The Strawberry Sisters Read online

  Chloe’s mouth was open.

  Amelia realised that she’d noticed them and her cheeks started to flush.

  ‘You kept them,’ Chloe said.

  Mum looked up.

  ‘Of course I kept them,’ Amelia said.

  Lucy speared a carrot with her knife. ‘She keeps them in a special box.’

  Everybody turned to look at her. I hoped we weren’t going to get into an argument about Lucy going into Amelia’s room.

  ‘What?’ Lucy said. ‘She does.’

  Chloe was still staring at Amelia. ‘I thought you hated me.’

  Amelia took a deep breath. ‘I don’t hate you. I don’t hate anyone. I’ve been a bit . . . confused. I was really mad at Dad and I got mad at you too because I thought you were siding with him.’

  ‘I wasn’t.’

  ‘I know and I’m sorry.’

  ‘That’s OK. I didn’t really get it before, I didn’t realise how upset you were or that you needed to talk about stuff. I probably should have been a bit more, you know . . . sensitive about your feelings.’

  She pulled such a revolted face when she said ‘sensitive’ that we all laughed.

  Lucy pointed her speared carrot at Amelia. ‘So were you just saying all that mean stuff to us because you wanted to live with Dad and Kirsti?’ she asked.

  Amelia shrugged. ‘Not exactly. I was angry at him for leaving, but I suppose I understand it a bit more now.’

  ‘But will you stop being an idiot?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘Takes one to know one,’ Amelia said and she flicked a piece of broccoli at Chloe.

  I took that as a yes.

  Sometimes you listen to people tell you stuff and you don’t really believe them, but once it’s in your head your brain thinks about it even when you don’t know it’s doing it and eventually it starts to make sense. I had been trying to make Dad happy. I had been trying to get him to like me by being the nice one, and then I tried to join in with stuff that he likes, and then I tried not to care if he upset me. And I’d already worked out that pretending to be something you’re not is a bad idea with your friends so it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t a good idea with my own dad either.

  I definitely needed to tell Dad how I felt.

  On the way back from school, I wondered how I was going to bring it up. Dad was home when we got in and the first thing he said was, ‘Ella, can I talk to you?’

  My stomach swooped. This was my opportunity.

  He led me out into the garden and brushed the leaves off one of the metal garden chairs for me to sit on. ‘I wanted to apologise,’ he said.

  ‘I wanted to say sorry too!’

  ‘What on earth for?’

  I gripped my chair. ‘For being horrible. Saying that stuff about you not knowing anything about me.’

  Dad shook his head. ‘You weren’t horrible at all, Ella. I think there was a lot of truth in what you said.’

  I remembered what I said to Chloe about telling people how you feel. I pulled at a thread on my hem. ‘I would like to talk to you more.’

  Dad nodded. ‘There are a lot of voices in this family and I shouldn’t let you get shouted down by the others.’

  Even though it was chilly in the garden in just my cardie, I could feel my face getting hot. ‘I feel a bit stupid saying all this,’ I said.

  ‘I don’t think you’re the stupid one. I think I’ve been stupid not to make sure that you know that I really want to hear what you’ve got to say.’

  ‘I probably should have been more like Chloe an—’

  ‘No.’ He gripped my hand. ‘Absolutely not. I want you to be exactly as you are.’

  ‘But I’m not very good at some things.’

  ‘To me you’re absolutely perfect. I don’t want you to change anything.’

  ‘But if I was like Amel—’

  ‘Amelia is perfect as Amelia and you are perfectly Ella. I love you just the way you are.’

  Then I felt warm all over. But in a good way.

  Dad put an arm round me. ‘I’ve got something to show you all, but I’d like you to see it first.’

  ‘What is it?’

  He unlocked the door that goes from the garden into the garage and pointed into the gloom.

  I stepped inside. It was a new car. A big new car. One of those ones with an extra row of seats.

  ‘See?’ Dad said. ‘It’s a seven-seater. That way no one will get left behind.’

  I couldn’t believe it.

  ‘Wasn’t it really expensive?’ I asked.

  ‘Ella, I would spend all the money in the world to show you that there is always room for you.’

  Dad let me try all the different seats and all the buttons. And we talked. I told him about Kayleigh and Ashandra and riding and the art competition and about Chloe and Amelia being friends again and that I got a hundred per cent in my maths test last week.

  It was a really good chat.

  I was so happy about how well it went with Dad that I didn’t find it nearly as difficult as I thought I would to grab Ashandra and Kayleigh after maths the next day and say, ‘Can I talk to you two about something?’

  ‘Of course,’ Ashandra said and Kay nodded her head.

  Which surprised me because, when I’d been thinking about this conversation in my head, I had imagined them saying, ‘Sorry, we’ve got to chat about fetlocks and those knotty horse hairstyles and we haven’t really got time to listen to you,’ which just goes to show that Chloe is right and my imagination makes up far worse stuff than what is actually happening in real life.

  ‘Shall we sit under the tree?’ I asked.

  ‘OK,’ Ashandra said.

  ‘Is this something really serious?’ Kayleigh asked. ‘Are you breaking up with us?’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Ashandra said. Then she looked at me. ‘You’re not breaking up with us, are you?’

  ‘Of course not. I always want to be friends with you. Although it was quite hard for me when you two didn’t get on.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Ashandra said. ‘I don’t think we realised how much you minded until you went all funny and angry.’

  ‘I really like you both and I wanted us all to get on.’

  ‘I know,’ Kayleigh said. ‘But you did keep trying to squish us together and at first . . .’ She looked at Ashandra.

  ‘At first, you couldn’t stand me!’

  They burst out laughing.

  ‘I know and you didn’t like me,’ said Kayleigh.

  Ashandra pretended to bash her on the head. ‘I thought you didn’t care about anything. But I know you do now. Anyway, you thought I was posh!’

  ‘You are a bit posh.’

  Ashandra stuck her nose in the air and crossed her eyes.

  Kayleigh gave her a push. ‘But you’re really nice as well.’

  ‘I’m really happy you two like each other,’ I said. ‘It’s just that recently you only seem to talk about the art competition, your pizza waiter or horses and I feel a bit left out.’

  ‘Oh,’ Kayleigh said. ‘We didn’t know. I’m really sorry.’

  Ashandra put an arm round me. ‘So am I. We won’t talk about horses ever again.’

  ‘No! You can talk about horses. Just . . . maybe not all the time.’

  Kayleigh nodded. ‘OK. Cool.’

  The knot in my stomach loosened. ‘This is excellent, now we can all be definitely best friends forever.’ I smiled.

  Ashandra and Kayleigh exchanged a look.

  ‘What?’ I asked.

  ‘Listen, Ella, we both think you’re brilliant and Kayleigh and I are definitely going to go riding together and keep sitting together in maths, even if Mr Garibaldi says we don’t have to, but . . .’

  ‘You and me are already best friends, aren’t we?’ Kayleigh asked. ‘And Ash and Erica like a lot of the same things – like reading massive piles of books and being completely brainy and they’re sort of best friends now, aren’t you, Ash?’

  Ashandra nodded.

&nb
sp; ‘Oh.’ Now that I thought about it, Ash and Erica had been spending a lot of time together, but I suppose I’d been too focused on being nice or sporty or tough to really notice.

  ‘Is that OK?’ Ash asked.

  I thought about it. It wasn’t my plan, but you can’t always know where things are going to end up. You can’t always map out what people mean to you. Kayleigh is my best friend, Ash is my best friend at my dad’s, Ash and Kay are good friends and Erica seems nice so maybe we could be friends too. They’re not all exactly the same kind of friendship, but they’re all good. And that’s what matters.

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘That’s completely fine.’

  ‘Good,’ said Ashandra. And then she poked Kayleigh. ‘If you call me posh again, I’ll push you in the swimming pool.’

  When I got home, I told Mum about Ashandra and Kayleigh. I also told her about Erica and Alenka and some of the other people in my class.

  ‘It sounds like you’ve got lots of different friends, Ella. I knew you would have; you’re a very special girl.’

  I smiled.

  ‘I’ve got an idea. Would you like to have a sleepover in half-term?’

  ‘That’s a brilliant idea.’

  ‘Who will you ask? Ash and Kay and Alenka and Erica?’

  I thought about it. ‘Can I invite everyone?’

  ‘Everyone?’

  ‘Well, all the girls in my tutor group. There are thirteen including me. I don’t want to leave anybody out.’

  ‘Of course you can. You’d better make some invitations.’

  Three days before my party, Amelia actually said that she’d help me make flower garlands to decorate. We spread out over the kitchen table and Chloe came in to see what we were doing.

  ‘Do you want some help? I could make a garland of monkey butts.’

  ‘Yes to the help, no to the monkey backsides,’ I said.

  She sat down. ‘Are you having this party in the Pit?’ she asked.

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘How many people are coming?’ Amelia asked.

  I looked down at my flower. ‘I invited twelve . . .’

  ‘Really? You invited everyone?’ Amelia frowned. ‘Even that horrible Jasmine girl you’ve been moaning about?’

  ‘I couldn’t help it. I don’t want to be the sort of person that leaves people out. Even if that does mean they laugh at me when I give them an invitation.’

  ‘So you’re not really expecting Jasmine to turn up?’

  ‘Actually, the only people who have definitely said yes are Ash, Kay, Alenka and Erica.’

  ‘Oh,’ Chloe said. ‘Well, it was quite short notice.’ She drew a monkey bottom on a piece of paper. ‘And five people is loads for a sleepover.’

  ‘But you do still need the Pit really,’ Amelia said. ‘Has Lucy finished whatever she’s doing in there?’

  ‘The tape’s still up.’

  ‘You’ll just have to ask her to take it down when she comes back from Dad’s.’

  Lucy had convinced Dad to let her stay an extra day after our weekend with him.

  ‘She’s probably reading Kirsti her Victorians project for the millionth time,’ Chloe said.

  ‘Lucky Kirsti,’ Amelia said. She hadn’t completely given up on the sarcasm.

  Mum’s phone rang inside her bag in the hall. I stood up, but Mum came out of the sitting room and grabbed it so I went back to the garlands.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Mum said.

  We stopped threading flowers and started listening.

  ‘But didn’t you see? Weren’t you watching them?’ Mum asked.

  I looked at Amelia then Chloe. Something bad was happening.

  ‘Have you phoned the police?’ Mum’s voice was strange and tight. ‘What did they say? Yes, I’ll come now. Ring me again if you find them.’

  ‘What is it?’ Amelia asked as soon as Mum hung up.

  ‘It’s Lucy and Kirsti.’

  My insides squeezed hard.

  ‘They’re missing.’

  ‘How can they be missing?’ Chloe asked. ‘They’re at Dad’s house.’

  ‘He says Suvi was having a shower while Kirsti was sleeping, and Lucy was reading next to her basket, and he left them alone just for a moment so he could start tea and then the next time he looked they’d gone, both of them.’

  ‘But how?’ Chloe’s hands gripped the edge of the table.

  ‘He says . . .’ Mum’s chin shook. ‘He’s says the window was open . . .’

  Amelia very gently steered Mum into a chair.

  My mind was in overdrive thinking of horrible things that could have happened.

  ‘Are the police looking for them?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘The police are on their way to Dad’s. I need to go . . .’ She stood up and looked around as if she couldn’t remember where the door was.

  ‘What should we do?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘I . . .’ Mum’s face was white.

  My heart was thumping. What if something really bad had happened? But Lucy would scream if anyone tried to take Kirsti; she would never let anything happen to her, she loves her so much. Then it hit me.

  ‘It was Lucy,’ I said.

  They all looked at me.

  ‘You know she’s crazy about Kirsti. I bet she took her. Maybe she went for a walk with her.’

  ‘She’s not allowed out by herself, she knows that!’ Mum said.

  ‘When Lucy knows things, she doesn’t always do them,’ Chloe pointed out.

  Amelia had picked up her phone and hit some buttons.

  ‘Dad?’ she said into it. ‘Yes, I know. No, we haven’t found her. Listen, is the pram gone? Did Lucy take the pram?’

  That was a very clever thing to think of.

  ‘He’s looking,’ Amelia said to us. We waited. Amelia’s face lit up. ‘It’s gone! That’s good. Lucy’s taken Kirsti out, but we can find them. Yes, we’ll go now.’

  She hung up.

  ‘Mum, you go in the car.’ She handed her her phone and her keys. ‘Chloe and I will go to the shop and the swings. Ella, stay here in case they come back.’

  ‘Check your room,’ Mum said to me. ‘See if she’s taken anything. Or left a note.’

  I ran up the stairs and looked on Lucy’s bed and around the room, but I couldn’t find anything helpful.

  So Mum dashed off to Dad’s house and Chloe and Amelia left to search too. I sat next to the phone in case Lucy called. But I knew she wouldn’t. She hadn’t got a phone and I didn’t think she would even be tall enough to reach the slot to put the money in a phone box. Besides, I was pretty sure that she didn’t want anyone to know where she was because she wanted to be alone with Kirsti. I felt sick in my stomach. Lucy is smart, but what if she forgot to look both ways when she crossed the road?

  I should have known that something like this was going to happen. I could see how miserable she was about Kirsti. I should have tried harder to make Dad and Mum understand that Lucy was horribly upset about not living with Kirsti. I really thought that I had helped by telling Lucy that she could teach Kirsti everything about being a Strawberry Sister. The day before, at Dad’s, I’d heard Lucy singing Kirsti the rude song that Chloe made up about farting in the bath. She seemed so cheerful that I was sure I’d solved her problem. But perhaps I should never have said that stuff about teaching Kirsti because maybe that’s what gave Lucy the idea that it was OK to go wandering off with her. I wish I’d been better at helping. If anything happened to either of them, it would be all my fault.

  I lifted the phone up to check that it was working, then put it back down again quickly just in case that was the exact moment that Lucy chose to call. I went to the window to see if she was coming down the road, but she wasn’t. I filled a glass of water from the tap, but it was hard to swallow so I poured it away again. I stared around at the untidy kitchen and decided to get started on the washing-up, but all the time I couldn’t stop thinking about Lucy and Kirsti. Kirsti still needed feeding all the time. Suvi said baby stomachs ar
e weeny so, even when she’s just had a feed, it’s not long before Kirsti is starving again. What if she was crying now?

  My mind felt like it was doing crazy loop-the-loops. I needed to think straight. I sat down on the sofa and took ten deep breaths.

  If Lucy really was trying to show Kirsti how to be a Strawberry Sister, where would she take her? Lucy loves the fountain and the milkshake shop, but they’re both in the town centre. Surely she wouldn’t go that far? There’s the swings and the newsagent’s where we buy sweets, but Amelia and Chloe were going to check them. I tried to remember exactly what Lucy said when she told me that she thought Kirsti was missing out. She was talking about March of the Zombies while she was swinging from her bat bar . . . Her bat bar! Maybe that’s where she was.

  I grabbed my phone and my key from the table in the hall and sped out of the door.

  As I hurried across the road, I was completely convinced that I’d find Lucy showing her bat bar to Kirsti.

  I slipped through the gate. The skate ramp was blocking my view of the bat bar. My strides turned to a run. I stopped dead.

  They weren’t there.

  My shoulders sagged. Lucy could be anywhere. Poor Kirsti would be howling. What if they were lost? What if a creepy stranger kidnapped them?

  ‘Ella?’

  I swung round. It was Lucy. With Kirsti in her pram.

  My knees wobbled. ‘Lucy! Where have you been? Everyone is looking for you and Kirsti. Is she OK?’ I looked into the pram. Kirsti was fast asleep with a smile on her face.

  ‘She’s fine. She hasn’t even listened to what I’ve been telling her. She’s just been napping.’

  ‘Lucy, the police are looking for you!’

  ‘Why? Didn’t Dad read my note?’

  ‘What note? Nobody said anything about a note.’

  Lucy rolled her eyes in exasperation. ‘I wrote a note telling him to come to our house.’

  ‘Why? Never mind. Come on, we’ve got to go home.’

  I pulled up Mum’s number from my contacts and called her.

  Mum answered straight away. ‘Have you found them?’