Eva's Holiday (9 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

I
didn’t really tell a lie when I got back to the house. I just didn’t exactly tell the truth.

‘Hi Mum, hi Dad,’ I called as I let myself in the back door.

‘Hi darling,’ said Dad. ‘It’s not like you to be up before us. What time did you get up?’

I tried to look innocent. ‘Er … I’m not really sure. I didn’t check my phone. It was early though.’

(Like the middle of the night!)

Mum rubbed my head like I was a puppy.

‘You’re being really nice to Kate. We’re proud of you.’

This was getting embarrassing, so I put a
quick stop to it.

‘I just came back to say “hi”,’ I said. ‘So, hi. Now I think I’ll go back and keep Kate company for a while.’

I ran out again, before anyone could argue, and minutes later I was back in the field with Kate.

I sat down beside her.

‘Now what?’ I asked.

‘Now we just wait to see what’s going to happen. Or did you have other plans?’

I couldn’t answer her. I hadn’t known what to expect when Mum and Dad dragged me on this holiday, but I
so
hadn’t expected this.

I lay back on the rug and looked up at the sky.

‘Pity the stars are gone,’ I said.

Kate giggled.

‘They’re not gone. They’re up there in the daytime too. You just can’t see them, that’s all.’

It was a strange thought. I wondered if that was the way Kate felt about her dad? Was he still
somewhere, watching over her, like the invisible stars? I was deciding if I dared to say this to Kate, when my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of feet marching along the road.

I sat up in time to see Joey marching into the field, followed by nine or ten little boys. They started to chant, ‘Listen to us – we’re making a fuss. Listen to me – save the tree.’

Kate stood up, and laughed as the boys marched closer.

They marched right up to the edge of the rug, and then they stayed there, marching on the spot, chanting their refrain over and over, and ignoring Kate’s giggles.

In the end, Joey raised one hand in the air.

‘Troops, at ease,’ he said, and instantly the boys stopped marching and stood quietly.

‘Where do you want us?’ asked Joey.

‘Er……,’ I began, not really sure what to do with this band of determined little boys. ‘Why don’t you go over there and play soccer for a
while, like yesterday.’ I said. ‘And we’ll call you if we need you.’

‘Yay, soccer,’ screeched one of the boys pulling a soccer ball from underneath his sweat-shirt. Then they all ran off to the other side of the field.

Half an hour later, the boys were still kicking their football. Kate and I had plenty to occupy us though, as it was getting very crowded in the shade of the tree.

Hans and Friedrich were back, accompanied by three Japanese tourists.

‘We meet them in the Bed and Breakfast,’ said Hans.

‘And they want to help saving the tree,’ said Friedrich.

The Japanese tourists kept smiling and nodding and taking endless photographs. I wondered what their friends back home would make of the bizarre scene.

Mum and Dad were there, with a small, quiet
man who ran the local shop. The woman from the pub was there too, chatting to some of the local farmers. Miley was there, with a huge round red-faced woman that Kate said was his wife. She kept shaking our hands and thanking us and saying that it was nice to get out for a change – something that made me think that she must have a very, very sad life.

People sat around on rugs and deck-chairs, and chatted like this was some kind of holiday camp.

But the biggest surprise of all was when Martha appeared, carrying a small three-legged stool. She put the stool on the grass and sat down heavily.

‘What are you doing here?’ asked Kate, (a bit rudely, I thought).

Martha didn’t seem to mind though.

‘Well, Girleen,’ she said. ‘If family don’t stick together we’re all lost, aren’t we?’

And no one could think of anything to say to that.

A few minutes later, Kate grabbed my arm.

‘Look over there,’ she hissed.

I turned to where she was pointing and gasped.

‘It’s Lily,’ I said.

Kate giggled.

‘It can’t be. In the summer, there’s no such person as Lily. There’s only CathyandLily. They don’t exist on their own.’

She couldn’t say any more, as Lily was right next to us. As usual she looked totally fabulous. Her hair was all smooth and silky, and she was wearing a cool dress and sparkly flip-flops.

I wished I hadn’t spent most of the night in a field.

I wished I didn’t look exactly like someone who had spent most of the night in a field. My hair was all messy, and I knew that my tracksuit bottoms were filthy. I didn’t have to look at Kate to know that she was her usual untidy self.

Had Lily come to mock us?

Was she taking everything in, so she could go back and tell Cathy all about it?

Then I noticed that Lily looked kind of embarrassed.

‘Er … I heard what you’re doing,’ she said. ‘And I think it’s great. Can I join in?’

Kate and I didn’t answer. I still thought it was some kind of a sick joke. Was Cathy going to appear from behind a ditch, laughing at us all?

Now Lily looked even more embarrassed by our silence.

‘That’s if … if you don’t mind,’ she said softly.

Kate and I looked at each other, and I tried to read what was in her eyes, but found that I couldn’t.

Suddenly I felt angry. Lily had been mean to Kate for years, so why should we be nice to her now?

‘I don’t think ….’ I began, but I stopped speaking when Kate put a firm hand on my arm.

‘Of course we don’t mind,’ she said. ‘There’s
plenty of room for one more. Thanks for coming.’

I gazed at Kate.

How could she be so generous and forgiving?

Kate and I scrunched over to the side of the rug, (which I wished wasn’t so old and faded), and Lily sat down beside us.

Even though there were so many people around, and there was lots of activity, I couldn’t think of anything to say.

Kate wasn’t much better. She just sat there, looking out towards the sea, like the girl who’d always been so mean to her wasn’t sitting right next to us, breathing our air, and getting the same dirty bottom from the same grubby old rug.

In the end the silence was too much for me. ‘So where’s Cathy?’ I asked.

‘She’s gone to France,’ said Lily. ‘To tennis camp. She’s not coming back for the rest of the summer.’

Now I felt angry again. So that was why she was here. Her best friend had gone away, so she’d decided she’d have to put up with second best – with Kate and me.

There were so many words racing around my mind that I couldn’t get any of them out.

Then Lily spoke again. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, looking at Kate. ‘I think that maybe Cathy and I have been a bit mean to you.’

A
bit
mean? How about very, very, very mean?

Kate didn’t answer. She just sat there looking at Lily. Lily went red again.

‘It’s not really my fault ….’ she began.

At last I managed to get some words out.

‘
Not your fault?
’ I said so loudly that everyone in the field turned to stare. Even the Japanese tourists turned to look at me as if I was just about to say something really important. One took out his camera and took a picture of me before I even had time to stick my tongue out at him. I waited until they got tired of staring, 
and continued talking to Lily in a lower voice.

‘How could it not be your fault? You said all those awful things. I heard you myself. And I didn’t see anyone holding a gun to your head.’

‘What awful things?’ asked Kate, suddenly reminding me that I hadn’t told her about them.

‘Oh … just general bad stuff,’ I said. Then I turned back to Lily. ‘Well?’

Lily gave a big sigh. ‘When I’m with Cathy, I feel like I have to impress her.’

‘That’s stupid,’ I said.

‘I know I should be stronger,’ said Lily. ‘It’s just that Cathy can be very persuasive. She’s very strong-willed. She’s—’

‘She’s a bully,’ I finished for her.

Lily nodded slowly.

‘Yes. I suppose you’re right. Cathy’s a bully, and I let myself be bullied. And I let her make me into a bully too. She’s done it for years, so I stopped noticing that it was happening. I know it’s not a good excuse, but it’s the only one I
can offer you. Anyway … I’m sorry, Kate – for everything.’

We both looked at Kate.

Kate shrugged. ‘So you said some bad stuff. That’s OK. I’m used to that kind of thing.’

I felt like punching someone or something. I turned to look at Jeremy, but resisted. I knew Kate would
not
be happy if I touched him in anger. So I punched the ground instead. I hit my knuckle on a stone, and it really hurt, but it couldn’t distract me from my anger.

How dare everyone be so mean to Kate?

She was kind and gentle and funny and clever, and just because she dressed differently to everyone else, why did that give people a right to be mean to her?

Who had the right to hurt this girl who had never hurt anyone or anything in her entire life?

And then I had a horrible thought. When I first met Kate, I didn’t want anything to do with her. I judged her by her looks, and did all
I could to get away from her. I wasn’t as mean as Cathy and Lily, but I wasn’t exactly an angel either.

I felt really angry, and really sad and really guilty – all at once. I couldn’t think of anything to say to make things right, though. So I just put my arm around Kate, and we sat there, waiting for something to happen.

Chapter Twenty-Two

A
t around one o’clock, there was a flurry of activity when a woman came marching up the lane. She was shouting loudly.

‘Billy, if you’re up here I’m going to kill you. Don’t you know it’s time for your lunch?’

I didn’t know who Billy was, but it wasn’t hard to find out. The red-haired boy, the biggest and toughest-looking of Joey’s friends looked like he was going to die of embarrassment. He picked up the soccer ball and started to walk towards the woman.

‘But Muuuuuuum,’ he wailed. ‘I can’t go home. I’ve got to save the tree.’

His mother wasn’t impressed.

‘You can save all the trees you like,’ she shouted. ‘But not until you’ve had your lunch.’

She was a fierce-looking woman, and Billy probably knew there wasn’t much point in arguing with her.

He threw the ball towards Joey.

‘Mind my ball,’ he said, and then he followed his mother out of the field.

The mention of lunch made me feel hungry and I had a fair idea that I wasn’t the only one. People were starting to look at their watches, and to shuffle restlessly.

Lily reached into her beautiful designer handbag and pulled out a totally cool phone. ‘I’ll ring my mum,’ she said. ‘She’ll bring us some food. She runs a catering business.’

Half an hour later, a shiny silver car drew up at the entrance to the field and a smartly-dressed woman climbed out.

‘Liliana, come and help me please,’ she called.

‘Liliana?’ I said, trying not to laugh.

Lily made a face at me. ‘I was called after my grandmother. Now, can you guys help? Knowing my mum, there’ll be a lot to carry.’

‘Sure thing, Liliana,’ I said, and the three of us laughed as we set off to unload the car.

There was so much stuff, it took us four trips to carry it all from the car to the tree. Lily’s mum had thought of everything. She’d brought disposable barbeques, heaps of chicken legs and sausages, big crusty rolls, tubs of salad, paper plates and cups and bottles of lemonade.

Kate tried to hide the paper plates and cups behind the lemonade bottles.

‘We can’t let Jeremy see these,’ she said. ‘They might be made from one of his cousins.’

I looked at her impatiently. Everything was going so well – was she going to spoil it all by acting crazy?

Then I saw that she was laughing, so I laughed too, and then Lily joined in, followed by everyone else – even Hans and Friedrich, who
kept tapping my dad on the shoulder, saying, ‘What is the joke, please?’

Lily’s mum set to work, and soon we were all eating happily. When every scrap of food was finished, Martha reached in to the big rucksack she’d brought with her.

‘Anyone for a chocolate bun?’ she asked, and then she had to back away as everyone rushed at her. She quickly had everyone lining up like they were at school, and she produced a bag of what looked like a hundred buns.

‘How did you know to bring so many?’ I asked.

Martha laughed. ‘I used to be a Girl Guide, back in the last century, so I like to be prepared.’

As we were eating the last of the crumbs from the chocolate buns, Hans went off, and returned a few minutes later, carrying a guitar. He sat on the grass and began to play, with Friedrich singing along. The song was in German, so of course no one else knew the words, but when he
got to the chorus, everyone hummed in tune, except for my dad, who managed to be totally out of tune with everyone else.

Hans continued to play, and after a while, the Japanese tourists passed around a big bag of sweets to share, and then we all sat in the sunshine, sucking our sweets and listening to the music and thinking that life was just perfect.

And then the sound of a jeep coming along the lane ruined everything.