The Honeymoon Sisters

by Gwyneth Rees

  ‘It doesn’t matter. It’s still a really original present. I know my dad would love it.’

  ‘Yeah, but this is my dad we’re talking about. He probably –’ I broke off abruptly as someone I knew came into the shop. It was Josh’s mate Sean from school.

  Sean isn’t as obviously handsome or as tall as Josh, but I suppose he’s fairly good-looking in a boyish sort of way. And he’s got really twinkly brown eyes. He’s certainly very witty – another attribute Mum says she used to find super attractive in my dad, but now finds super irritating.

  Now I remembered Josh telling me that Sean’s mum worked in the estate agent’s next door.

  ‘Sean!’ Josh immediately called out. ‘What are you doing inside a bookshop? Oh … hi, Mr Anderson!’

  Mr Anderson was right behind him. Like I said before, Sean’s mum married our English teacher last summer. Apparently Mr Anderson is ten years younger than Sean’s mum, and Anne-Marie says that our teacher must therefore have some kind of ‘mother complex’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean). When I repeated it to Mum she laughed and said that Sean’s mum is really glamorous and doesn’t look like anybody’s mother.

  Anyway, I can’t imagine anything more embarrassing than having my mum marry a teacher in our school. Except for everyone finding out my dad’s in prison, perhaps.

  Mr Anderson was smiling at Josh and me as he said, ‘It’s nice to see some of my pupils have developed a love of reading, at any rate.’

  ‘Poppy’s thinking about getting this for her dad’s birthday,’ Josh told him, showing him my book. ‘What do you think? He used to read Just William when he was a kid.’

  ‘Well, that sounds like an excellent choice, then,’ Mr Anderson replied, smiling kindly at me.

  Sean was grinning at me cheekily. ‘Your dad sounds nice and normal. Leo was reading the classics and reciting poetry right from when he was in his pram, weren’t you, Leo?’

  Mr Anderson put an arm around his shoulder. ‘Tell you what, Sean. Let’s find the poetry section and you can choose a book for yourself while we’re here. My treat!’

  Sean laughed, while I just stood there feeling self-conscious. It was so weird to see my hunky English teacher in ‘dad’ mode – and it was also weird how much less hunky that seemed to make him.

  ‘Come on, Poppy, let’s get it,’ Josh said, leading me towards the front of the shop to pay for my book.

  Suddenly Sean whirled round. ‘Wait a minute … I meant to congratulate you, Poppy.’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Sean.’ Mr Anderson’s voice held a warning which Sean clearly had no intention of heeding as a grin slowly began lighting up his face.

  ‘What are you on about?’ Even Josh sounded puzzled.

  ‘Mum just told me the story this morning.’ Sean started to laugh. ‘Her and Leo have got this whole Does my bum look big in this? thing going on … and this morning Mum told me what started it. Way to go, Poppy! At least there’s one girl in our school who doesn’t think Leo’s perfect!’

  ‘Sean!’ Mr Anderson sounded cross now, and maybe even a bit embarrassed.

  As for me, embarrassed didn’t even begin to cover it! I could feel myself flushing bright red and all I wanted was to find myself a deep, dark hole to bury myself in.

  Chapter Eleven

  Josh laughed all the way back to the park entrance.

  ‘It’s not funny, Josh!’ I wailed. ‘Next time I see Mr Anderson I think I’ll die. In fact I just want to die right now.’

  ‘Don’t be daft! He obviously thought it was funny or he wouldn’t have gone home and told his wife, would he?’

  Josh was still struggling to contain his mirth when we reached the park.

  ‘Just go home, will you?’ I snapped.

  ‘OK, OK … But it’s no big deal. Just chill …’ I could still hear him laughing as he walked away.

  I entered the park alone. I was fuming. This was all Anne-Marie’s fault for blabbing as usual. Maybe Olivia was right. Maybe I should just dump her completely as a friend. It might be a lot safer that way. If only Olivia was still here, I thought.

  Since there was no sign of Sadie yet I sat down on the nearest bench and took out Just William to have a proper look at it. One of the things I love about old books is the illustrations, and this one had some beauties. I just hoped Dad didn’t think it was a really naff present, that’s all.

  I’m not sure how long I’d been sitting there reading when someone suddenly appeared behind me and grabbed the book. It was Sadie.

  ‘What’s this, then?’ She was grinning as she bent the front and back boards back so that all the pages in between splayed out like a fan.

  ‘Watch it. You’ll break the spine,’ I said angrily.

  ‘So? It’s not like it can feel it, is it?’ She chucked it back at me.

  ‘Where’ve you been?’ I demanded, standing up and glaring.

  ‘Over at my best mate Alison’s place. Don’t tell your mum unless you want that book of yours to need some major spinal surgery!’ She laughed like she thought she was being super witty.

  ‘I thought you were going to see those mates from the other day? The ones who were at the bus stop with you?’

  ‘Yeah … I did!’

  ‘You mean Alison’s one of them?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘But they were much older than you!’

  ‘Alison’s seventeen. Nearly eighteen actually.’

  ‘But …’ I had a sudden alarming thought. ‘She wasn’t the girl who was hitting you, was she?’

  ‘Hitting me? Oh yeah, I remember. She was mad because I was really late getting there and she’d had to go off looking for me.’

  ‘But how can she be your friend?’

  ‘She calls me her adopted kid sister! She always looks out for me. We lived in the same road for ages. Her mum went off with some other bloke too, so once she knew I was in the same boat she sort of took me under her wing.’

  I guess I could understand that. ‘But she shouldn’t hit you!’ I insisted.

  ‘Oh … that was just a few smacks because I nearly made us late for Joe. He’d borrowed his brother’s car to pick us up.’

  ‘Who’s Joe?’

  ‘Alison’s boyfriend.’

  ‘And does he hit you too?’

  ‘Of course not! Alison wouldn’t let him!’

  ‘Well, she shouldn’t either. It’s bullying!’

  ‘Poppy, why are you getting so worked up? She’d never really hurt me. And she’d never let anyone else hurt me either. That’s not the problem!’

  ‘Oh? So what is?’

  She stayed silent, but just as I thought she’d completely clammed up she asked, ‘Poppy, have you ever been forced to make a really hard decision? To make a choice that you really don’t want to make?’

  ‘Well …’ I thought about it. ‘I had this best friend called Olivia last year. Anne-Marie was my best friend too. But Anne-Marie said I couldn’t have two best friends and that I’d have to choose.’

  Sadie seemed to find that amusing. ‘I’ve noticed Anne-Marie is pretty possessive. So what did you do?’

  ‘I chose Olivia. Then she moved away in the summer.’

  Sadie snorted. ‘I bet you felt like a right klutz! Talk about backing the wrong horse!’ She was enjoying this way too much now.

  ‘Shut up, Sadie,’ I snapped. ‘So what’s your big decision, then?’

  Before she could answer her phone beeped and she swiftly checked her text. ‘It’s Alison. She went to the cafe to get us some hot chocolates while I came to fetch you. She’s waiting for us at the gate.’

  ‘What? You mean she’s actually here? Wait a minute …’

  But Sadie was already leading the way.

  I followed behind her slowly, feeling nervous and curious both at the same time. I made sure I put my book safely away in my bag before I got to the gate.

  Sure enough, there was the older girl I’d seen with Sadie at the bus stop. She wore jeans today and a
denim jacket with different arty-looking patches sewn all over it. Her hair was still short and spiky and she wore big earrings and a nose stud. She was holding two polystyrene cups with plastic lids.

  Sadie quickly introduced us. ‘Alison, this is Poppy – my cousin.’ I was quite surprised to hear her say that so readily after all the times at school when she’d acted like she didn’t want anyone to know.

  ‘Hey, Poppy.’ Alison gave me a bit of a stare as she placed the two takeaway drinks on the wall beside her.

  ‘Hi,’ I mumbled nervously. ‘Sadie’s … um … told me about you.’

  ‘Oh yeah? What did she say?’

  ‘Um … just that you’re her friend.’

  ‘Best friend,’ Sadie corrected me crossly.

  ‘More of a big sister, I’d say,’ Alison corrected both of us. I wasn’t expecting what happened next. She reached forward and gripped Sadie in a massive hug. ‘Whatever you do, make sure you always leave your phone switched on. If I can’t contact you I’m going to get really mad, OK?’

  Sadie nodded. ‘I promise.’

  ‘OK. See you soon!’ Alison picked up one of the cups and walked off down the street without looking back.

  As we walked home together Sadie said, ‘Remember – don’t you dare start repeating any of my business to your mum or anyone else …’

  ‘Listen, Josh already knows you’re my cousin,’ I told her quickly. ‘Our mums are really good friends and they tell each other everything. He knows about your dad, but there’s no way he’d ever tell anyone.’

  ‘He’d better not!’ She sounded cross. ‘Same goes for that gossipy Anne-Marie.’

  ‘Anne-Marie doesn’t know anything. But Sadie, you do realise there are already a few crazy rumours about you going around at school, don’t you?’

  ‘What rumours?’ she demanded.

  ‘It’s just … well … some people are saying your dad’s a … a hitman,’ I mumbled, feeling a bit stupid just repeating it. ‘That’s what Anne-Marie was about to say the other day. You know … when Mr Jamieson called you over … but listen, I don’t want you thinking I started that rumour, or that Anne-Marie or Josh did, because –’

  ‘Oh, but that’s brilliant!’ Sadie interrupted.

  I frowned. ‘It is?’

  ‘Oh yes!’ She was grinning. ‘You see, a few weeks ago that nosy Julia saw me coming out of Mrs Thomson’s room and asked why I was seeing the school counsellor. So I told her you have to see the school shrink if your dad’s a hitman!’

  ‘Oh!’

  ‘I am so going to have fun with this!’ She checked her watch. ‘Come on. I’m starving. Let’s go home and see what’s for lunch.’

  When we got there we found Mum sitting at the kitchen table sipping a mug of tea and studying her new vegetarian recipe book. Judging by the smell she had something already cooking in the oven. Sadie stuck her nose in the kitchen to say hello and comment on ‘the delicious smell’ before going off upstairs.

  ‘Is Sadie all right?’ Mum asked me. ‘She looks tired.’

  The concern in her voice really annoyed me. After all, if Sadie was tired then she only had herself to blame. ‘Yeah, well, I guess it must be pretty exhausting pretending to be nice all the time,’ I snapped. ‘Still – at least she gets a rest from that when she’s with me.’

  ‘Poppy …’ Mum closed the book with a bang, patting the seat next to her. She fixed me with the look she always gives me when she doesn’t think I’m being sympathetic enough to some other person’s predicament. ‘I think we need to have a talk, don’t you?’

  I sighed, and got myself a glass of water before sitting down next to her. I badly wanted to tell her how Sadie had sneaked off on her own today, but I was too scared after Sadie’s threats. Still, that didn’t mean I had to agree with her that Sadie was perfect.

  ‘Mum, you have to see that she’s not nearly as sweet and innocent as she’s making out!’ I hissed before she had a chance to start talking.

  ‘Poppy, I’ve been through enough honeymoon periods with enough foster-children to know not to get complacent just because things are going well at this stage,’ Mum assured me. ‘I’m well aware that she’ll start testing me sooner or later – just like they all do. Then I’m sure she won’t be nearly so complimentary and well behaved, but until then –’

  ‘Mum, this isn’t the same! Sadie’s deliberately manipulating you. Why can’t you see that?’

  Mum sighed. ‘Poppy, she may be family, but at the end of the day she’s in exactly the same position as all the other children we’ve taken in. She’s been abandoned by the very people who are meant to love and protect her. And she doesn’t trust that it won’t happen again.’

  ‘This is different, Mum! She’s being super nice to you and horrible to me. None of the others did that.’

  ‘Sadie is a lot older than they were. Maybe that has something to do with it.’ She paused. ‘You’ve always been so patient and kind with all the others, Poppy. Can’t you just give Sadie the same chance you’ve given them?’

  I frowned. I could see that Sadie had had it pretty rough until now, and it wasn’t that I didn’t think she deserved a chance. But Sadie wasn’t being honest with Mum. And it wasn’t fair that she was somehow managing to wedge herself in between Mum and me so that it felt like she was pushing us apart.

  ‘Mum, what happened at Linda’s on Friday night?’ I asked nervously. I had to admit that my mind had been coming up with all sorts of horrible possibilities since Sadie had made her threats to do the same at our house.

  ‘She hasn’t told you?’

  ‘No.’

  Mum sighed. ‘Apparently last year Linda inherited a lot of money from her great-aunt, and also some personal items – clothes, shoes, ornaments, crockery, jewellery, that sort of thing. Most of it was in her spare room waiting to be sorted out. While Linda was out last Friday evening, Sadie and some friends went into the spare room and went through it all, chucking things out of the window into the garden.’

  ‘But that’s … that’s … horrible!’ I exclaimed, imagining that happening to all my stuff.

  Mum nodded. ‘Linda came home just as they were about to set fire to it all. She called the police but in the end she decided not to press charges.’

  ‘But why? I mean why did Sadie do it?’

  ‘She wouldn’t say, though things hadn’t been going well between her and Linda for some time apparently. Anyway, Sadie is banned from seeing those friends from now on.’

  ‘Banned? But –’ I broke off, too scared now to tell Mum what I knew. ‘But Mum, doesn’t this show you what she’s really like?’ I pleaded. ‘She did that to Linda after Linda took her in and tried to help her!’ I paused. ‘What if she gets her friends to do the same here?’

  ‘You don’t have to worry about that, Poppy,’ Mum said at once. ‘It sounds as though she and Linda had a very poor relationship and Linda was a very unsuitable choice of carer for her. Sadie’s given me her word that nothing like that will happen here.’

  ‘Sadie’s word doesn’t mean anything!’ Frankly I felt almost as angry with Mum as I did with Sadie. How could she bring Sadie into our home after what she’d done? ‘Mum, you said Sadie was only here on a trial basis, right?’

  Mum nodded. ‘Yes. We’ve agreed with her social worker that we’ll wait and see if this trial period is a success before deciding on the next step.’

  ‘But the next step is Sadie moving somewhere else, right?’

  ‘Yes … well … before we decide that, I think it’s worth waiting to see how well Sadie settles with us if we give it a bit more time.’

  ‘WHAT?! Mum, NO! That’s NOT what you said before!’

  ‘Listen to me, Poppy … Lenny is going to speak to you about all of this before we decide anything. You’ll have the chance to tell her all your concerns. But I want you to think hard about what you’re going to say, because you know Lenny will take it seriously.’

  ‘Good! At least somebody will!’ I glared
at her so hard that she actually looked a bit upset. I was glad. I couldn’t believe she had tricked me like this. She’d said nothing before about there being any possibility of Sadie staying with us permanently.

  ‘Poppy, think how you’d feel if it were you in Sadie’s position …’ Mum sounded almost like she was pleading with me. ‘The poor child has no parents and no home of her own, whereas you’ve got here and your dad’s place to fall back on.’

  I looked at her in disbelief. Did she even realise what she’d said? ‘So now I’m lucky to come from a broken home, am I?’ I rasped.

  ‘I didn’t say that!’

  ‘Yes you did! You know, maybe I should just go and live with Dad! Maybe that would solve the problem!’

  ‘Poppy, I –’

  But I didn’t want to hear any more and I stormed upstairs, only to find Sadie standing in the doorway of her bedroom, a smug look on her face. She pushed her door shut when she saw me but I knew she had to have overheard.

  Once I was alone in my bedroom I fully expected Mum to follow me upstairs like she usually does when I stalk off like that. Only she didn’t.

  After a while another thought hit me. What if the reason she hadn’t come after me was that she was busy thinking over what I’d suggested?

  And what if she decided that me going to live with Dad was actually quite a good idea?

  Chapter Twelve

  I was quite glad to be going to school on Monday morning just to get away from Mum and Sadie. Even first thing, Sadie was all smiles and compliments about the way Mum made toast. Apparently Linda’s toast was either too soggy or too well done, whereas Mum’s was just perfect.

  I hardly spoke to either of them at breakfast. I felt betrayed by Mum, and as for Sadie – well, it was all I could manage not to pick up my toast and throw it at her.

  In the bathroom I saw Sadie had shoved some of the stuff on my shelf to one side and put out her own toiletries. Typical Sadie, not even asking before she did that.