by Gwyneth Rees
LOVE AND KISSES,
Your biggest admirer,
Poppy
‘Urgh!’ I exclaimed, sure that my face must have turned beetroot red.
Sadie looked serious. ‘OK, tonight the two of you can write another letter telling Mr Anderson that one was from you.’
‘And what if we don’t?’ Julia snapped.
Sadie took just one step towards her. ‘Julia, you do know why I got suspended, don’t you?’
‘If you punch us, you’ll get expelled,’ Katy said coldly.
Sadie just shrugged. ‘I honestly don’t care! I didn’t even want to come to this school in the first place!’
We watched the two exchange uncertain glances before turning away and leaving us together.
‘Those two had better not mess with either of us from now on,’ Sadie said fiercely. ‘Come on. Your mum’s waiting for us in the car. She couldn’t find a big enough parking space near the school so she ended up driving miles up the road. She told me to come and fetch you.’
As we set off along the road together I asked doubtfully, ‘Do you really think they’ll tell Mr Anderson that letter was from them?’
Sadie shrugged. ‘If they don’t it’ll just give me a good excuse to whack them both.’
‘Sadie, you can’t just go around hitting people whenever they make you angry.’
‘Why not? They were threatening you! Or don’t you mind getting your hair cut off?’
‘They wouldn’t really have done that.’
‘Fine. So in that case I wouldn’t really have punched them.’ She paused. ‘Anyway, don’t mention it.’
‘Mention what?’
‘I mean, you’re very welcome, Poppy.’
We heard a horn tooting and looked over to see Mum double parked on the other side of the road. Obviously she’d got fed up waiting for us.
‘Thank you, Sadie,’ I finally said as we crossed the road together. ‘Thank you for standing up for me just now. I really do appreciate it. And thank you for saying I’m your family.’
She nodded curtly. ‘No problem. And anyway … you are.’
Chapter Twenty-Three
The next day brought both good news and bad.
The good news was that Julia and Katy confessed to their letter-writing prank and were instructed to write me a letter of apology.
The bad news was that when I got home from school Mum told me that tomorrow’s visit to Amy had been postponed for yet another week because now Amy’s new sister had just come down with chickenpox.
So on Saturday morning Sadie and I stayed at home helping Mum in the house and doing our homework. When Mum went upstairs just after lunch to make a couple of phone calls, Sadie said she would load the dishwasher if I wanted to go and get on with the English essay I’d been struggling with all morning. (Sadie had already done hers while she was suspended.)
About twenty minutes later as I finally finished my homework I thought I heard the front door close. Mum was still on the phone in the bedroom so I went downstairs calling out Sadie’s name. In the kitchen the lunch things had been cleared and there was a note on the table which said, Back later. Sadie.
I ran to the front door, flung it open and spotted Sadie hurrying away down our street. Where was she sneaking off to without telling anyone?
I frowned. Today was the day Alison had mentioned in her text. Be careful, she had said.
I don’t know what possessed me to follow her without even taking my phone with me or leaving another note for Mum. I think I had some idea I would catch up with her and talk her into coming back before Mum even got off the phone. Anyway I wasn’t thinking straight as I grabbed my jacket from the banister and raced off down our road after her. I decided not to let her know I was following until I found out where she was going.
She headed straight past the park and along the road towards the little row of shops where the second-hand bookshop is.
I kept watch from a safe distance as she disappeared inside the cafe. Was she meeting someone there or what?
I knew I couldn’t wait outside forever because Mum would be worried when she discovered we were missing. I either needed to return home or borrow a phone to give her a call.
Just as I was debating what to do a familiar voice called out my name and I turned to see Sean coming out of the estate agent’s where his mum works. I couldn’t help remembering what Josh had said about him fancying me and I felt myself flushing and feeling horribly awkward. Out of school uniform he looked a bit older and a lot cooler, despite the bruise on his face. His boyish grin was just the same.
‘I brought Mum her keys that she left at home again and now she wants me to fetch her a coffee from the cafe,’ he said, talking rapidly as if he was a bit nervous too. ‘So what are you doing here? Looking for a really weird birthday gift again?’
‘No,’ I answered. ‘Sean, are you going into the cafe right now?’
‘Yeah. Why? Want to come with me and get a Coke or something?’ Forbidden or not, he didn’t seem at all bothered about hanging out with me.
‘Oh … no …’ I lowered my voice as I continued, ‘Sadie’s in there. I’m sure she’s planning to do something dodgy and I’m trying to follow her without her seeing me.’ I quickly reminded him about the text we’d been discussing just before she’d punched him.
Sean looked amused. ‘And here’s me thinking I was going to have a dead boring Saturday. Listen, I’ll go and get that takeout coffee for my mum, and while I’m in there I’ll see what I can find out, shall I?’
‘OK, but be careful what you say this time.’ The last thing I wanted was for him to get punched on the nose again.
By the time Sean came out of the cafe – with Sadie – I had gone to hide inside the bookshop. The bookshop owner was giving me sharp looks as I hovered by the window pretending to read a musty old book I’d picked up, which I suddenly saw was all about fly-fishing.
Sean was carrying a takeaway coffee and Sadie had a can of Coke and they chatted for a minute before Sadie walked off.
I quickly put back the book and went outside to meet Sean.
‘She actually told me again she was sorry for punching me,’ he said. ‘And you know what – I’m starting to believe her! She was in there just now asking how to get to Percy Street. Apparently she went there straight from school before, and she doesn’t know the way from this direction. Says she’s going to see a friend.’
‘Anne-Marie lives in Percy Street,’ I said at once.
‘So maybe Anne-Marie asked her round?’
‘This is the day she told us Anne-Marie and her family were going to visit her aunt – remember?’ I was getting a bad feeling now – a very bad feeling … ‘Come on. Let’s follow her.’ Then I felt myself blushing as I realised the assumption I’d made. ‘Oh … sorry … of course, you don’t have to come with me.’
‘No, it’s OK. I’ll come after I’ve delivered Mum’s coffee. You go after her and I’ll catch you up. But Poppy, what is it you think she’s about to do, exactly?’
When I told him I thought she might be going to let out all of Anne-Marie’s animals from their cages, he just gaped at me in disbelief. ‘We’re talking about Sadie, right? Animal-loving Sadie who wants to ban all non-living fur and feathers from the school premises?’
I nodded.
‘And you really think she’s going to do that? You don’t think she’s just going to padlock herself to the rabbit hutch or something!’
I knew he was trying to cheer me up but I couldn’t seem to even squeeze out a smile. ‘No. That’s why I have to catch her in the act and talk her out of it.’
‘Well, you go ahead. I’ll see you in a minute!’
I walked on, keeping a good distance between us. If she spotted me I was afraid she would just deny everything and postpone the whole thing to a time when she knew I wasn’t around.
Sean caught up with me on the other side of the railway bridge. Sadie had just turned the corner into Anne-Marie’s street
. While we were relatively safe from being spotted I asked Sean if I could borrow his phone to text Mum, but in the end I couldn’t think what to say so I just handed it back to him to switch off.
‘Now I’m breaking another one of Leo’s rules,’ he told me. ‘Always have your phone switched on when you’re out and about.’ He grinned. ‘You know he worries far more than Mum about that kind of thing. We had much more freedom when it was just her.’
At his mention of Leo I remembered there was something I badly wanted to ask him. ‘Sean, is it true what Josh said … that you’re not supposed to hang out with me outside school any more, just because I’m Sadie’s cousin?’
Sean pulled a face. ‘Yeah … Leo says Sadie’s a troublemaker and even though he knows you’re not, he doesn’t want me getting drawn into whatever trouble Sadie draws you into.’
‘What trouble?’ I said dismissively.
He laughed as he replied, ‘Well, I guess the sort that’s happening right now!’
Chapter Twenty-Four
We watched from across the road as Sadie walked up to the front door of Anne-Marie’s house and stood there ringing the bell as if she was calling in for her. After a moment or two she walked confidently round to the side gate.
‘Come on,’ I said to Sean. ‘Time we joined her. We’ll just act all normal, like we’re calling in for Anne-Marie too.’
‘Josh always said you weren’t as timid as you seemed,’ Sean said, grinning. ‘You’re actually pretty feisty, aren’t you?’
I rolled my eyes at that.
As we stood in front of Anne-Marie’s house there was no sign of anyone being at home and I quickly tugged Sean towards the side entrance.
We entered the back garden and straight away I saw Sadie letting out the guinea pigs.
‘Sadie!’ I hissed, and she turned round, looking startled.
‘What are you doing here?’ she snapped.
‘Sadie, you can’t do this!’
‘You followed me from the cafe, didn’t you?’ Sadie was glaring at Sean. ‘You’d better leave now if you don’t want another punch on the nose. Both of you!’
I stepped forward, struggling to keep calm. I knew I had to if I wanted to get her to listen. ‘Sadie, what are you trying to do exactly?’
‘What does it look like?’ she retorted. ‘I’m freeing these poor animals.’
‘Sadie, listen!’ I said. ‘This isn’t the same as what you did at Linda’s. These aren’t fur coats! They’re live animals!’
Sadie snorted. ‘Thanks, Poppy, but I can actually tell the difference.’
‘Sadie, these are just pets! They don’t even know how to live in the wild,’ I tried again.
‘Yeah,’ Sean joined in. ‘All you’re doing is killing off a bunch of innocent little furries!’
‘I’m not killing them – I’m giving them a chance to have a proper life!’ Sadie snapped.
‘A very short proper life!’ Sean argued. ‘I’d say most of them will be dead by tonight. They’ll either end up as roadkill or the foxes’ll get them. And that’s if they don’t get squashed by a train first.’ As if on cue a train rattled by along the tracks that ran behind the back garden fence, sounding alarmingly close.
‘Better to have one day of freedom than a lifetime trapped in a cage,’ Sadie shouted above the noise.
‘But these are pet rabbits!’ Sean protested once the train had passed. ‘They’ve always lived in a cage. They probably like it!’
‘Oh, so you can talk to the animals now, can you, Doctor Doolittle?’ Sadie said.
‘Don’t be daft –’
‘Well, how do you know what they like?’
‘Sadie, the rabbits have got babies!’ I reminded her as she took a determined step towards one of the big wooden hutches.
‘I know. How would you like to be born in a cage and spend your whole life there?’
‘But Sadie, these baby rabbits won’t get any life at all if you let them out. It’s not like they’ve even got a burrow to protect them. The mothers will probably get scared and run off and the babies will be terrified.’
‘Yes,’ said Sean. ‘First they’re going to be petrified and then they’re going to have really disgusting deaths being ripped apart by some fox.’
Sadie looked uncertain – and a bit like she might be going to throw up – and I made sure I took advantage of the moment. ‘Sadie, if you leave now I promise I’ll set up that zoo debate for you,’ I offered. ‘I’m chairing it, remember. Just before it starts I’ll announce that we’re doing the zoo one instead of school uniforms. You’ll be able to get your point across to the whole assembly hall and change loads of people’s minds about zoos – and you won’t be hurting any real animals.’
It was a good argument and I had definitely got Sadie’s attention. Suddenly Sean said, ‘Hey! The man next door is looking out of his upstairs window. I think he’s seen us.’
Sadie ignored him, still looking at me fiercely. ‘You’ll really fix that debate?’
I nodded. ‘Absolutely. You can argue against zoos all you like.’
‘You promise?’
‘Promise.’
‘OK.’ Just for a second I thought she looked relieved as she cast a last glance over the rabbit hutches, where two of the babies were playing together in the straw. She turned to go, calling back to Sean and me as she reached the gate, ‘Come on, then!’
‘In a minute,’ I called back. ‘I want to catch the guinea pigs first.’
‘Well, it’s your funeral.’ And she disappeared from view.
‘Sean, did you really see the neighbour?’ I asked him the second she’d gone.
‘No. I keep expecting to though. Come on. Let’s find those guinea pigs and get out of here.’
‘Their names are Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. They get to run around in the garden quite a bit so they’re used to it. They like eating dandelion leaves. Look. There’s Mr Darcy.’ I went over to him slowly, making friendly noises before I managed to scoop him up and put him back in his enclosure.
Sean was looking around for the second guinea pig but not having much luck. ‘We’d better go, Poppy. I know I made it up about that neighbour seeing us, but I really don’t want to get caught here.’
‘We can’t just leave Elizabeth. Anything could happen to her.’
‘Listen, I don’t know about Elizabeth, but I know what’s going to happen to me if I’m picked up for trespassing!’
‘You can leave if you want,’ I said as I stubbornly went to check under another bush.
‘I’m not even meant to be hanging out with you,’ Sean continued as he came over to help me. ‘You do realise this is just proving Leo right about you being a really bad influence?’
‘I just said you could go, didn’t I?’
But he didn’t go, and we searched together for another half an hour before Sean suddenly spotted the missing guinea pig in a patch of long grass in the neighbour’s garden. All I had to do was climb over the (thankfully low) fence to fetch her.
‘All present and accounted for now, right?’ Sean said after we’d returned Elizabeth to Mr Darcy and checked that their enclosure was escape proof.
‘Yes, thank goodness.’
‘Good. So let’s go!’
We sneaked out through the side gate and started walking back together along the road.
‘I wonder where Sadie went,’ I said.
‘Don’t worry about her,’ Sean grunted. ‘If you want to worry about someone, worry about me.’ He had switched on his phone and he showed me the missed calls from his mother and also from Mr Anderson. There were several texts, including one from his sister that said, THEY KNOW U R AWOL!
‘Sorry,’ I said guiltily. ‘This is all my fault.’
‘No, it’s not. I didn’t have to come with you.’
‘So … why did you?’ I couldn’t help asking. ‘I guess you must really like animals, right?’
He gave me a cheeky grin. ‘Animals are OK – but I really like you!’
‘Oh.’ I felt myself flushing bright red and I couldn’t look at him. ‘Listen, I didn’t mean to get you in trouble,’ I mumbled.
‘Hey, it’s OK. I’m always in trouble of some kind or another. Mum calls me the trouble magnet.’
‘Does she?’ I paused, sneaking a look at his face again. ‘You know, you don’t talk about your mum as much as you talk about Leo.’
He shrugged. ‘Oh, well … I take her more for granted, I guess. She’s the one who’s always been around. I never have bothered much about what she thinks of me. Whereas with Leo … well, I guess I worry more about … well … about …’
‘About not disappointing him?’ I suggested. At that moment I felt as if we were perfectly in tune with each other – like we were on exactly the same wavelength. ‘Because that’s how it is for me too,’ I continued. ‘Dad’s the one I’m always trying to make proud of me. I don’t live with him and I wish I could see him a bit more than I do. Mum’s the one I take for granted. At least –’ I broke off abruptly as I realised something.
I used to take her for granted. Before Sadie came to live with us.
Sean’s large dark-brown eyes were full of sympathy. He also had really gorgeous thick dark eyelashes, I realised. ‘So do you think you might want to come bowling with me sometime, or to the cinema or something?’ he asked in an ever-so-casual tone.
‘Sure,’ I croaked, cursing my voice for not doing what I wanted it to. ‘But aren’t you banned from seeing me ever again?’
‘Not ever again – just until Leo calms down. Don’t worry. He always does. He’s just mad because this whole thing with Sadie made him look stupid at work.’ He frowned. ‘I do feel bad about that. I can be so dumb sometimes.’
‘I don’t think you’re dumb,’ I blurted out. ‘And I think it’s really sweet the way you care about him so much.’
Uh-oh. Why did I go and say that? Now his ears are going red.
‘You know what?’ he retaliated with a bit of a grin. ‘I think it’s sweet the way you just blurt out really uncool stuff that nobody else would ever say. It makes you … well … different from just about any other girl I know!’
