Alice Next Door (8 page)

L
ater that night, when I was pretending to be all settled down in bed, Mum came in to say her goodnights. She still had her apron on, which meant she was busy, so I was confident it was going to be a short session.

As usual, I was wrong.

She sat on the bed and sniffed the air. ‘What’s that smell?’

I shrugged and tried to look innocent – a look I was beginning to perfect.

‘What smell? I don’t get a smell.’

I wondered was it Alice’s feet. She hadn’t dared to have a shower since she’d arrived in our house. And sometimes her feet did pong a bit – especially when she wore trainers.

Mum looked puzzled. ‘There’s definitely an unusual smell in here. It’s like……’

‘Maybe it’s that nice perfume you and Dad gave me for my birthday. I put some on earlier.’ This wasn’t actually a lie. I held my wrist towards Mum’s face so she could smell it.

‘No, love. It’s not that. It’s…..’

‘Or it could be nail varnish remover, or deodorant or something,’ I offered helpfully.

Mum shook her head, and wrinkled up her
forehead
. ‘No. It’s nothing like that. I was going to say it’s something like onions, or tomatoes or
something
. Only kind of artificial. Like packet soup.’

Of course. It wasn’t Alice’s feet that were the
problem. Mum was smelling the stupid pot noodles. She wasn’t far off the mark with her guesses. I bet she was a bloodhound in her last life.

I couldn’t think of anything to say. All I could think of were the empty noodle pots which were in a plastic bag in a drawer next to my bed.

She shook her head. ‘Anyway, whatever that smell is, it’s not very pleasant. Will I open the window and let some fresh air in?’

To open the window, she’d have had to go around to the other side of my bed, and even though Alice had rolled underneath, I didn’t want to take any chances.

‘No, Mum, it’s fine thanks. I don’t notice
anything
.’

She sat on the bed, and rubbed my forehead.

‘Are you OK, Megan? You look a bit pale.’

I put on a brave smile. ‘I’m fine. I’m a bit tired, that’s all.’

For once, I wasn’t lying. All the fussing over hiding and feeding Alice, and the regular bouts
of bathroom mountaineering, were beginning to wear me out. I wasn’t used to such an exciting life.

Mum didn’t know about any of that, though, did she?

She smiled. ‘That’ll be all the tennis. You’re just not used to it. If you play more often, you won’t get so tired.’

‘Mmmm. I suppose so. I think I’ll play again tomorrow, and see how I get on.’

I turned over then, and snuggled under the duvet, trying to give her the hint to leave.
Unfortunately
, Mum was never very good at taking hints.

‘And, Megan, I hope you’re getting used to Alice not being around.’

I couldn’t reply. This really wasn’t a
conversation
I wanted to have at any time, and especially not right now with Alice lying under my bed
listening
to every single word.

Mum put on her softest voice. ‘You just wait and see. You’ll be in secondary school next year. You’ll make lots of new friends. And in no time,
you’ll nearly have forgotten all about Alice. When you’re all grown up, she’ll just be a distant, happy memory from your childhood.’

I could feel the mattress moving slightly under my legs. Alice must have been pushing her feet up underneath it. She was making double sure that I wouldn’t forget about her. It was a typical, reckless, but very funny Alice-moment.

I couldn’t help it. I gave a sudden, huge laugh. Mum looked at me in surprise. I put my head in my hands and pretended to be crying.

Mum put her arms around me and rocked me. It would have been very soothing if I had been upset, but since I was trying to stifle my giggles, it wasn’t very helpful. I made lots of gross snorting noises that I hoped sounded like sobs. Mum said, ‘oh my poor darling,’ and rocked me some more, while Alice’s feet beat out a snappy little rhythm beneath the mattress.

Eventually I recovered my composure. I sat up straight, wiped my eyes and smiled a brave smile.

‘I’m OK now, Mum. I just had a sudden sad moment. I was just thinking of what I’d say to Alice if I could see her now.’

While I said this, I slid my hand from under the covers and put it under the bed. As I did so I made it into a fist, in an effort to make Alice behave herself. Luckily it worked. The movement under my legs ceased, and I began to relax.

Mum got up to go.

‘Better now? Call me if you need me. And remember, Megan, Daddy and I will always love you, no matter what.’

Great, I thought grimly. I’ll keep that in mind for when you discover exactly how I’ve spent this week.

Mum kissed my forehead, and went out of the room. After waiting a few minutes, just to be sure, Alice rolled out from under the bed.

First I was angry with her but not for long, I could never be angry with Alice for long. Soon we were in fits of giggles and then we lay in the
darkness without speaking.

It was nice, just knowing that she was there.

As I closed my eyes and dropped off to sleep I promised myself that Alice would never, ever be just a distant memory to me.

N
ext morning I woke up to two distinct noises. The first was the sound of heavy rain beating down on the flat roof of my
bedroom
. The second was the sound of Alice
snoring
. She sounded like a pig or a rhinoceros or something. I listened for a while, and then decided I’d better wake her. If Mum happened to pass my bedroom door, she’d surely come in,
wondering what the strange noise was.

I leaned down and shook Alice hard. She woke up and looked at me in surprise, as if she wasn’t quite sure where she was.

‘Megan?’

I grinned at her. ‘Yes, Alice. It is I.’

She looked sad. ‘Sorry. I was having a very vivid dream. I thought I was at home again. With Mum and Dad. And Jamie. Jamie was being really, really stupid. But it was nice all the same.’

She sat up straight and stretched her arms high into the air. ‘But no more moping. Today we are thinking positive. Today is the first day of the rest of my life.’

I laughed. ‘Yes. The first day of the rest of your life in Limerick.’

‘Yes! The rest of my life in Limerick.’ Her face took on that shiny, happy expression that I both loved and feared.

‘Bit of a problem, though,’ I added.

‘What’s that?’

‘Listen.’

She put her hand behind her ear in an exaggerated listening pose. ‘What? All I can hear is Rosie crying.’

Now that she mentioned it, I became aware of a soft wailing sound coming from the other side of the house. I hadn’t noticed it before. I
suppose
I was just so used to it. It was the
background
noise of my life.

‘I don’t mean Rosie. Can’t you hear the rain?’

‘So? It’s raining. Big deal. This is Ireland. It rains a lot here. Hadn’t you noticed? Anyway, it’s not raining in here is it?’

I sighed and wondered if she was deliberately missing the point. ‘Of course it’s not raining in here. But how can I pretend to be going to play tennis if it’s still pouring rain this afternoon? Mum knows I wouldn’t play in the rain. So how will I get out of the house?’

Alice clapped one hand over her mouth in an
expression of sheer horror. I wasn’t sure if she was faking it. With Alice it was often hard to tell.

She spoke in a hushed tone. ‘You’re right. This is a disaster. We’re trapped. We could be prisoners for the whole day. It’s not fair. It’s cruelty to children!’

I laughed. ‘Hey, it’s not quite that bad. We’ll think of something. Now, do you need to do some mountaineering before I go for breakfast?’

She shook her head. ‘No. I’m fine. Ill wait till you get back.’

I shrugged, and pulled on my dressing gown.

‘OK. I’ll see you in a while. I’ll bring you back something nice.’

Then, closing the door carefully behind me, I went back to my real life.

After breakfast, Mum said. ‘You know what day today is, Megan?’

I pretended to think. ‘Wednesday?’

Of course I knew perfectly well what day it
was. Wednesday was an important day. It was half way through the week. Alice had been in hiding for two days, and we only needed to continue for two more.

Mum continued. ‘Well, Wednesday is toddler group day. Rosie and I will be leaving in a few minutes. It starts at half ten.’

At these words, Rosie began to jump up and down. I felt like doing the same. Mum going out was an unexpected bonus.

Rosie clapped her fat little hands together. ‘Yay. Toddle oop. Toddle oop. Bikkies. Juice.’

Poor Rosie. She had no freedom at all, and the only time she ever saw a biscuit was at toddler group.

Mum laughed, and stroked Rosie’s hair. ‘Well, Rosie’s excited about it anyway. Why don’t you come, Megan? You can play with the toddlers. You always like that.’

I shook my head. ‘I don’t think so, Mum. I’m a bit old for that stuff.’

‘OK, you can stay here then. But no television and no computer. You can tidy the family room while I’m gone.’

I smiled my sweetest smile. ‘OK. Leave it to me. Your wish is my command.’

Mum did her usual half-exasperated shake of her head, and then she went to get her coat. I did the good girl act, and began to stack the dishwasher.

As Mum was leaving she came back into the kitchen. ‘Sure you won’t come?’

‘Yup. Quite sure.’

‘OK, so. Be good. I have to go to the
supermarket
on the way home, so I won’t be back until about one.’

I had to bend my head over the dishwasher so she wouldn’t see how happy that news made me. My hair fell down into a dirty porridge bowl, but I didn’t even care.

As soon as Mum’s car was gone from the drive, I skipped into my room.

‘It’s OK. It’s me.’

Alice rolled out from under the bed.

I threw my arms in the air with a theatrical flourish.

‘Ta-da! May I present you, Alice O’Rourke, with the freedom of this house? For two and a half long hours, you, Alice O’Rourke can wander the rooms of this dwelling without fear of discovery, or banishment to Dublin.’

Alice looked at me, puzzled. ‘Quit the fancy stuff. Just tell me what’s happening.’

‘My mum’s gone out,’ I explained. ‘We’re free.’

Alice jumped up. ‘Free, and starving. Take me to your kitchen.’

It was strange, sitting in the kitchen with her, watching her eat two bowls of Weetabix, and three slices of toast. She kept getting up from her seat, and wandering into the hall, as if she had never experienced such freedom before.

Then we tidied the kitchen together, and we worked as fast as we could to get the family room
tidy enough to keep Mum off my back. After that, the rain stopped for a short while, and we played swingball in the back garden, where we were safe from neighbours’ prying eyes.

When it started to rain again, we went back inside. I had a brainwave. I dug out an old vacuum flask from one of the kitchen
cupboards
, and filled it up with boiling water. Then I hid it in my room, so Alice could use it later, to heat up her noodles. I was very pleased with myself, and even Alice was impressed.

I wanted to listen to music in my room, but that wasn’t really fair on Alice, who’d seen more than enough of my room over the last few days. So instead we lay on the floor in the family room, and we played Monopoly.

It was nice. Every now and then I was able to forget for a moment what was really going on, and for those few seconds, it was just like old times. Sometimes I half expected, Alice to jump up saying it was time for her to go home for lunch, promising
to be back within twenty minutes. Sometimes I thought Mum might just casually look in and offer us some wonderful treat like salt-free rice cakes or organic carrot sticks. Sometimes I thought Rosie would toddle in and sit on Alice’s back, one of her favourite places. So sometimes during that game of Monopoly, I was very, very happy. And sometimes I was very sad.

I was being especially careful, checking my watch every few minutes, making sure it wasn’t time for Mum to come home. It was only five past twelve when I threw a three, and landed on one of Alice’s streets that had a hotel on it. She jumped up and did a triumphant little jig. “Pay up, sucker. You owe me fifteen hundred euro.”

I was riffling through my money to see if I had enough to pay her, when to my complete horror, I heard a very familiar sound.

It was the distinctive, unmistakable chug-chug noise of my mother’s old banger of a car pulling into the driveway.