Alone in my bedroom, I did cry, just a bit. I wondered if, next door, on the other side of the wall, Lalita was crying too.
Haven’t written in my diary for two or three days. Things are bad. I can’t remember having so many rows with Mum in such a short space of time. She’s always telling me off, or Ravi’s telling Lalita off, or the two of them are telling us both off. It’s doing my head in.
This house felt so big when Mum and I moved in. Now it seems small and cramped and we’re all getting under one another’s feet. The only people who are getting on well are Mum and Ravi, and Tabitha and Charlie. That stupid dog follows Tabby around like a devoted slave. I think it’s hilarious because it annoys Lalita so much.
Sometimes, occasionally, I could just about imagine living here with Ravi and Mum, if Lalita wasn’t part of the picture … That sounds spoiled and selfish but I’m used to being the only kid in the house. I can’t get used to Lalita being around; it feels all wrong. I guess that maybe Lalita feels the same, although I haven’t talked to her about it. Talk to her, ha ha. We don’t talk. We just ignore.
‘Dani!’ Mum’s calling me from downstairs. I just heard the phone ring – wonder if it’s for me? ‘Your dad wants to speak to you.’
Just got back to my bedroom after talking to Dad. He wanted to know how things were going and how I was settling in, and he said he was looking forward to seeing me at half term as usual. I love my dad and we get on brilliantly, but I always have to decide exactly how much I can tell him about what’s going on in my life. He doesn’t really want to know about anything sad or difficult or tragic or hard to handle. Happy-go-lucky. That’s how my mum always describes my dad. I can’t depend on my dad like I can on my mum. Well, used to be able to depend on my mum …
Lalita’s mobile has just gone off again – I can hear it through the bedroom wall. That’s three times today. I bet it’s one of those secret calls that make her go all glowy and shiny with excitement. I’m the only one who’s noticed that whenever she gets one of these calls, she doesn’t let anyone listen to what she’s saying. But she’s quite happy to chatter away to her mates (yes, she has some; I was surprised too) Farzana and Vicky in front of us. I’m almost sure it’s a secret boyfriend, because whenever this person – whoever it is – rings Lalita, she almost always wants to go out on her own afterwards …
Yesterday exactly the same thing happened, and boy, oh boy, was there a big row. Ravi had been called into the office about something or other, even though he was still officially on holiday, and we were waiting for him to get back so that we could all go to Nan’s for tea. Then Lalita got one of those calls. She went out into the garden to talk, and I could see her, all laughing and breathless with excitement. When she flipped her phone shut and marched back into the house, I knew there was going to be trouble.
‘I have to go out,’ she said to Mum, without so much as a please or a thank you or an excuse me.
Mum looked very taken aback. ‘Lalita, we’re all going out as soon as your dad gets back—’
‘No.’ Lalita thrust her chin in the air aggressively. ‘I mean, I have to go out on my own. Right now.’
I glanced at Mum. I could see she was reluctantly gearing herself up for a fight.
‘I’m sorry, Lalita, but you can’t go,’ she said calmly. ‘You know we’re going to tea with Dani’s nan—’
‘She’s not my gran,’ Lalita cut in sulkily, ‘so why do I have to go?’
‘She’s got a point,’ I said, stirring it even though I knew I shouldn’t. I’d discovered that Lalita had a temper that could be nudged a few notches higher with a few well-chosen words. ‘It’ll be more fun without her.’
‘Dani, be quiet.’ Mum flicked me a warning look. ‘Lalita, you’re not going anywhere.’
Lalita looked like a toddler who’d had her ice cream pinched. ‘You can’t tell me what to do!’ she said, her voice rising in anger.
‘Oh, go on, say it,’ I said with a pretend yawn. ‘You’re not my mum.’
That had obviously been exactly what Lalita was going to say next. She threw me a bitter look and marched out of the room.
‘Things were fine before you moved in and took over!’ she shouted over her shoulder at Mum. ‘I hate living here now, and I hate both of you!’
Mum waited till Lalita had done the usual (run upstairs, slammed the bedroom door), then turned on me.
‘Why do you always have to wind her up?’
‘Me!’ I shrugged. ‘She’s the one who didn’t want to go to Nan’s.’
Mum gave me a keen and piercing look. ‘Don’t play the innocent, Dani. I’m on to you.’
How unfair is that? OK, so I admit it’s easy to wind Lalita up. But she’s so irritating. I do feel a bit guilty afterwards, but she’s not making any effort to be nice to me, so why should I be nice to her?
OK, back to today: I’m definitely sure Lalita’s just had another of those calls. A few minutes ago I heard her hanging out of her bedroom window, calling Ravi, who was in the garden below us with Mum and Charlie.
‘Dad, can I go out for a while?’
I knew it! It was one of those calls. Definitely a secret boyfriend! I’m going to find out who it is if it’s the last thing I do.
‘Where to, sweetheart?’ Ravi called back.
‘I need to take that red T-shirt back to New Look,’ Lalita explained innocently. ‘You know, the one that doesn’t fit me properly.’
New Look indeed! I raised my eyebrows. I knew what she was really up to.
‘Lalita, you know I don’t like you going into town on your own.’ I could tell from his voice that Ravi was frowning, even though I couldn’t see him.
‘I’ll phone Vicky and see if she wants to come,’ Lalita said dismissively. ‘But I need to go today or I won’t get my money back. Please, Dad.’
‘OK,’ Ravi agreed reluctantly, ‘but make sure you take your mobile and keep it switched on.’
I heard Lalita close her window. Then, shock horror, I could actually hear her singing next door. This boy must really be something if he can make her feel like this.
I thought briefly about following her, tailing her like a private detective. But I don’t know my way around here at all well. What if Lalita gave me the slip and I got lost?
No, I’ll wait for a better chance. Maybe the boy is someone at Coppergate Comprehensive. I’m starting there in a few days myself (although I’m trying not to think about that), so I’ll be able to check out the situation …
Anyway, enough about Lalita. She’s taking over my whole diary! I think I’ll read a bit more of Nan’s instead.
Half an hour later, and I haven’t been able to concentrate on Nan’s diary at all. Lalita’s up to something, I know she is. She’s been getting ready to go out for the last thirty minutes, and I can hear strange noises from her room. She’s moving about a lot, opening and shutting cupboards. Oh, and still singing. I just peeped out onto the landing and she was coming down from the loft, carrying a box of something or other down the ladder. I couldn’t see what.
I know I said I liked mysteries but I have absolutely no idea what’s going on and it’s killing me.
Wait a minute, she’s coming out of her room again! I’m going to have a look round the door …
Lalita’s just gone. When I saw her hurry out of her bedroom carrying a big sports bag, I tiptoed after her. There was something very secretive about her which aroused my suspicions. And what was in that bag?
When Lalita got to the bottom of the stairs, she did something quite peculiar. She opened the front door, slung the bag out onto the drive and then quickly shut the door again.
‘Dad, I’m going,’ she called. ‘See you later.’
I stood at the top of the stairs, peering over the banisters. I saw Lalita shoot out of the front door, so I ran to the window on the landing that looked out over the drive. I was just in time to see Lalita pick up the sports bag and march off down the road without a backward glance.
&nb
sp; Well! What do you make of that?
It’s late, really late. I can’t sleep, though. Somehow this has turned into one of the worst days of my whole life. Everyone blames me for what happened. And there I was, thinking I was doing the right thing …
After Lalita had gone, I sat down on my bed again with Nan’s diary, Tabitha curled up fluffily beside me. I got so deep into Nan’s story, I didn’t realize for ages that time was ticking by. When, yawning and fuzzy-headed, I eventually glanced at the clock, I realized that nearly three hours had passed.
So where was Lalita? I wondered idly. It surely didn’t take three hours to exchange a top at New Look.
I hate living here now, and I hate both of you!
For some reason Lalita’s words from yesterday swam into my head. Then, in the next instant, I remembered the large, bulging bag she was carrying.
‘Oh no!’ I scrambled off the bed, dislodging Tabitha, who complained loudly. ‘She couldn’t have. She wouldn’t. Would she?’
Had Lalita run away?
My heart boomed in my chest as I paced up and down my bedroom. Lalita wasn’t stupid. Loud-mouthed, yes. Sulky, yes. Irritating, definitely. But not stupid. And running away would be a Class A stupid thing to do …
Dry-mouthed, I ran out of my bedroom and flung open Lalita’s door, ignoring the KEEP OUT OR ELSE sign she’d put up the day we moved in. It was much neater than mine, and it was easy to see straight away that she hadn’t left a note anywhere. Was that a good or a bad thing? I wondered.
I threw open her wardrobe doors and searched through the contents feverishly, but I didn’t know enough about Lalita’s clothes to recognize if she’d taken anything with her. And yet there must have been something in that big sports bag she didn’t want anyone to see …
I clattered downstairs, my head spinning, and came to a full stop in the hallway. Ravi was on the phone, Mum standing next to him. They both looked a bit worried.
‘Vicky’s family aren’t answering the phone,’ Ravi said, frowning as he replaced the receiver.
‘We’ll try again later,’ said Mum, patting his arm. Ravi nodded. He picked up his mobile and began to text.
‘What’s going on?’ I asked, forcing the words out through dry lips.
‘We’re a bit worried about Lalita,’ Mum said. ‘She’s been gone quite a long time, and Ravi can’t get through to her mobile.’
I chewed at my bottom lip. Should I say something or not?
‘I know I worry too much’ – Ravi was still texting furiously – ‘but I just need to check that she’s OK.’
That did it.
‘I think she’s run away!’ I burst out, feeling ridiculously tearful.
Mum and Ravi stared at me.
‘Dani, you can’t be serious.’ Ravi’s voice shook.
‘Well, she said yesterday that she hated living here now, with Mum and me,’ I said, looking to Mum for support. ‘And when she left, she took a big bag with her.’
‘She what?’ Mum gasped. Ravi couldn’t speak and his face had gone white.
‘She took a bag,’ I repeated. ‘I saw her leave with it.’
From that moment on, things happened fast. Mum began ringing round everyone Ravi and Lalita knew on her mobile, and Ravi called the police. Two officers came round half an hour later to start taking details.
I sat silently next to Mum in the living room, Tabitha on my knee. I kept imagining Lalita out on the streets with nowhere to go, lost, lonely and afraid. I didn’t like her, but I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
‘Yes, we’ve rung round everyone we know and she’s not there.’ Ravi looked drawn and strained. ‘She said she was going to ask a friend, Vicky Martin, to go to town with her, but there’s no one answering at the Martins’ house.’
‘And you say that Lalita definitely took a bag with her?’ The young policeman, who barely looked older than fifteen, stared questioningly at me.
I nodded. ‘Yes, she did. A big one, although I don’t know what was in it.’
‘Is there any reason why Lalita might have run away?’ asked the policewoman.
Ravi and Mum looked at each other. I wondered what they would say.
A key in the lock, the front door opening. We all sat there, frozen to our various spots, Ravi’s face luminous with hope.
The door banged shut and Lalita strolled into the room. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw me, Mum, Ravi and two police officers goggling at her in disbelief.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked, bending down to stroke Charlie, who’d bounded across the room to greet her. ‘Why are the police here?’ She didn’t have the bag with her, I noticed.
‘We—’ Ravi couldn’t speak immediately and had to clear his throat. He crossed the room and put his arm round Lalita. ‘We were worried about you. You’ve been gone so long.’
‘Oh, Dad.’ Lalita shrugged. ‘You know what I’m like when I’m shopping. I just lost track of time.’
‘We’ve been phoning you and we couldn’t get through,’ Ravi said shakily, keeping his arm around her.
‘The signal’s always bad in the shopping centre,’ Lalita said airily. ‘I got your texts though, and I did text you back.’
At that exact moment Ravi’s phone bleeped.
‘See?’ Lalita said, shrugging again. ‘The texts must have been delayed.’ The look on her face clearly said it all. What’s the problem?
‘And the bag you took with you?’ asked the policewoman curiously.
‘Bag?’ Lalita looked puzzled. ‘What bag?’
Everybody turned to stare at me. I suddenly felt very hot under the collar.
‘I saw you,’ I said. ‘You had a bag.’
‘No, I didn’t,’ Lalita said scornfully. She frowned and then, slowly, she smiled. I wanted to slap her smug face. ‘Oh, now I get it! You told Dad I’d run away!’
‘No, it wasn’t like that—’ I began.
‘Well, what was it like then?’ Lalita stared at me in a superior manner. ‘I didn’t take a bag with me, and why would you say that I did, unless you wanted to get me into trouble by pretending I’d run away?’
‘That’s not true!’ I yelled.
‘That’s enough, Dani,’ Mum said quietly.
Ravi was ushering the police officers out and apologizing for having wasted their time. I burned with embarrassment as they gave me a couple of stern looks when they left. Lalita was now perched on the arm of the sofa, swinging her legs jauntily to and fro, and I wanted to pull her hair, hard. I turned to Mum and felt sick to see the look on her face.
‘I’m disappointed in you, Dani,’ was all she said, but it cut me to the heart.
Ravi came back into the room and when I looked at him, I could see that he was only just about holding himself back from having a go at me.
I knew that if I stayed, I’d start crying. I jumped up, tipping Tabitha off my knees.
‘I don’t understand how I’m suddenly the bad guy!’ I shouted. ‘She did have a bag – I saw it! And I only told you I thought she’d run away because she took the bag, and because you both looked so worried!’
I could see at a glance that neither Mum nor Ravi believed one word. I could also see that Lalita was enjoying every minute.
I was grounded for the next few days and sent up to my room. That was six hours ago and I’m still awake. Everything keeps running through my head again and again. Every time I close my eyes I can see Lalita’s smug face …
But now I know for sure that there really is a mystery to be solved. I know that Lalita’s up to something and I’m not going to give up until I find out exactly what it is.
Chapter Four
December 1963
THE SNOW, WHEN it came, was magical.
It began snowing today, after lunch. Hardeep and I were sitting at the table in our flat, cutting pictures out of magazines that Dad had found on his bus and brought home. At first we didn’t notice anything because the snow fell so silently. Then I glanced up and my attention was immediately c
aught by the glistening, pure-white mass of flakes swirling around outside the window.
‘Snow!’ I squealed, feeling as excited as if I’d just won a thousand pounds! ‘Hardeep, it’s snowing!’
We both dropped our scissors and galloped over to the window. There we stood and watched in fascination as the snowflakes floated quietly and delicately down onto everything in the garden – the shed, the paths, the branches of the trees – and painted them white.
‘A winter wonderland,’ I said softly, remembering a phrase I’d heard in a song on the radio. ‘It’s amazing.’
Hardeep’s mouth fell open in awe as he gazed outside. ‘But I can’t hear anything!’ he murmured, pressing his ear against the glass. ‘Can you hear anything, Asha?’
I shook my head. ‘The snow must be soft and light, lighter than a feather,’ I said. ‘It doesn’t make a single sound.’
‘I wonder what it feels like,’ Hardeep went on. ‘Do you think it’s really cold?’
I grinned at him. ‘Let’s go and find out!’
But Mum was nervous about us going out into the snow. She said we had to wait till Dad got home from his shift, which wouldn’t be until a bit later that afternoon. I could have cried, and Hardeep actually did. He even pretended that he was desperate for the toilet, but Mum still wouldn’t let us go outside. So we sat at the window watching more and more snowflakes swimming down from the sky, and waiting for Dad. It wasn’t very long, but every minute seemed like hours.
When Dad finally got home, the snow was quite deep and Mum definitely didn’t want us to go out. She kept asking Dad if it was safe for us to touch the snow, and if it would make us ill. Hardeep and I were petrified that Dad would say no too, but he just laughed and said the cold wouldn’t hurt us as long as we were wrapped up warmly. Anyway, he told us, it wasn’t as bad as the year before, 1962, which everyone had called ‘the big freeze’. Mum looked even more nervous when she heard that and started muttering prayers under her breath. Dad just smiled, told me and Hardeep to have a good time and went back to work. He’s doing extra hours to make more money, but I think he works too hard.
Dani’s Diary Page 5
