The House of Clouds

by Lisa Thompson

  Straight away I looked up at the shelf and at Grandad’s ship in a bottle. I walked over and carefully lifted it up.

  “Can I have this?” I said. “I promise I’ll look after it.”

  Mum smiled at me.

  “Of course you can,” she said. “He’d be so pleased you chose it.”

  I took the bottle upstairs and sat cross legged on my bed. I wiped the glass and stared in at the ship. It really was a fascinating object. I was just wondering if it had been modelled on a real ship when my phone began to ring. It was Alex.

  “Hello?” I said.

  “Tabby! Are you free? Can you meet me at the pier in ten minutes?” Alex sounded out of breath.

  “I … um … yeah, I guess,” I said, staring down at my pyjamas.

  “Great!” said Alex. “And bring Buster!”

  The phone went dead. I sat there for a second, and then I got up and grabbed my clothes.

  Five minutes later, I headed to the pier, Buster trotting along beside me. I normally took him for walks later in the day, and he seemed really happy that we were going out early for once. When he spotted Dave, he began to pull on his lead.

  “Hold up, Buster,” I said. “No rush!”

  “Tabby! Quick, follow me,” said Alex. “She said we’ve got to be sitting on the sea wall in exactly five minutes.”

  Alex ushered me towards the pebbly beach.

  “Who said that?” I asked. “What’s going on?”

  Dave and Buster began to jump around and bark as if they could sense Alex’s excitement.

  He grinned at me. “It’s a surprise!” Alex said. He checked his watch. “Come on. There’s only a few minutes to go!”

  We walked around the pier to the promenade, and Alex let Dave off his lead. I let Buster go as well. The two dogs ran across the pebbles, and Dave splashed straight into the sea.

  “OK,” Alex said. “I think if we sit about here, then we’ll have the best view.”

  He sat down on the sea wall, swung his legs around and patted the space beside him. “Sit here and wait,” Alex said, smiling.

  I frowned at him, then sat down. The wall was cold against my legs, but I could still feel the heat from the sun on my face. It was probably the last warmth before winter took charge of the weather.

  “I don’t get it,” I said. “What are we waiting for?”

  Alex looked behind us and then back at me.

  “We’re waiting for this,” he said, pointing to the bright blue sky.

  I twisted around to see what Alex was pointing at.

  A cloud appeared over our heads. It had a long part at the front and a wide, bulbous middle. I stared at the cloud’s sweeping curves and the different shades of white and grey that merged in the middle. And then I realised what the cloud was.

  “It’s a ship in a bottle!” I said.

  I quickly fumbled to my feet and stood on the sea wall in the bright sunshine. The cloud floated right over our heads. I could make out the billowing sails of the ship inside the wispy white shape of the bottle. The ship looked like it was just setting off on a trip across the ocean to lands far away.

  I felt tears stream down my face as I watched the sculpted cloud drift further and further away.

  “Your grandad was telling the truth after all, Tabby,” said Alex. “Yesterday I went back to the house and spoke to Amelie. I told her everything that you’d said: about the cloud sculptor, how your grandad had made up a story about his ship in a bottle. Amelie listened and told me to bring you back here this morning at nine and to watch the sky. Amelie must be a cloud sculptor as well!”

  I grinned at Alex, and then I turned back, just as a gentle breeze carried the cloud further away. The ship in a bottle twisted slightly, and before long it wasn’t a bottle at all. It was just a cloud, floating out to sea.

  My face was wet with tears, and I wiped my cheeks with my sleeves.

  “Goodbye, Grandad,” I whispered. “Have a good trip.”

  Chapter 11

  After the ship in a bottle had faded into the bright blue sky, Alex and I headed towards the House of Clouds. I couldn’t speak. I felt as if I was floating like a cloud myself. It was true! Grandad’s story was true!

  A black jeep appeared at the end of the track to the house, and its window wound down. Amelie was in the driver’s seat. She lifted up her sunglasses and placed them on the top of her head.

  “I was hoping I’d see you,” she said.

  “That was amazing!” I said. “That cloud looked exactly like Grandad’s ship in a bottle. Are you a cloud artist too? Just like Ava? How do you carve them? Can you show us how you do it?”

  Amelie smiled but didn’t answer my questions. “I need to get to the airport now, Tabby, but I’ll be back,” she said. “Here. This is for you.” Amelie reached down for something in the side of her door and passed it through the window. It was an envelope.

  I clutched the envelope to my chest as she put her sunglasses back on.

  “Bye, Tabby, bye, Alex,” Amelie said, and the black jeep slowly drove away.

  “Why is she going?” I said. “I’ve got so many questions!”

  “She said she’d be back,” said Alex. “Maybe you can ask her next time?”

  I held up the envelope. On the front it read For Tabby in elegant handwriting. I opened it. Inside was a photograph: the photo of Amelie, Ava and my grandparents standing on the beach. I looked again at their smiling faces and then turned the photograph over. Something was written on the back.

  “There is wonder all around you, Tabby,” I read out loud. “You’ve just got to remember to look up. From Amelie.”

  I turned to Alex, who was smiling at me, and then I put the photo safely into the envelope. I would keep it in my bedroom and put it right next to the ship in a bottle.

  We headed slowly across the car park, and my phone pinged. It was a message from Rebecca:

  Hi Tabby. How are you doing? I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch since your grandad died. Do you fancy coming into town? Just the two of us? x

  I smiled to myself, remembering that Lily was in Wales. I typed a reply:

  Sorry, Rebecca, but I’m busy today. Have a nice weekend! x

  I hit send, and then I deleted the app that I kept looking at with all the photos of Rebecca and Lily having a good time. As soon as the app vanished from my screen, I felt a great sense of relief. Why hadn’t I done that sooner?

  “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you,” said Alex. “I found some of that shampoo for Buster that I told you about. For his skin condition? I could help you give him a bath if you like?”

  Alex seemed shy for a moment. Like he was embarrassed to be offering to help. Buster did a little spin in front of us as Dave wiggled his bottom beside him. They were so funny together.

  “Sure,” I said, laughing as the dogs bounded around us. “That’ll be great.”

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