aw … look at your nose,” she said. “It’s horrible.”
“He’s been snivelling like that since you left. He must be teething, poor mite,” said Mom.
Ruby stroked Leo’s cheek. It was hot and pink. Mister P stared into the pond.
“You should go in for a swim, Mister P,” said Mom. “It might help get rid of some of that excess hair of yours.”