Read We Were Only Strawberry Picking Online
Authors: Henrietta Defreitas
We Were Only Strawberry Picking
1. The Meerville Strawberry Fields
12. The Great Escape – Part One
13. The Great Escape – Part Two
This is the third book of a series written
By Henrietta Defreitas
The Meerville Strawberry Fields
It was another glorious weekend as Henratty peered through the gleaming window panes, immersed by the rays of sunlight beaming through. She was certainly bored, as she breathed heavily on the recently polished glass and began to scribble her name. She watched the letters disappear one by one and then repeated the process several times. Her mother, Mama Mortimer, was doing the weekly cleaning, so she was not in the best of moods. Henratty desperately wanted to go outside and play with her younger sister, Lyndi Lou, but she was dubious about asking her mother right now. She had to see when she was in a better mood and then ask.
Henratty was still reminiscing about playtime until the sudden clanking of saucepans and cutlery tumbling to the ground had startled her, as she stopped daydreaming. She knew instantly that her mother had accidentally dropped these items in a rush to wash up. This was the only household chore Mama Mortimer hated the most and could never wait for the task to be over with, but generally cleaning never was her strong point! If there was a record for the fastest washer-upper in Meerville Town, she had no doubt that her mother would be the outright winner, providing she managed to hang onto the dishes in the first place!
Whilst Mama Mortimer was muttering to herself, no doubt frustrated, as she continued to chase the runaway cutlery along the kitchen floor, Henratty had now turned her attention to Lyndi Lou as she closely watched her finish eating her breakfast so elegantly. She really did take a long time eating her food, she was a proper little madam and most things had to be precise! Henratty then had this awful thought that if it were Jack Brian instead, not only would he have finished his food in seconds, but he would also have licked off every morsel he could find on his plate. The word
“
gross” came to mind, but thank goodness Jack was just a friend, she sighed with relief.
Having taken her plate to Mama Mortimer to wash up, Lyndi Lou rushed over excitedly, as she said to Henratty, ‘Well, what shall we do today?’
‘I’m not sure but it’s a beautiful day, so let’s do something outside and to be honest, I think we’ve had enough of staying in,’ grumbled Henratty, as she placed one hand on her chin and began tapping with the other on the slightly worn but well veneered dining table, whilst she contemplated what they were going to do.
Lyndi Lou was staring hard at Henratty, as she waited patiently for her to come up with something more adventurous than
hide and seek
! Also her continuous tapping was annoying Lyndi Lou somewhat who had been biting her tongue the whole time, and now on the verge of saying something. However, before she could say a word, Henratty had stopped tapping and was smirking. Lyndi Lou knew then that her sister had come up with something exciting for playtime.
‘I have a great idea, it’s strawberry season so why don’t we grab our baskets and go strawberry picking. We can also give some to Jack and Oscar to see if they can get Mama Katie to make her delicious strawberry tart that we all love,’ decided Henratty.
‘That’s a brilliant suggestion, why didn’t I think of that, you know how much I love strawberries,’ Lyndi Lou pronounced happily. She decided she would need to change into her favourite pink dress because it was so hot, as she darted upstairs and chuckled,
‘Pretty in pink that’s me!’
Now, all Henratty had to do was to convince their mother to let them go strawberry picking, as she headed towards the kitchen apprehensively, where Mama Mortimer was still washing up and still wittering to herself.
* * *
Having spent an excessive amount of time pampering herself, Lyndi Lou had returned even more elated, as Henratty was explaining to Mama Mortimer where they were going.
‘Just make sure you do what the attendant says and I expect you both back here well before lunchtime,’ Mama Mortimer said more sternly than usual, as she was fully aware that they had had ample playtime recently, in fact, far too much. However, they just loved every minute of their playtime and were thankful that they were being allowed out. Deep down they knew they should be catching up with homework, but there was always tomorrow!
Henratty had cleverly worked out that Mama Mortimer would let them out once she mentioned they were picking strawberries so that they could get Jack and Oscar to ask their mother, Mama Katie, to make her lovely strawberry tart. She had also noticed her mother give a broad smile when she mentioned why they were going strawberry picking. In Henratty’s eyes, this was a sure sign that she approved, not to mention the fact she had stopped giving them a lecture on the copious amount of playtime they had had already.
Finally, Henratty and Lyndi Lou briskly made their way to the front door having listened intently to everything their mother had said, and all they could think about was strawberry picking! Henratty pulled frantically on the front door, as she needed to quickly escape before their mother changed her mind, and as it opened, they were greeted by the strong rays of sunshine – they both squinted and shielded their eyes from the intense sunlight with the palms of their hands. It was extremely hot and sticky, but they did not care, they just wanted to get to those strawberry fields and nothing was going to stop them. However, before the door could shut firmly, it was suddenly yanked open by Mama Mortimer. Henratty’s heart sank, she hoped that her mother had not changed her mind as she suspected only a couple of seconds ago, but Mama Mortimer was just being extra cautious and thinking of the welfare of her meerkats.