by Maria Farrer
Ruby’s eyes widened. “How’s he learned that so quickly?”
“He’s a natural,” said Connor. “He’s got a great sense of balance—maybe it comes from living on the ice or something.”
“Maybe,” said Ruby as she watched skaters spinning out of the way to avoid the massive flying bear. “Though I’m not sure skateboarding is big in the Arctic.”
“Perhaps Mister P could introduce it. You know, when he goes home,” said Dale.
“Our apartment is his home now,” said Ruby. “He’s not going anywhere.”
The announcements began so Ruby left the park and went to take her seat with Mom, Leo, and Mrs. Moresby. The competitors stood in groups in their brightly colored shorts, each one holding their skateboard. There was a short delay as the organizers didn’t seem quite certain what to do with a polar bear. But as he’d already attracted a big crowd of admirers, it was decided he should skate last—as the grand finale. In the meantime he was sent to wait with Ruby.
The competition got underway, and Ruby’s heart beat faster as she watched the incredible tricks. It reminded her of the buzz of excitement she used to get when watching Dad, but now it was her, here with her friends. The crowd cheered and skaters punched the air as they nailed their tricks. Others didn’t do so well and everyone gasped as they bailed and slid down the ramp on their sides. Connor was easily the best, but Dale messed up so badly, he managed to damage his board. Mom said to tell him to bring it to the workshop after school and she’d see what she could do to fix it up. This made Ruby smile. She felt proud to have Mom sitting beside her.
The closer it got to Mister P’s turn, the more fidgety he became. Connor, Dale, and some others from the skatepark came and joined Ruby so they could all watch Mister P together. Ruby felt nervous. She hoped Mister P wouldn’t make a fool of himself.
“Don’t worry,” said Ruby, “We’re all here to cheer you on. You’ll be great.”
Mister P turned to Ruby and touched his nose against hers. She took off his cap and scratched the fur between his ears, then she closed her eyes and felt his warm breath on her face.
“Good luck,” she whispered.
He picked up his suitcase in his teeth.
“Wait,” said Ruby. “What are you taking that for?”
Mister P ignored her and walked slowly to the top of the ramp. Maybe his suitcase was like his good luck charm or something. Ruby reached for Mom’s hand and held it tight. Mister P positioned his weight over the boards, stared down into the half pipe and then out into the distance. He still had the handle of his suitcase gripped firmly between his teeth. Ruby held her breath. Mister P took one final look in Ruby’s direction and held her eye for a few seconds. Then he dropped in on the left side of the ramp and flew up the vertical on the other side. He lifted high into the air and sailed over the park fence, landing perfectly on his four boards.
And then he kept going … and going … and going.
“Wrong way, Mister P,” shouted Connor, laughing. “Come back!”
“What are you doing?” shouted Dale?
“Where are you going?” shouted Mom.
But their shouts got lost in the empty air and slowly they all went silent.
And then Ruby knew … or thought she knew …
… that Mister P had gone …
… forever.
Now everyone was looking at her. Ruby’s breath caught and she swallowed down the lump in her throat.
“Well that’s one less thing for me to worry about,” she said, picking up his cap and pulling pieces of polar bear fur off it. “No more embarrassing trips to the supermarket, no more dancing on the streets, no more sharing my room with a smelly mountain of bear hair.” She tried to blink away the tears.
Connor took off his helmet, scratched his head, and frowned. “No more accidents in the skatepark? No more polar bear tricks?”
“No more fish sticks, at least,” said Mrs. Moresby.
Leo started sobbing.
“He’ll probably come back,” said Mom.
But Ruby knew. Mister P would not come back. She rolled the polar bear fur into a tiny ball and put it in her pocket.
Dear Dad,
How are you? I nailed the “drop-in” on the ramp today. It was dead cool. You would have been impressed.
Mister P has been gone for three whole months now so I don’t think he’ll be coming back. I suppose it’s good really because we’re not supposed to keep animals in the apartment and it was quite crowded with him around.
Ruby picked up Mister P’s cap and fingered it. It still smelt like polar bear.
Mom says people come and go for different reasons. Some stay when it’s good and leave when it’s bad. Others stay when it’s bad and leave when it’s good, because they know you can do all right without them.
If Mister P ever catches up with you on the skateboard circuit, tell him that we’re doing all right, but that we miss him very badly. I still have to look after Mom and Leo some of the time, but Mom is back to work most days and now that Mister P has gone, Mrs. Moresby helps with Leo instead.
I think I will post you this letter. I wonder if you will get it.
Love, Ruby
XOXO
Ruby folded the letter carefully, put it in an envelope, and wrote Dad’s address on the front.
CHAPTER 19
Sunshine and Clouds
Ruby popped Dad’s letter into the mailbox and then walked to the park with Leo. She stopped to say hi to Connor and Dale.
“Not skating?” they asked.
Ruby shook her head. “I’m taking Leo to feed the ducks. Mom’s not having the best week.”
“Is Nan with her?” asked Connor.
“Yep—she’s taken Mom to her appointment at the hospital.”
“Cool,” said Connor. “We’ll come with you to the pond then.”
Dale and Connor put Leo onto a skateboard and held one hand each as they let him roll towards the pond. Ruby followed with the pushchair. There’s no way Leo would be waiting until he was eleven to start skating!
“Ack!” called Leo as the ducks gathered close to the edge of the pond. Dale and Connor helped Leo throw bread into the water.
Suddenly the ducks went very still and Ruby frowned. A dark shadow was drifting across the pond towards them, turning the water black.
“Midder P, Midder P!” Leo shouted, jumping up and down and pointing at the sky.
Ruby’s heart beat a little faster as she looked up. A huge cloud was crossing the sky, blotting out the sun.
“No, Leo, not Mister P. Just a cloud.”
“Midder P,” said Leo, his little voice dropping and his hand falling back to his side. Ruby wrapped Leo in a massive bear hug.
“He was a star, that bear,” said Connor.
“Some of the time,” said Ruby. And even though she felt sad, she couldn’t help smiling.
skating tricks
Big Air is when you launch off a ramp and gain lots of height, so a Big Bear Air is even more impressive and performed by a Polar Bear!
The Ollie trick involves bending your knees, and pressing down on the back of the board with your back foot. The front of the board will lift up and the back will “pop” off the ground. Then drag your front foot forward to balance the board out whilst off the ground and land. This can be used to jump over or onto objects in the street or skatepark.
The Kickflip is a trick to try once you have mastered the Ollie. It’s a similar process to the Ollie, but when you pop off the ground, quickly slide your foot to the front of the board, “kick” out, and flick the edge of your board with your little toe. This will cause your board to “flip” around. Once the board fully rotates, you should land with your back foot first and knees bent. A little tip to get better at the kickflip is to try and Ollie as high as you can first. This will give you more time off the ground and longer to flip the board around, but it’s a difficult trick so be patient!
There are so many cool tricks to l
earn, such as a 180 No-Comply or a Pop Shove It, or why not make up your own, like Ruby here!
About the author
Maria Farrer lives in a house in the middle of a field in Somerset with her husband and her very spoiled dog. She used to live on a small farm in New Zealand with a flock of sheep, a herd of cows, two badly behaved pigs, and a budgie that sat on her head while she wrote. She trained as a speech therapist and teacher and later she completed an MA in Writing for Young people. She loves language and enjoys reading and writing books for children of all ages. She likes to ride her bike to the top of steep hills so she can hurtle back down again as fast as possible. She also loves mountains, snow, and adventure and one day she dreams of going to the Arctic to see polar bears in the wild.
About the illustrator
Daniel Rieley is a British freelance illustrator based in Lisbon. After studying at The Arts Institute Bournemouth, undertaking an epic backpacking adventure in Australia, and working for three years in London, he decided to take off to sunny Portugal. For the past few years, Daniel has been working on several illustration projects from advertising, print, and card design to children’s books.
When Daniel is not drawing, you can probably find him trying to catch waves, taking photos with old cameras, or playing his newly discovered sport, Padel.