by Judi Curtin
I shook my head.
‘No. Ruby has a big sister called Jenny. She’s training to be a hairdresser. She works really long hours, but gets paid hardly anything. So the whole family has to survive on what they can earn at the market.’
‘That’s a really sad story,’ said Mum.
I nodded.
‘Sad and weird. One day, months and months ago, Maggie closed her bedroom door and came downstairs, and she’s never been able to go back up since then. She has to sleep in the living room, and there’s not even any room there for her clothes. Ruby has to spend her time going up and down the stairs getting stuff for her.’
Mum patted my arm.
‘Well, all I can say is that Dad and I are very proud of you for the way you’ve been helping Ruby.’
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘But I wish I could do more to help. Helping out in the market for a few hours doesn’t seem like enough. Why can’t I do more?’
No one answered.
Mum smiled sympathetically, but Dad just sat there saying nothing. That started to make me worried. Dad isn’t good at silence – he’s more the doing type of man.
I wondered what kind of weird scheme was running through his brain.
Dad called me early the next morning.
‘Wake up, Eva,’ he said. ‘We need to talk.’
I rubbed my eyes, checked the time on my phone and closed my eyes again.
‘Go away, Dad,’ I said. ‘It’s still the middle of the night.’
‘But this is important, Eva,’ he said.
‘Nothing is important enough to wake a girl up at eight o’clock on a Sunday.’
He didn’t move.
My dad is totally stubborn, and I knew he wasn’t going to give in any time soon.
I gave a big sigh, and sat up in bed.
Once upon a time I’d have been expecting a big present or a nice surprise at a time like this.
Now, though, I knew for sure that Dad wasn’t going to produce a piece of perfect jewellery from his jacket pocket.
‘This had better be worth it,’ I muttered.
Dad sat on the edge of my bed.
‘What are the stairs in your friend Ruby’s house like?’
Great. My dad wasn’t just poor and unemployed – now he was crazy too.
I pretended to think.
‘Oh yes,’ I said in the end. ‘The stairs in Ruby’s house start on the ground floor, they go all the way up to the next floor, and they’ve got lots of steps in between.’
‘Very funny,’ said Dad. ‘What I mean is, are they straight or curved?’
I stopped trying to decide if my dad had gone crazy, and instead tried to picture Ruby running up the stairs the day before.
‘Straight,’ I said, after a second.
‘Yesss!’ said Dad like he’d just won the lottery. ‘Now get dressed. We’ve got a lot to do.’
I decided that I’d indulged him enough. I folded my arms.
‘Sorry, Dad. I don’t do dressed this early on Sundays.’
Dad sighed.
‘Just listen, Eva. I hardly slept last night, because I couldn’t stop thinking about your friends. And at some stage in the early hours of the morning, I remembered something that happened a few months ago. A man I used to work with told me about his brother who had bought a house.’
‘Very exciting,’ I said. ‘I’m glad you woke me up to tell me that. I hope your friend’s brother is very happy in his new home. Now, can I go back to sleep?’
Dad ignored me. ‘And his brother had to do loads of jobs in the house before he could move in. And one of the jobs he had to do was to take out the stair-lift belonging to the man who owned the house before him.’
At last this was starting to make sense.
‘And?’
‘And I phoned my friend this morning and as soon as he got over being cross with me for waking him so early, he told me that the stair-lift was still in his brother’s shed, and that we could have it if we wanted.’
‘But––’
‘And also in the shed is the old man’s wheelchair. It’s a bit of a wreck, but it would do fine for Maggie to keep upstairs so that she could go from room to room when she’s up there.’
I was already out of bed.
‘Why are you still here, Dad? Get out. I want to get dressed.’
Dad laughed.
‘We leave in five minutes.’
At first Maggie thought we were messing.
I think part of her still thought we were messing when Dad and I started to unload his tools from the back of Mum’s car.
She still didn’t look convinced when another friend of Dad’s drew up in his van and started to unload the parts of what was very obviously a stair-lift.
Many, many hours later, when the lift was carrying Maggie up her own stairs for the first time in months, I think she had figured out that this wasn’t just some sick practical joke.
But I couldn’t say for sure what she was feeling.
The tears streaming down her face were the only clue.
Chapter Twenty-Two
At school on Monday, I tried not to look too surprised when Ruby came over to me. Up to this, she had always acted like I became invisible the second I walked through the school gates.
Did she want to be friends at last?
And how did I feel about that?
Before I could make up my mind, she was next to me, and whispering in my ear.
‘I haven’t seen my mum this happy for a very long time. Thank you,’ she said.
‘That’s OK,’ I said. ‘Dad likes to fix stuff, and he likes helping people.’
‘So he’s a lot like you,’ said Ruby, making me feel really, really bad.
I looked around the room, wondering how quickly I could escape to Ella and my other friends.
‘My mum would love to do something to thank you, but she doesn’t know what,’ said Ruby then.
‘There’s no need …’ I started to say, before a thought that had been circling around my mind for a while, suddenly fought its way to the surface.
‘You remember that bracelet your mum made me?’
Ruby nodded.
‘Would you like her to make you another one? I know she’d be happy to. What colour would you like this time?’
I hesitated.
‘Well, I don’t want to sound greedy, but could she make me more than one?’
‘You mean like two?’
‘I was thinking more like ten.’
Ruby didn’t answer, so I tried to explain. ‘You know, I could wear a few at a time, and if your mum could do a few different colours, that would be great too, so I could wear them with all different outfits…..and stuff.’
Clearly Ruby thought that I was being very, very greedy, but after what Dad and I had done for her mother, how could she argue?
‘I suppose so,’ she said doubtfully. ‘But it might take her a few days.’
‘That’s OK,’ I said. ‘Tell her there’s no rush.’
I bent to put my school bag on my desk, and when I looked up again, Ruby had slipped away to the far corner of the classroom.
Then Ella was beside me.
‘Hi, Eva,’ she said. ‘I had such a fun weekend. Did you do anything exciting?’
I shook my head.
‘Not a thing. Why don’t you just tell me your news?’
As we went off arm in arm, I could see Ruby watching from the other side of the classroom.
And I was fairly sure that she was smiling.
After lunch that day, I raced through the maths assignment that Mr Gowing had set us, and then I slipped to the corner of the classroom where Dawn was working on the computer.
‘Hi, Eva,’ she said, smiling the happy smile that rarely left her face these days.
‘Hi, Dawn,’ I said. ‘Have you time to help me with something on the computer? It’s to do with a project.’
Dawn narrowed her eyes.
‘Is it just me, or do you seem to be alway
s working on a different project to everyone else in this class?’
I smiled as I remembered the imaginary butterfly project. That seemed like it had happened a very long time ago.
‘It’s just an extra thing I’m doing,’ I said. ‘Now can we get started?’
Twenty minutes later, I had done exactly what I wanted on the computer, and Dawn printed it out for me.
‘I suppose you want it laminated too?’ she said.
I smiled sweetly. ‘Yes please.’
She shook her head, pretending to be cross.
‘I’m going down to the office in a few minutes, and I’ll do it then, OK?’
‘Thanks for your help, Dawn,’ I said. ‘I hope you have a really lovely time in South America.’
‘How do you know about my trip to South America?’
She was totally puzzled now.
I shrugged.
‘A lucky guess, I suppose.’
Dawn gave me a very funny look, and went off to the office to get my page laminated.
When I got home from school that day, Mum was sitting in the kitchen having coffee with one of her new friends.
The firm where Mum used to work part-time had closed down a few weeks earlier, so these days Mum spent most of her time at home.
‘Hi, Eva, this is Deirdre,’ she said. ‘She lives up the road. As soon as we finish our coffee, she’s going to show me how to grow tomatoes.’
The thought of my mum growing tomatoes was just too weird, so I decided to change the subject.
‘Where’s Dad,’ I said. ‘I don’t hear the sound of hammering so I know he can’t be here.’
Mum laughed. ‘He went over to Ruby’s house this morning to check that the stair lift was working ok. While he was there, a neighbour of Maggie’s asked him to come over to see if his attic would be suitable for conversion. Dad thought it was suitable, and the neighbour offered him the job of doing the conversion. Dad accepted, and now he’s gone to buy the stuff he needs.’
This was even weirder than Mum growing tomatoes.
My dad, who’d worked in an office for years, was now doing an attic conversion?
I rolled my eyes.
‘I’m going up to do my homework,’ I said. ‘At least I can understand what’s going on in my schoolbooks.’
Chapter Twenty-Three
The next Saturday I showed up extra-early at the market. There were no customers at the fruit stall, which suited me fine.
‘I brought you your ten bracelets,’ said Ruby, handing me a paper bag.
I couldn’t really blame her for the way she spat out the word ‘ten’, like it was poison in her mouth.
‘Thanks,’ I said.
I opened the bag and examined the bracelets. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but some of them were even more beautiful than the first bracelet Ruby had given me. They were in various shades of blue and green and palest pink. I ran my fingers through them, enjoying the silky smoothness of them.
Then I put the bracelets down and began to pile bananas on top of each other at one side of the stall.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Ruby.
‘Clearing a space.’
She didn’t get a chance to argue, as a very fussy customer appeared asking hard questions about the varieties of apples on display.
When Ruby was free to pay attention again, I had cleared a whole section of the stall, and on it I had laid a pink silk scarf I’d ‘borrowed’ from my mum’s wardrobe. On the scarf I had laid the bracelets, arranged in groups according to their colours. Behind the scarf, propped up on a cauliflower and a cabbage, I had placed the laminated sign that Dawn had helped me to make.
Designer Bracelets. Handmade and Exclusive. Only Five Euro Each.
‘What do you think?’ I said.
Ruby looked at my display for a long time.
‘You’re selling the bracelets my mum made you?’ she said in disgust. ‘How mean can you be?’
‘No, it’s not like that,’ I rushed to explain. ‘I never wanted the bracelets for myself. I only wanted them so I could sell them. The bracelets are so beautiful, but I didn’t know if you and your mum would agree to selling them on the stall. So that’s why I pretended that I wanted them for myself.’
‘And who gets to keep the money?’
It was a rude question, but maybe it wasn’t fair to blame Ruby for that. In a family where money was so tight, there probably wasn’t any room for politeness.
‘You and your mum, of course.’
Ruby’s face had taken on its usual blank expression.
‘Why are you doing this?’ she asked.
I wasn’t really sure why I was doing this. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
Before I could decide on an answer, I heard a familiar voice.
‘Hi, Eva.’
I looked up to see Victoria.
At first I felt a bit ashamed. There was Victoria, in a totally cool new jacket, and looking like she’d just stepped out of the hairdressers.
There was me, standing behind a pile of cabbages, with my not-totally-clean hair tied up in a scrunchie, and wearing a hoodie that I’d had for at least six months.
And then there was Ruby.
That morning, as we worked together, I’d almost managed to forget how strange Ruby was. It was only now that Victoria was there, and I tried to see Ruby through her eyes, that I remembered.
Did that make me weird too?
Or did it just make me a nicer person than I used to be?
Victoria was gushing.
‘Wow, what cool bracelets! They’re just like your lovely purple one. You told me you were selling parsnips and stuff. If you’d told me about these, I’d have brought all my friends.’
I grinned at her.
‘Victoria, this is Ruby. Ruby, meet Victoria.’
The girls smiled at each other, and then Ruby sold a bag of potatoes while Victoria examined the bracelets more closely.
‘I think I’ll take this blue one for myself, and I’ll take a pink one for my friend from school. It’s her birthday next week. She’s going to totally love it.’
‘That’ll be ten euro then,’ I said, feeling very pleased with myself.
Ruby’s mouth was wide open with surprise. I winked at her. I wondered if, like me, she was working out how many potatoes or parsnips she’d have to sell to make that much money.
Victoria opened her purse and handed me ten euro. Then she slipped the bracelets into her coat pocket.
‘Do you want to go for a hot chocolate later?’ she asked.
I nodded.
‘Sure. I’ll be finished here at one. I’ll meet you at the gateway over there.’
Victoria turned to Ruby.
‘Would you like to join us?’
‘Er, no thanks,’ said Ruby.
‘OK,’ said Victoria. ‘See you later, Eva.’
Then she walked off and vanished into the crowd.
In less than an hour, all the bracelets were sold. I put Mum’s scarf, and the laminated sign safely under the stall, and handed Ruby fifty euro.
‘Wow,’ was all she could say.
I think that meant that she was happy.
‘How many bracelets do you think your mum could make for next week?’ I asked.
Ruby shrugged.
‘I don’t know. Lots, I hope.’
As soon as the stall was closed up for the day, Ruby handed me my usual bag of fruit and vegetables.
‘And take this,’ she said.
It was five euro.
‘But…..’ I began.
Ruby pushed the money into my hand.
‘I wish I could afford to give you more,’ she said. ‘But I can’t. So don’t offend me by saying no. OK?’
She sounded so fierce that I didn’t like to argue. And besides, if I took the money, it would mean that for the first time in ages, I’d be able to buy a hot chocolate for Victoria, instead of her buying me one.
So I took the money and slipped it into
my pocket. Then I waved goodbye and went to meet Victoria.
‘I so love this bracelet,’ Victoria said as we settled down with our drinks. ‘I’m going to tell all my friends about it. I bet they’ll all want to buy one too.’
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘That will mean a lot to Ruby and her mother. They really need the money.’
Victoria gave a sudden giggle.
‘I hope you don’t mind me saying this, Eva, but I think your new friend is a small bit weird.’
I giggled too.
‘She’s not a small bit weird. She’s very weird. But it’s nice weird. And you get used to it after a while. And she’s really good to her mum. She does heaps of stuff for her, and she never complains. You have to admire her for that.’
‘She’s lucky that she met you. Look how much you and your dad have done for her family.’
I shrugged, embarrassed.
‘Ruby’s kind of helped me too,’ I said. ‘Helping her has distracted me – given me something to focus on.’
Victoria smiled.
‘So it’s the perfect relationship. She needs to chill though. You should persuade her to come with us for hot chocolate next Saturday.’
I nodded happily.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I definitely will.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
Victoria did as she had promised and told all her friends about Maggie’s bracelets; soon I was selling bracelets as fast as Maggie could make them. After a while, she designed matching necklaces, and totally cool phone charms.
One Saturday, when I showed up at the market, Ruby looked happier than I had ever seen her.
‘Mum’s managed to pay off all of our bills,’ she said. ‘So now she can afford to pay someone to help to run the stall. So from now on I’ll only have to work on Saturdays, not on all the other days the market is open.’
‘That’s great news,’ I said. ‘What are you going to do with all of your free time?’
I couldn’t really imagine Ruby doing any of the kind of stuff that I liked to do. I couldn’t really imagine her doing anything except sitting at school or selling fruit and vegetables.
