Annabel's Starring Role

by Holly Webb

  Annabel glared at her, even her hair looking irritable. She hated being wrong. “What, I’m supposed to learn everybody else’s words as well? Come on, Katie!”

  “No, no, no. I mean, you know your lines, and you know approximately when you’re supposed to say them” – Annabel snarled – “but it would be better if you said the lines as though you were actually answering the person before you. So you do need to know their line too. Or at least know what it is they’re trying to say.”

  Annabel was silent. She very much wanted to tell Katie not to be so stupid, but it sounded horribly as though she might be right. Mum was nodding as though she thought so too. She stuck out her hand. “Give it here.”

  Katie handed the script over, and Annabel looked down at it gloomily. Still, the more she did now, the less she’d have to worry about it later on that day while they were shopping. She didn’t want any distractions. She scowled down at the script and concentrated hard until Mum tapped her on the shoulder – they were pulling into Paddington station. She stuffed the script away in her bag quickly, and jumped up to help the others get the bags down from the rack over their heads.

  “Bel, how come you need so much stuff when we’re only going for one night?” asked Becky, nearly collapsing under the weight of Annabel’s rucksack.

  Annabel looked at her, honestly confused. “Well, how do I know what I’m going to feel like tomorrow? If I only brought one outfit, it might be totally wrong for the way I’m feeling, and then I’d just be really weird all day.”

  Katie and Becky exchanged looks, and Katie coughed suspiciously, but they wisely decided not to say anything.

  The triplets looked around excitedly as they walked through the station. They’d been to London before, to see Auntie Janet, and Dad had taken them all to see a show a couple of years earlier, but it was still an event. They attracted quite a lot of attention themselves – several people did a double take as they saw the three girls go by.

  Mum drilled the triplets firmly on where they were going as they waited for a tube to arrive. She knew that Annabel especially had an amazing knack of getting lost – just because she got distracted so easily. At least if she knew where the flat was she had a chance of getting back there – and Mrs Ryan had made sure Auntie Janet’s number was in Annabel’s mobile. Eventually the train roared into the station, pouring out shoppers and tourists. They had to wait for a whole party of French schoolkids to go past them, giggling and pointing, before they could get on.

  “Come on, Bel!” snapped Katie, feeling ruffled. Annabel was still making faces back at the last of the French boys.

  The train was quite full so they clutched desperately at one of the rails, holding on to each other and swaying round the bends, giggling. Luckily it wasn’t a long way to the stop nearest to Auntie Janet’s flat.

  As they walked up the street towards her building they could see a figure waving madly at the window. Then it disappeared, and the front door opened as they got to it, with Auntie Jan, breathless, hanging on to the handle.

  “You got here! Oh, this is so nice, it’s ages since I’ve seen you. Come on!” And she dashed back up the stairs, grabbing a couple of bags and calling, “Mark! They’re here!”

  The triplets had only met Mark once before. He’d seemed OK, but they hadn’t really talked to him, so they hung back a little. Mum and Auntie Jan were hugging and talking excitedly, and the triplets weren’t quite sure what to do. Mark grinned briefly at them, and then groaned – he was playing a PlayStation game, and he’d obviously just mucked up. Katie wandered over to look at the screen – it was a football game that they had at home. Mark was on a pretty high level, she noted – quite impressed.

  “Sorry.” He finally stood up. “Er – you got here OK, then?” he stared at them for a moment, looking nonplussed. “Look, I know this must be really irritating, but I can’t work out which is which. You’re Katie, right?” He was actually pointing to Katie, but she glared at him anyway. She really hated it when people got confused. Becky saw the look in her eyes and decided to head her off in case she said something snappish – that wouldn’t be a good way to start off the visit.

  “That’s right. And I’m Becky and this is Annabel.”

  Annabel smiled politely. How could anyone not remember who she was?

  “OK. Right.” Mark could obviously sense the atmosphere. “Sorry. Er, would anyone like a drink?” He bolted into the kitchen.

  “Be nice!” Becky murmured, frowning at Katie.

  Katie sighed. “Oh, all right. You didn’t have to cut me off like that, you know, I wasn’t going to say anything.” Becky gave her a disbelieving look. “Well, nothing rude. Come on, let’s go and get a drink.” She led the way into the kitchen.

  Luckily, Katie spotted a photo on a board in the kitchen – Mark had run the London marathon. She was even more impressed, and by the time Mum and Auntie Janet stopped catching up and came to find them all, she and Mark were deep in a discussion about exercise routines, while Annabel and Becky pored over one of the piles of wedding magazines they’d discovered on an old armchair in the corner.

  Auntie Jan peered over their shoulders. “Oh, no! I’m not getting married in a meringue, Annabel, no way.”

  “What is your dress going to be like?” Annabel asked eagerly.

  “I’m not totally sure yet, but if we go past any wedding shops today, I’ll show you the kind of thing I’m looking for. Come on, we’ve got loads of shopping to do.”

  Auntie Janet led them on another tube ride to Covent Garden. She knew Annabel and Becky would like all the cool clothes shops there, but she was hoping that Katie might find it fun to look at some of the places that sold gadgets and sports stuff too. Katie looked doubtful as they came out of the tube station – clothes, clothes and more clothes. She sighed. She had a feeling it was going to be a long day. Annabel was in seventh heaven as they headed towards the market, ooohing at all the Christmas lights, and pointing out shoes, and feathery handbags, and a whole lot of what Katie mentally classed as “Annabel-stuff”. When she squeaked, “Oh, look!” for what seemed like the millionth time, Katie was unenthusiastic.

  “What?”

  “A whole shop full of Tintin stuff! Do you want to go in? Mum, did you see? It’s a really cool shop for Katie!”

  Katie perked up. Annabel was right! “Bel, you star, I didn’t even see it. Please, please, can we go in?” She’d loved the Tintin books for ages, and the shop looked fantastic.

  “David likes Tintin,” said Becky excitedly. “I could get his Christmas present here.”

  It turned out to be a fab present shop. Katie, Becky and Annabel were darting about all over the place, dragging each other to look at things. Annabel wasn’t a huge Tintin fan, but she was a shopping fan, and she really entered into the spirit of present-buying. The assistant was looking a bit bewildered – it wasn’t a very big shop, and the triplets certainly filled it up.

  “Katie, look at this!” Annabel pointed to the Tintin watch that Becky was holding, and stood back with her head on one side. Katie’s reaction was crucial.

  “Wow!” Katie took it longingly, and Annabel and Becky nodded in approval – one Christmas present solved!

  As Katie wandered off to gaze happily at the posters, Annabel turned to Becky.

  “So we’ll buy that together for Katie?” Becky sounded pleased – sometimes it was hard to choose presents for Katie, because they weren’t as into sporty things as she was.

  “Definitely. She seemed to really like it. Have you found anything for David?”

  “I’m not sure. What about this?” Becky showed Annabel a mug with some of the book, characters on.

  Annabel chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. “It’s OK, but a mug’s a bit, well, boring.”

  “Mmmm – I just don’t know what to choose. Katie, tell me what to get for David,” Becky called over to her sister as
she put the mug back, frowning. She certainly didn’t want the first present she got David to be boring.

  “You’ve been to his house, haven’t you?” Katie asked thoughtfully. “If we had the space in our room, I’d love one of those posters.”

  “Oooh yes!” agreed Annabel, nodding like mad. “Then every time he looks at it he’ll think of you!”

  Becky inspected the poster Katie was pointing out – Tintin and his dog in huge puffy orange spacesuits – and looked slightly insulted. The other two cracked up.

  “Sorry – I didn’t mean it like that!” Annabel sniggered.

  “It really is a cool poster, Becky. I’d get it for him.”

  They ended up with the poster, Katie’s watch, and quite a few bits that Mum wouldn’t let them see and that Katie suspected were for her stocking – and maybe Becky’s too, as Tintin’s dog was very cute.

  After the Tintin shop Annabel spotted a stall full of mobile phone accessories – perfect for Saima. Luckily she knew exactly what phone her friend had, so she could get her a new cover – she’d had her silver one for ages.

  “The glitter one, or that one with the purple flowers?” Annabel asked everyone, dithering. The problem was, she knew Saima would like them both.

  “What colour’s her favourite bag?” put in Auntie Jan.

  “Oh, she’s got a new purple one – brilliant!”

  Annabel happily paid for the flowery phone cover. Good! Now that they’d got a few of the other presents sorted, she reckoned they ought to get on to their plan for Mum’s present. She beckoned Katie and Becky into a huddle. “We’ve got to get rid of Mum!”

  “Maybe we could suggest she goes and has a coffee or something?” Becky said doubtfully.

  “No.” Katie shook her head. “Too obvious we’ve got a plan.”

  “Hey, catch up you three!” Auntie Janet was waving. “You’re coming with me for a bit – your mum wants to go and look at presents for you.”

  Annabel beamed at the others. Fantastic! And presents as well! She just hoped that Mum had been listening properly earlier on. She and Katie and Becky tried not to look too excited as Mum disappeared off – they couldn’t wait to let Auntie Janet in on the plan.

  As soon as Mum had gone, Auntie Janet turned back to them, looking suspicious. “What are you three planning? Annabel, you look too smug for it to be anything sensible.”

  “No, it’s really sensible, honestly. We just need to borrow you without Mum knowing, and she’s given us the perfect chance. Come on!”

  She led the way into a shop she’d spotted earlier on, full of the kind of clothes Mum liked but never really had the confidence to buy for herself.

  “Annabel, where are we going? You won’t fit this stuff, and I don’t think they have a teen range…” protested Auntie Jan.

  “It’s not for us,” Katie put in, propelling their aunt along from the other side. “It’s for Mum!”

  Katie and Becky gave Auntie Jan a quick rundown of the plan and marshalled her to the fitting rooms, while Annabel nosed along the rails looking for likely stuff.

  Five minutes later a walking pile of clothes appeared outside the fitting-room door. “This’ll do to start with,” said Annabel cheerfully, dumping all the stuff on a bench. “Why haven’t you taken your coat off?”

  Auntie Janet looked down at the pile in horror. “Annabel! This’ll take years to try on. And look at it, it’s all so – not black!” Auntie Janet almost always wore black, or sometimes grey when she fancied a change. Bright colours weren’t her thing at all.

  “I know. Mum really likes bright clothes, but she doesn’t buy them because she thinks she’ll look washed out. She just needs the right ones, that’s all. And that’s where you come in.” Annabel grabbed a couple of tops to start with and pushed Auntie Jan into the changing room.

  She came out a few minutes later to face the triplets, who were sitting on the bench looking critical. Annabel stood up, folded her arms and put her head on one side. “Could you at least try to smile?” she asked acidly. “It’s hard to tell when you look like it actually hurts.”

  Auntie Jan muttered something, and fingered the burnt-orange fabric in distaste. “OK. Pretending for the moment that I would actually wear any of this, what kind of thing are you aiming to give your mum? Everyday clothes, party stuff, what?”

  The triplets looked thoughtful. They hadn’t really got that far. Annabel glanced at the others enquiringly as she answered. “Something in between? Not hanging round the house clothes, but she doesn’t really go out to parties much. I suppose some of these sparkly things might not be quite right.” She stroked a sequinned top regretfully, and picked up a flowery dress instead. “This one?” she asked Katie and Becky.

  “Yeah, I’ve always thought Mum wants to look like a walking rosebush, Bel. No,” said Katie firmly.

  “I think Katie’s right,” Becky put in. “Mum wouldn’t wear that very often.”

  Annabel frowned to herself, and looked carefully at the pile of clothes. Maybe she had gone a bit mad with some of them. “How about this?” She picked up a pretty blue cardigan with a velvet ribbon round the edges. “She could wear that with jeans, or a skirt. It’s, um, versatile.”

  Katie and Becky nodded approvingly. They could imagine Mum in that.

  Annabel still made Auntie Jan try five more outfits before they were happy, though. As she said, they didn’t want to miss anything. By the time they met up with Mum again, Auntie Jan was looking limp and demanding coffee.

  Mum gave them a suspicious look. “What have you been doing? Did Annabel try and buy something really silly?”

  Annabel just clutched the bag with the blue cardigan and a striped silk scarf in, and grinned knowingly at the others. Sometimes, even she found it hard to believe just how clever she was.

  Chapter Seven

  The triplets didn’t get much sleep that night. They were sharing the sofabed in the front room and the duvet just wasn’t quite big enough for three. Becky was in the middle, so she was toasty, but every time Annabel and Katie yanked the duvet over to their own sides she got elbowed! They’d finished off the evening by watching a film from the sofabed on Mark’s DVD player – he had a really good film collection. In fact, there were so many things they fancied watching that they ended up tossing a coin and Katie’s choice won – Jaws. Although it was a really old film the triplets had never seen it. Becky had thought that it wouldn’t really be all that scary – it was ancient, and the special effects would be really bad, she reckoned. Actually, she didn’t see very many of them. She watched the first quarter of an hour, and then she had to dive under the duvet and have a running commentary from Katie and Annabel instead.

  They were still asleep the next morning when an enticing smell wafted into the living room, and they were sitting at the kitchen table within minutes. Mum wasn’t up yet, so the triplets told Mark about their shopping success the day before while they wolfed down a fry-up.

  “So, did you get everything you wanted?”

  Annabel quickly swallowed down a bite of bacon sandwich. “Yup, presents for everybody. People at school, and we got something for you and Auntie Jan. Oh, and we got the best present for Mum, she’s going to love it.” She nipped back into the living room and found the bag, carefully unfolding the layers of tissue paper round the blue cardigan.

  “Nice,” said Mark, stroking it. “Very soft.”

  Annabel looked at him, expecting more. “Is that all you can say?” she asked disgustedly, while Becky and Katie giggled – her face was so funny. Mark looked apologetic and shrugged. Annabel sighed in an “I give up!” sort of way and refolded the cardigan lovingly. “I can’t believe it. A whole day of shopping, and I didn’t buy anything for me!”

  Katie and Becky exchanged smug looks. Annabel didn’t know that while she’d been choosing clothes for Auntie Jan to try on, they’d spo
tted a jewellery display, with a necklace on it just like one she’d pointed out in one of her magazines. There’d been a bracelet too, but they didn’t have enough money to get it – so Auntie Jan had volunteered to get it as her Christmas present for Annabel.

  When Mum and Auntie Jan finally surfaced, also drawn by the breakfast smell, they were keen to get down to work on the dress, and they commandeered the kitchen table and most of the living-room floor. Annabel was eager to help, as she really wanted to see her dress taking shape, but Becky and Katie began to feel they were rather in the way after they’d been shrieked at for nearly treading on the fabric several times. Becky fetched a book from her bag, and curled minutely into the corner of the sofa, reckoning that if she didn’t extend any part of her body beyond the furniture she had to be safe. Katie wasn’t feeling like sitting still, though. After shopping all day yesterday she felt like doing something active. She could never live in a flat, she decided. Window boxes were useless for playing football in.

  Mark laughed at her the next time she passed his armchair. “You look like a caged tiger. Want to go out? I’m supposed to be playing football with some mates in the park in half an hour – we could go and have a kick about first, if you’ve got stuff it’s OK to play in.”

  Katie was into her bag and into the bathroom and out again changed in about thirty seconds. Mark looked a bit gobsmacked.

  “I’ll take that as a yes then. Come on.”

  When they returned a couple of hours later the others were looking triumphant. All the pattern pieces had been cut out on the fabric and marked up, and they’d started tacking the different parts of the dress together. Annabel was standing on the coffee table wearing it while Mum and Auntie Janet crawled round her with mouthfuls of pins.

  “Is it meant to look like that?” Katie asked doubtfully.

  The dress wasn’t immediately saying magical ballgown to her – there were too many ends sticking out.