Ask Eva (8 page)

‘But––’

‘
Forget
it, Eva. If we make Aretta mad again, all the bracelets in the world won’t be able to fix it.’

I didn’t like what she was saying, but I knew she was right.

‘I guess,’ I said. ‘Now do you want to come to my place and help me with my maths
homework? I have
no
idea how to do it.’

And so Ella, Aretta and I fell into a weird kind of friendship. We sat together whenever we were in the same class. We hung out at break and lunch times. Ella and I told Aretta stuff that had happened in our school before she came. Aretta told us all the things she could remember about life in Nigeria, when she was a little girl. She never talked about her life now, and Ella and I knew not to ask.

And every day, at four o’clock, Aretta disappeared out of our lives, with no explanation at all.

It was like being friends with Cinderella.

Chapter Fifteen

O
n Friday, Ella and I didn’t even discuss a trip to the nursing home – we both just knew it was going to happen.

‘And look what I brought,’ I said when I arrived at her place, and unpacked the flask I’d sneaked from my kitchen. ‘Now we won’t have to take the kettle. I know Alyson isn’t the most observant person in the world, but sooner or later even
she’s
going to notice that the kettle is vanishing for a few hours every Friday night. Mum and Dad never use this flask though, so there’s no chance they’ll miss it.’

‘Genius!’ said Ella. ‘Why didn’t we think of
that before?’

When we got to Gigi’s room, I could hear noises from inside. I pushed the door open and gasped. It was only a small room, but it was pretty much full. Gigi was there of course, and Fred and Nancy, and there were also two more old women propped up on the bed with their arms folded, and in the corner was a man in a wheelchair.

Gigi shrugged her thin shoulders. ‘What could I do?’ she asked. ‘Word gets around.’

Ella and I looked at each other. How had one sneaky visit to her granny turned into a weekly party for half the residents of the nursing home?

‘Can I cuddle Lucky?’ asked Nancy. ‘I’ve been looking forward to this all week.’

‘Oh, Nancy, please could I hold her first?’ asked one of the new ladies, reaching out with thin, old arms. ‘I had to give my kitty away when I moved here three years ago, and I
haven’t touched an animal since.’

I think that might be the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. I quickly unwrapped Lucky from my fleece and handed her to Ella.

‘You pass the baby around,’ I said. ‘And I’ll get on with the tea.’

Luckily the flask I’d brought was huge, and I’d filled it right to the top.

‘We didn’t bring enough cups,’ I said in a fake cross voice. ‘Who knew that everyone who lives on this floor would be here, Gigi?’

Gigi laughed. ‘Oh, not everyone’s here. I invited them all, but Mary had to go to hospital, and Hannah’s gone to stay with her daughter tonight. Michael, who is at the end of the corridor, is a bit of a fuddy-duddy. He wouldn’t leave his room even if we told him The Beatles were playing a concert on my bed. Anyway, we’ll manage if you get the water glasses from my bathroom.’

The man in the wheelchair gave a big wheezy
laugh. ‘No need for that, girleen,’ he said. ‘I smuggled some cups from the dining room at supper-time.’

He pulled back the rug that was covering his knees to reveal four white mugs and a huge plate full of sandwiches.

‘You naughty boy, Paddy!’ said Nancy, and he laughed again, like it was the best thing anyone had said to him for weeks.

We all had tea and sandwiches, and the old people passed Lucky around. Lucky was very good, and seemed to be enjoying all the attention.

‘This is really quite cool,’ I was saying to Ella. ‘I’m glad so many people—’

Just then an old lady stood up and headed for the door.

‘You’re not being fair,’ she said in a sulky voice. ‘Hannah has had three turns at holding Lucky, and I’ve only had one. I’m leaving.’

I half-stood up, wondering if I should try
to stop her, but Gigi shook her head at me. ‘Peggy’s just a drama queen,’ she whispered. ‘Let her alone, and she’ll be fine in the morning.’

While this was happening, no one noticed Fred shuffling over to the table in the corner and picking up the flask.

‘Maybe there’s one last drop left….’ he said.

Even though it was empty, the flask was too heavy for his twisted, old hands. It slipped from his fingers and landed on Lucky’s tail. The poor dog yelped, and ran for the door, which Peggy had left open.

‘OMG,’ said Ella. ‘Catch her, or we’re all dead.’

‘OK,’ I said, running for the door. ‘You stay here and keep everyone calm.’

As I turned the corner, I saw the tip of Lucky’s tail disappearing down the stairs.

‘Oh no!’ I whispered. ‘You silly dog. Don’t go down there. That’s where Nurse Witch is
going to be.’

I raced down the stairs as quickly and quietly as I could manage. When I got to the ground floor, I peeped around the corner. All seemed quiet at the reception desk, and I could see Nurse Witch’s shadow reflected on the floor, like an evil black puddle.

‘Where are you, Lucky?’ I whispered. ‘Come back or you’re going to get us all into a whole lot of trouble.’

And then I heard a quivery voice from a half-open door at the end of the corridor – a quivery voice saying two words that made my blood turn to ice.

‘Nice doggie.’

The shadow didn’t move, and I guessed that Nurse Witch was too far away to have heard. I legged it down the corridor, and slipped into the room, pulling the door closed behind me.

A small night-light gave the room a creepy red glow. In the corner, a woman was sitting
up in bed, hugging Lucky, who was licking her face.

‘Nice doggie,’ said the woman again. ‘Nice doggie.’

I didn’t want to frighten her, so I walked very slowly over to the bed, and sat on the chair beside her.

‘I’m Eva,’ I said.

The old woman held Lucky with one hand, and reached the other hand towards me. I shook it, but it was like shaking a warm dry bundle of twigs, and I was half-afraid I’d hurt her.

‘I’m Eleanor,’ she said. ‘And I’m very pleased to meet you. I don’t get many visitors – and a visitor with a dog, why that’s a very special treat indeed.’

She stroked Lucky, who cuddled up against the old lady’s soft nightie, and closed her eyes.

It was a sweet moment, but I couldn’t
enjoy it. All I could think was that, at any moment, Nurse Witch could march in, and then everything would be ruined.

‘Oh,’ I said, looking at an imaginary watch on my wrist. ‘Is that the time? I’m afraid I must go now. I have to take Lucky home to bed.’

Eleanor didn’t say anything, but as I reached out my hands, she lifted Lucky and held her towards me.

‘Thank you,’ I whispered, hardly daring to believe my luck.

The old lady lay down again.

‘Good night,’ I whispered.

‘Good night, Madeleine,’ she said. ‘Thank you for coming.’

She gave a small smile and closed her eyes. I didn’t have time to wonder who Madeleine was, or why she might be running around a nursing home in the middle of the night with a dog under her arm. I tip-toed out
of the room, and along the corridor. Nurse Witch still hadn’t stirred, so I cuddled Lucky close to me and ran up the stairs.

It was turning into a very long night.

Chapter Sixteen

W
hen I got into Gigi’s room with Lucky, I was greeted like I’d just come back from a six-month expedition to the Arctic Circle. All the old people said stuff like ‘well done’ and ‘clever girl’ and a few of them even started to clap.

‘Shhh,’ I said, laughing in spite of all the stress. ‘Nurse Witch will hear, and if she discovers us, Ella and I won’t be able to visit next week.’

That made everyone fall silent. I was glad about that, but kind of sad too. Why were all these grown-ups so timid and obedient?

And then, as if she could read my mind –again – Gigi stood up.

‘Why are we all so afraid of Nurse Witch?’ she asked, waving her fist in the air.

‘She’s just an evil old spoilsport,’ said Nancy.

‘Hear, hear,’ said Fred, rattling his walking frame on the ground. ‘We shouldn’t let her treat us the way she does. We might be old and doddery but we still deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.’

‘We should tell Nurse Witch exactly what we think,’ said one of the new ladies. ‘After all, what can she do to us? She can’t hurt us.’

She was right of course, but I was suddenly scared.

Was it right for me to encourage these people to rebel, when I was half-afraid of Nurse Witch myself?

What if they spoke out and ended up making things even worse than before? They’d have to live with the results, while Ella and I
could skip off to our lovely homes. That totally wouldn’t be fair.

Then Gigi sat down. ‘Maybe we’re getting a bit carried away,’ she said. ‘It’s late, and we’re all tired. Why don’t we just go to bed? Tomorrow is a new day.’

I didn’t know what to say. Had I just witnessed the shortest revolution in world history?

There was a second’s silence and then the old people began to move. They made their way slowly to the door, whispering their goodbyes as they went.

Gigi climbed in to bed, and while I wrapped Lucky in my fleece, Ella gently tucked the bedclothes around her granny.

‘Good night, Gigi,’ she said. ‘Don’t let the bed-bugs bite.’

‘Good night, Darling,’ said Gigi. ‘You’ve made everything different. Everything is better when you two are here.’

Ella kissed her granny, and then she switched off the light and we tip-toed from the room.

When we got to the bottom of the stairs, we could see Nurse Witch sitting at her station. Her back was straight and she was all alert, like she knew that someone, somewhere was doing something wrong.

‘Oh, no,’ said Ella. ‘It’s getting late. If she doesn’t move soon, we’ll never get home before Mum and Dad. If they find out what we’ve been doing, we’re dead – totally dead.’

‘Maybe your parents will understand that we were just trying to help Gigi?’

‘No way. All they’ll understand is that I broke their rules, and I’ll be grounded for weeks.’

I hugged Lucky even closer to me. If Ella got grounded, my life wasn’t going to be a whole lot of fun either.

Just then there was the sound of a bell ringing, and Nurse Witch jumped up. Ella and I ducked back as she marched past. When she was safely gone, I peeped around the corner, just in time to see Nurse Witch disappearing into Eleanor’s room.

‘What is it, Eleanor?’ I could hear her saying. ‘It’s very late, and you should be asleep.’

‘I want to see the doggie,’ said Eleanor. ‘He was a very nice doggie. Can he come back?’

‘You’ve been dreaming,’ said Nurse Witch. ‘There’s no dog here. As you well know, animals aren’t allowed in the building.’

‘But he was here,’ said Eleanor. ‘I’m sure of it. And there was a lovely girl too. She said …’

I wanted to hear the rest of the conversation, but Ella was pulling my arm.

‘We’ve got to go,’ she whispered.

I knew she was right. We escaped from the nursing home, dropped Lucky back to Maggie’s house, and let ourselves in the back
door of Ella’s place.

Just as we were about to take off our jackets and boots, we heard the sound of Ella’s dad’s key in the front door.

‘Quick,’ whispered Ella. I raced up the stairs after her, and shoved the rucksack into a cupboard. There was no time to change. Without switching on the light, we both jumped into Ella’s big double bed and pulled the covers up to our chins. A second later, Ella’s mum was at the bedroom door.

‘Are you asleep, girls?’ she whispered.

‘Sort of,’ said Ella, in a fake sleepy voice.

Her mum crossed the room and sat on the end of the bed. I hoped she wouldn’t notice that, under the covers, Ella and I still had our boots on.

‘Well, I just came to tuck you in and say good-night,’ she said, leaning over to stroke Ella’s face.

‘Oh, my goodness,’ she said. ‘Are you all
right, Ella? Your skin is ice cold. And what about you, Eva? Are you cold too?’

I shook my head, trying not to laugh. ‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m fine, thanks. Just a bit sleepy.’

Luckily Ella’s mum took the hint. ‘Oh well, she said. ‘I’ll put the heating on for an hour and maybe we need to get you a warmer blanket for your bed, Ella.’

‘Yay,’ said Ella, forgetting that she was supposed to be sleepy. ‘There are totally cool fluffy ones in Daly’s. Maybe we should get two, just to be on the safe side. I’d like a purple and a black one, and maybe a few cushions to complete the look.’

‘You girls!’ said her Mum.

She went out, closing the door behind her, and that was the end of another Friday night.