by Maria Farrer
Ruby thought about this for a while. “Would you get better if Dad came back?”
Mom smiled. “I miss him, Ruby, just like you. But Dad was never one to be tied down.” She shrugged. “So there we go.”
“So what you’re saying,” said Ruby, “is that when you had us kids, Dad left.”
“No—no! Dad loved you very much Ruby. But it wasn’t easy living with me. Not after I got sick.”
“So you got sick and he quit. That’s not fair is it? Not on you. Not on any of us.”
Mom thought for a moment. “I don’t think it is as simple as that. He did try to help. But … oh it’s all too complicated. Skateboarding was his life and … well, he didn’t seem to be able to do both. He just wasn’t that kind of person.” Mom blew a wisp of hair off her face. “Sometimes I think it’s easier having him out of the way.”
Ruby wrapped her arms across her front and tried to work out exactly what Mom was saying. She’d always thought of herself as like her dad, but now she realized that she wasn’t really like him at all. She’d never give up on Mom and Leo. It wasn’t about being tied down, it was about stepping up.
She’d prove that she could take care of Mom and be a good skateboarder and maybe help Mom get better too. Suddenly Ruby felt much stronger. She gave Mom a hug.
“I’ve got a job for you,” said Ruby. “And you’re not allowed to say no.”
Mom looked at her.
“Mister P needs a skateboard.”
Mom pressed her lips together and her cheeks dimpled. Then she started to laugh. And before long Ruby and Leo were laughing too and poor Mister P seemed to have absolutely no idea what was going on.
“You are kidding, right?” said Mom once she could speak. “Mister P? Skateboarding?”
“Maybe,” said Ruby. “We could give it a try, at least.”
“Why not,” said Mom. “Why not! I’ll give it some thought. It won’t be easy.”
Ruby smiled quietly to herself. Nothing in life was easy. But that wasn’t going to stop her.
CHAPTER 16
Rust and Dust
Mom turned the key in the padlock to her workshop and the doors squeaked on their hinges as she pulled them open. She flicked the switch and the dark space burst into life. Ruby breathed in the familiar smell of oil and paint. She used to enjoy coming here and watching Mom work. Cars arrived at the workshop looking a complete wreck and left again looking good as new.
“I forgot to tell you,” said Ruby, “Mr. Jay asked if you could fix up his motor. He had an accident at the traffic lights.” Ruby folded her arms and looked pointedly at Mister P, but he was too busy sniffing around to notice.
Mom swept back her hair and put it into a ponytail then ran her fingers along the dusty work surface. “I suppose it’s about time I cranked this place back into action,” she said. “Perhaps I should think about getting back to work.”
Ruby had heard this all before. Mom didn’t need to think about getting back to work, she just needed to do it. Getting her down to the workshop felt like the first step.
Mom levered the top off a rusty pot of paint, stuck her nose in, and chucked the whole lot into the bin. Then she squatted down and started pulling stuff out from under benches. “I’ve got a pile of old skateboards here somewhere,” she said. “I’m sure I didn’t throw them out.” She hauled out a board with no wheels, then another that didn’t look too bad.
“We’ll need to spread his weight,” she said. “One board for each paw.” She found six boards and chose the best four. “They’ll need to be roughly the same size and setup.”
Ruby loved the energy that came into Mom’s face when she got stuck into a project. She watched as Mom
measured and drilled and fixed.
Leo sat happily in his pushchair, enjoying the sights and sounds.
Mister P was sniffing around at the back of the workshop, carefully checking the corners.
“Looking for spiders?” said Mom, glancing up. “There’ll be plenty of them.”
Mister P spun around and scooted towards the workshop doors, swiping at his nose with his front paw.
“I think he just found one,” said Ruby, giggling. She joined him in the sunlight and helped him wipe cobweb off his nose. “You’re not scared of spiders are you, Mister P? A brave bear like you who flies in hot-air balloons?”
Ruby looked at the sky. A plane soared high above them leaving a white trail against the blue. Ruby wondered where it was going.
“It’d be brilliant to be able to fly,” she said. “Even if it was only in an airplane.”
Mister P looked up, gazing at the plane until it was out of sight.
“Perhaps we could both fly off together on our skateboards,” said Ruby, giggling. “Imagine what fun that would be!”
Mom tinkered for a few more minutes and then put down her tools and called Mister P back into her workshop. “OK,” she said. “Here goes.” One by one, Mom strapped each of Mister P’s paws to a board. Mister P slid one leg backwards and forwards, and then another. Ruby gave him a
gentle push towards the doors. Mister P’s eyes got wider and wider as he rolled across the floor, his four legs getting wider and wider apart. He scrabbled like crazy to try to get some control, but it was too late …
Mister P landed flat on his stomach, legs splayed in four directions like a furry star that had fallen to earth.
“Hmmm,” said Ruby, trying hard not to laugh. “Maybe a bit more practice is required.”
“Something tells me this bear isn’t going to be airborne for quite a while,” said Mom. “At this rate we’re going to be struggling to get him off the ground at all.”
In the end, they had to take off all four boards to allow poor Mister P to scramble back to his feet. He kicked the skateboards out of the way in disgust and walked outside.
“Perseverance,” whispered Ruby, picking up one of the boards and swinging it in front of Mister P’s eyes. “Guts and determination.”
Mister P curled his lip and growled.
“You’ll get the hang of it.”
Mister P stuck his nose in the air and wandered off down the street.
Dear Dad,
I’ve had the best weekend ever. I now have my very own skateboard. Mom gave it to me for my birthday. She fixed up one of your old ones and it’s brilliant. Yesterday I met a boy called Connor at the skatepark and he’s giving me some tips. He can already do a Frontside 180 and he’s not that much older than me.
Mom’s sorted out Mister P too and he came with me this morning with his new boards. If you think it is hard to learn to skateboard on ONE board, you should try FOUR. Talk about mega-splats! Poor Mister P!
Ruby chewed the end of her pencil and giggled as she thought of Mister P wibbling and wobbling his way through the park, lifting first one leg and then another as he tried to keep his balance. It had been fun having Mister P alongside her. She lost count of how many spectacular crashes he’d had, but each time he just got up, shook himself, and started again. He was so bad he made Ruby look pretty professional.
I met a few other people at the ramp this morning. One is in my new class. His name is Dale and he is OK. Did I tell you I was moving class? I start on Monday.
Love, Ruby
p.s I have lots of bruises
p.p.s All my muscles are sore
p.p.p.s Mister P’s muscles are even sorer!
Ruby put her letter in an envelope, but she didn’t bother to hide it. She didn’t mind if Mom saw it.
CHAPTER 17
Developments and Discoveries
A whole week at school—a whole happy-most-of-the-time week.
Her new class was loads better. It felt like a brand new start from the minute she walked in. She was sitting next to Dale and he’d told all the others she was OK. In fact she was so OK she hadn’t got angry once—which meant no desk in the corridor and no trips to see Mr. Bayford.
She wasn’t stupid enough to think that everything was going to be gre
at like this forever, but things had certainly improved. It was good having Mrs. Moresby popping in and out to check on things at the flat and she and Mom were becoming good friends. Being in Mr. Cheriton’s class really helped too. He checked in with her and Marek every morning to see how things were going. Marek always had the same reply, “You know—up and down.” And the thing was, Ruby did know. And somehow that made things easier for both of them.
She’d managed to get out on her board a couple of times after school with Dale. Mister P had chosen to stay at the apartment, but Dale said that was quite likely because he was too exhausted to join them.
“How come you’ve got the inside info on Mister P?” asked Ruby, feeling a sudden twinge of jealousy.
“Connor says Mister P has been down at the park practicing all day while we’re at school,” said Dale. “Apparently he’s one very determined bear.”
Ruby couldn’t help grinning. She’d experienced Mister P’s determination before, though sometimes she wondered if he wasn’t just plain stubborn.
“And how would Connor know? Isn’t he at school too?”
“His nan told him,” Dale replied. “According to Connor, his nan spends a lot of time hanging out with Mister P.”
Ruby’s jaw dropped. Of course. OF COURSE! How had she not realized before? Mrs. Moresby must be Connor’s nan. She thought of the picture in Mrs. Moresby’s flat, the one of the boy skateboarding, and she laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?” said Dale.
“Oh, nothing,” said Ruby. “Do you know Connor’s nan?”
“He talks about her, but I’ve never met her.” said Dale. “I suppose you must know her though if she’s so friendly with your polar bear.”
“Yeah, I do,” said Ruby, “She’s a neighbor. But I hadn’t realized ’til now that she belonged to Connor!”
Dale and Ruby laughed and carried on walking. “Is it weird living with a polar bear?” he asked as they reached Mr. Jay’s.
Ruby shrugged. “It was hard at first, but you get used to it after a while. It’s certainly changed my life quite a lot. I mean you can’t exactly ignore it when you have a polar bear living in your apartment.”
“I wish I had one in mine!” said Dale grinning. “He’d sort out my big sister in no time. Could I rent him or something?”
“Maybe … one day. I’m planning on sending him round to Lucas and Kelly first. They could learn one or two things about being nice from Mister P, that’s for sure.”
Dale gave her the thumbs up. “OK, Lucas, Kelly, and then me. It’s a deal. See you tomorrow.”
Dale peeled off towards his own home, raising a hand in farewell.
Ruby watched him go and thought about Mister P. Things really had changed since he arrived. For the better.
* * *
That night Ruby didn’t feel tired. She was excited about the weekend and getting down to the ramp tomorrow. There was a competition on and she was going to go and watch with Mom and Leo.
But there was something else in the air that was making her restless and she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. It wasn’t just the excitement. It was a kind of worried feeling and she didn’t like it. Mister P seemed restless too. Mind you, she couldn’t blame him—it was hot and sticky and the worst kind of night to be a polar bear.
She looked at her watch. Mr. Jay’s didn’t close until ten o’clock and it was only nine now. She’d go and get them both a nice treat. She thought they deserved it after such a good week.
“I told Mom about your car,” said Ruby as she handed a large tub of chocolate ice cream over the counter to Mr. Jay.
“I know,” said Mr. Jay. “I took it to her workshop yesterday. She told me she’s going to start on it next week.”
Ruby smiled. This was news to her, but it was definitely good news. She paid for the ice cream and ran back to the apartment as fast as she could before too much of it melted.
Ruby and Mister P sat at either end of the balcony as the last light from the simmering sun left the sky. The bottom of Ruby’s feet rested comfortably against Mister P’s paws as she spooned ice cream into her mouth from her bowl and Mister P licked great scoops out of the tub.
“I miss you when I’m at school,” she said. “But I take a little bit of you in my pocket, you know?” She pulled out the ball of polar bear fur.
Mister P’s nose twitched.
“I hear you’ve been out practicing with your skateboards—a lot—that’s not very fair on me. I’m not sure you should be out without me around. I hope you haven’t been causing trouble?”
Mister P sniffed around the empty ice cream tub in the hope of one last drop. “We’d better get some sleep, I suppose. Early start.”
Mister P didn’t seem in any hurry to move. He grumbled and moaned as he clambered onto all fours.
She put her arm around Mister P’s neck and they stood together looking up at the stars.
“What do you wish for, Mister P?”
Mister P just kept looking at the sky and Ruby thought she saw a tear glinting in the corner of his eye.
“Don’t look so sad, Mister P. It’s the skateboard competition tomorrow. It’ll be fun.”
Mister P stared up for a moment longer then dropped his head and padded slowly back into the apartment.
CHAPTER 18
Beginnings and Endings
“Where did you get that from?”
Mister P was wearing a brand new skater cap on his furry head. He had his four skateboards lined up by the front door and was plodding around the flat being very busy. First he went to Ruby’s bedroom and fetched his suitcase. This seemed a little strange. After all, the competition was only in the park and hardly called for luggage. Next he went to the kitchen where he hooked one claw round the fridge door and flicked it open. He pulled out the last remaining packet of fish sticks with his teeth and dropped it into the suitcase.
“Picnic lunch?” she said as Mister P closed the lid of the suitcase. “You do know that’s the very last packet of fish sticks left, so don’t eat them all at once. I’ll have to talk to Mom about getting some more.”
Mister P sat down by the door, one paw resting on his case.
“Chill out, Mister P,” said Ruby. “We don’t need to leave yet.”
But Mister P seemed anything but chilled. He drummed his claws up and down on the lid of his suitcase until the rest of the family were ready to leave. Mom took Leo down in the elevator first and then Ruby and Mister P watched the floors light up as it came all the way back to the 22nd floor to pick them up. In they got and Mister P stuck out his claw and pressed the ground floor button. As the elevator started to descend, he gave a long sigh. Ruby smiled. “I suppose you think this is boring now,” she said. The elevator shuddered to a halt just one floor down and the doors opened.
“Good morning,” said Mrs. Moresby cheerily. “Is there room for one more? I’m heading to the park to watch the skateboarding competition.” She backed her way into the lift and somehow the door slid closed.
“You told me your grandson didn’t like you watching him skateboarding.”
“He doesn’t … but I’m not coming to watch my grandson, I’m coming to watch Mister P.”
Ruby groaned. “Please don’t tell me that Mister P is taking part in the competition?”
“He most certainly is. He’s been preparing all week.”
Ruby looked at the massive bear towering over them and she tapped her fingers against her skateboard. She could think of at least a thousand things that could go wrong with a polar bear getting involved in a skateboard competition and she could do without anymore unexpected expenses.
Clearly Connor hadn’t said anything to his nan about knowing Ruby, so Ruby didn’t say anything about knowing Connor. But she was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to be thrilled when he saw Ruby turning up at the park with his nan in tow. This morning had TROUBLE written all over it.
Once they reached the park, Mrs. Moresby and Mom helped Mister
P with his boards while Ruby put on her gear. Connor was right: Mister P had been practicing. In fact he whizzed along the path so fast, Ruby could barely keep up with him. At least it gave her a chance to warn Connor about Mrs. Moresby turning up.
The skatepark was busy with lots of people of all ages warming up for the competition.
it was all going on today. Connor spotted Ruby and Mister P and skated over.
“How’s it going,” he said, giving them both a high five.
“Your nan’s on the way. Just so you know.”
Connor grinned and rolled his eyes. “So you’ve worked that out then. Seems Mister P is her new best friend.”
“She’s cool,” said Ruby. “You’re lucky. I wish I had a nan like her.”
“She’s all right,” said Connor, “Just as long as she doesn’t hang out down here all the time watching me.” The three of them looked at the bench where Mom, Leo, and Mrs. Moresby were making themselves comfortable to watch what was going on.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Mrs. Moresby was your nan?” asked Ruby.
Connor looked at the ground and lifted one shoulder very slightly. “I didn’t want you to think I was helping you out just because you knew her.”
“And were you?” said Ruby, suddenly uncomfortable.
“NO!” said Connor. “I was helping you out because that’s what friends do and because it was funny watching you fall off all the time. Oh, and I liked your bear.”
Ruby scowled and then realized from Connor’s huge grin that he was joking. Dale skated over to join them and they all high-fived.
Friends! At long last she really had friends.
They helped Mister P with his skateboards and the three of them watched him roll into the half-pipe. He cruised backwards and forwards, bending his hairy knees, and shifting his weight to produce his own polar version of the frontside ollie—skating up the vertical, lifting into the air, turning, and coming back down again.