Holiday

by Rowan McAuley

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Copyright Page

  Iris was in her room playing her saxophone. She was learning a new piece for the school band, and the fingering was really tricky.

  She was concentrating so hard that she didn’t notice her mum had come in until she was standing right in front of the music stand.

  Iris jumped and blew a weird-sounding raspberry through the sax.

  ‘Mum!’ she squealed. ‘Don’t sneak up on me!’

  Her mum sighed. ‘Not you, too! Kick’s just told me off for the same thing.’

  Iris looked past her mum to the doorway. There was her little brother, Kick, grinning and giving her the thumbs up with one hand, while he hooked his hearing aids back over his ears with the other.

  ‘Cool, huh?’ he said.

  Iris turned back to her mum. ‘What’s cool? What’s going on? You never interrupt me while I’m practising.’

  ‘Well …’ said her mum, but before she could say another word, Kick blurted it out.

  ‘We’re going on holiday!’

  ‘Really?’ Iris asked, putting down her sax. Kick was always telling dumb jokes, and she thought this might be one of them. ‘When? Where? And why?’

  Her mum smiled. ‘It’s very last minute, but Dad just called to say that his boss needs him to do a big presentation tomorrow at the head office, not all that far from where Nan and Pa live,’ she said.

  ‘So we thought, why don’t we all go and make the trip a family holiday?’

  Iris laughed in delight. ‘No way! Nan and Pa? Excellent!’

  She hardly ever saw her grandparents, so when she did they always spoilt her and Kick rotten.

  ‘The only problem,’ their mum went on, ‘is that school doesn’t break up until the end of the week, so –’

  Iris froze. Please don’t say it’s not going to work, she begged silently. Don’t tease us with a holiday and then say we can’t go!

  ‘I’ve already spoken with Ms Kyle,’ her mum said calmly. ‘And she’s not worried if you both miss a couple of days this week.’

  ‘YAAAY!’ shrieked Iris, dancing around in a circle. Kick, who was always ready to go crazy, came over and danced with her, whooping and clapping.

  After a while, Iris and Kick settled down. There was only so much celebrating Iris could do before she realised she had a ton of questions to ask.

  ‘So, Kick,’ Iris said as she pushed her hair off her face. ‘When do we leave?’

  Kick shrugged.

  ‘Well, then, how long are we going for?’ she tried.

  Kick shrugged again. ‘Mum didn’t tell me,’ he said. ‘She wanted to tell us together.’

  ‘Oh.’ Iris looked around. ‘Where has Mum gone, then?’

  Iris went off to find her, with Kick following behind. Their mum was in her bedroom, with two suitcases on the bed and the wardrobe doors open.

  ‘Hey, Mum,’ said Iris. ‘Kick and I were wondering what the plan is.’

  ‘Were you now?’ her mum smiled. ‘I was wondering when you’d want to know.’

  Iris and Kick stood by the bed, watching as their mum folded T-shirts, trousers and a skirt and laid them carefully in the suitcases.

  ‘Well,’ she said as she packed. ‘Dad’s meeting is early in the morning, so we haven’t got much time to get going.’

  Almost none at all, thought Iris. On their last visit to see Nan and Pa, it had taken a whole day and a whole night to drive there. So, for this holiday, we’ll have to leave before dinner tonight to make it in time.

  ‘Dad has to work back late tonight to get everything ready for his meeting, so we won’t be driving,’ Iris’s mum explained. ‘We’re going by plane instead. And we’ll all stay at Dad’s hotel for the first night.’

  This was unbelievable! Iris had never been on a plane before.

  She didn’t just shriek, she screamed.

  ‘A plane! A hotel! Awesome!’

  While Iris’s dad was working at his office late that night, Iris, her mum and Kick started packing. They also began tidying up because their mum said she liked to return to a spotless house after being on holiday.

  And, of course, Iris had to call all her friends to let them know she wouldn’t be at school for the next two days.

  She was calling her best friend, Zoe, as her mum was glaring into the fridge.

  ‘I can’t believe I did a full shop this morning. Look! The fridge is absolutely packed, and we won’t be here to eat it.’

  ‘Yeah, annoying,’ Iris said, only halflistening to her mum as she waited for someone at Zoe’s to pick up the phone. Iris knew her mum hated wasting food, but a holiday was surely worth a mouldy loaf of bread, wasn’t it?

  Zoe finally answered. ‘Hello,’ she puffed, as if she’d been running for miles. ‘Zoe speaking.’

  ‘Hello, Zoe speaking!’ teased Iris. ‘I was about to hang up. Guess what?’

  Iris quickly told Zoe the news, and Zoe said excitedly that Iris would totally love the hotel bathroom. Zoe had stayed in hotels before and always brought back the tiny soaps and mini shampoo bottles that hotels put out for guests to use.

  Iris glanced at the clock on the microwave. ‘Better go, Zo,’ she said. ‘I’ve still got to pack and I haven’t called Isabelle yet.’

  The more Iris thought about it, the more there was for her to do. She’d have to clean out the fish tank in her room or it would be really gross by the time she got back. She also wanted to tidy up her room a bit, so it would be nice to come home to. And she had to phone Mia and Siri to say she wouldn’t be around after all for the sleep-over they had planned for the school holidays …

  Boy, going on a holiday is a lot of work, she thought, pulling her favourite bag out from under her bed so she could start packing.

  But the hard work didn’t seem like a big deal at all when she thought about flying on a plane and staying in a hotel, and then about the great time ahead with her nan and pa. She felt so happy and excited about the holiday, she couldn’t imagine grumbling about a bit of tidying up ever again.

  A plane! Iris kept whispering to herself in amazement. How cool!

  The next morning Iris woke up so early that it was still grey outside. She felt incredibly happy and bubbly, but for a second she couldn’t remember why. Then it hit her.

  It’s today! Iris smiled to herself. We’re going on holiday, and I didn’t dream it because there’s my bag – all packed and ready.

  She bounced out of bed and pulled on the outfit she had laid out ready the night before. Then she practically skipped down the hallway.

  She could already tell it was going to be the most perfect day. She would be doing about a hundred things she’d never done before, starting with getting a taxi to the airport. And she still had ten dollars in her back pocket, left over from her birthday and ready to use for holiday shopping. Excellent!

  ‘Iris!’ her mum called. ‘Can you please wake Kick up? He needs breakfast before we go.’

  Iris caught a whiff of the bacon and mushrooms her dad was frying up in the kitchen, and her mouth watered as she ran to get her brother. Things kept getting better and better!

  After a massive breakfast, where their parents tried to get Iris and Kick to eat practically everything in the fridge, Iris took a box of vegies and the leftover bread and milk next door to Mr Calder. She got back just in time to check that her bag was zipped up properly before t
he taxi came.

  It felt like a dream to be winding her way through the city to the airport at exactly the time Iris and Kick would normally be catching the bus to school. And it was so cool to be having her bags weighed at the airport check-in desk at exactly the same time that she would normally be lining up in the playground for roll call.

  At the check-in desk, Iris watched her luggage roll along a conveyer belt and then disappear through a wobbly black rubber curtain.

  Then her dad led them through the security check. That meant any luggage they wanted to carry onto the plane with them had to be put through a big X-ray machine, while they had to walk under a special scanner that beeped if they had anything metal in their pockets.

  This is so cool, Iris thought, smiling to herself as she tightly grasped onto her boarding pass (‘Do not lose it!’ her mum had warned her).

  After the security check, the family headed down the longest corridor Iris had ever seen. It stretched on so far, she couldn’t quite see the end of it. Along the sides were coffee shops and sushi bars, and in between were big lounge areas full of seats and waiting passengers.

  ‘Our plane’s right down the end,’ Iris’s dad said after he had checked his boarding pass. Iris noticed there were funny flat escalators along the length of the corridor, a bit like conveyer belts for people. She saw adults in business suits walking along them, looking very serious and important.

  ‘Can we do that?’ she asked her dad.

  ‘You mean hop on the travelators?’ he replied. ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘Come on, Kick,’ grinned Iris. ‘Let’s do it!’

  She sped ahead of her mum and dad, and power-walked along the travelators with Kick beside her. It was almost like being a superhero, striding along at top speed. She imagined she was rushing off to catch a plane on her own – a star sax player, flying off to a concert on the other side of the world, with hundreds of fans and a limousine waiting for her.

  She’d never felt so glamorous in her life!

  They got to the end of the corridor, and Iris stepped off the last travelator. She was disappointed for a second at how heavy and ordinary it felt to walk along the carpet. But the disappointment was immediately replaced with excitement when her dad bought her and Kick hot chocolates at the cafe next to their lounge, and Iris saw two pilots walk by in their uniforms.

  Then she and Kick stood by the gigantic windows and watched planes taking off and landing, and being loaded and unloaded with bags, until it was time for them to board.

  Iris handed the flight attendant her boarding pass, and then followed her mum down a carpeted tunnel. It went around corners and sloped downwards until it reached the plane. Kick and her dad followed behind.

  Iris had a little tremor of nerves as she stepped into the plane. A cold breeze was whistling through a gap between the open door of the plane and the tunnel, and she shivered.

  I’m really doing this, she thought suddenly. I’m really on an aeroplane now!

  Iris followed her mum down the narrow aisle of the plane until they got to their seats in row twenty-one. The plane was so crowded! Worse than the school bus, with everyone trying to squeeze past to get to their seats, bumping into each other and saying,‘Sorry! Sorry!’ about a million times.

  ‘Who’s got the window seat?’ their mum asked.

  ‘Me!’ said Iris and Kick at exactly the same time.

  ‘No way! Not you – me!’ Their voices came together in a muddle.

  Iris was in front of Kick, so she got to slide right into the window seat.

  Kick flopped crossly into the seat next to her. ‘That’s so unfair!’ he grouched.

  ‘Relax, Kick,’ said their mum. ‘How about if Iris sits there for take-off, and you swap halfway through the flight? That way you can have the window for landing.’

  ‘Good,’ said Kick sourly, obviously still grumpy.

  ‘Iris?’ her dad asked.

  ‘Yeah, OK,’ Iris said easily. She wasn’t about to let a little thing like that get her holiday off to a bad start.

  Still, she thought, Kick shouldn’t make such a fuss when he misses out on something he wants. It wouldn’t kill him to grow up a bit.

  Take-off was awesome. The plane moved slowly past the airport until it reached the runway, and then there was a pause while the cabin crew showed the passengers how to put on their life jackets.

  Iris’s eyes bulged in alarm and she looked over at her mum.

  ‘It’s just in case, Iris,’ her mum said quietly. ‘But we’re not going to need them.’

  After the crew had sat down, the plane began to move faster. Much faster. The engines screamed louder and louder, and the wheels rumbled like thunder on the runway.

  Iris stared out the window at the ground flashing by. The plane bumped and swayed a bit, and then … nothing.

  The rumbling and bumping had stopped, and Iris realised that they were above the ground. Actually flying!

  Iris watched as the houses and roads shrank down to the size of a model village, and then became even smaller, as if they were part of a satellite photo of the earth. The plane flew so high that she could see whole rivers at once and the hills and valleys looked like wrinkles in a blanket.

  Then they went right through the clouds! It was misty and grey for a few moments, and then – wow! Iris hadn’t expected anything so beautiful. There was wide blue sky above them, and the clouds beneath were so fat and white and fluffy that Iris wanted to run and bounce on them as though they were a giant jumping castle.

  She gazed out the window dreamily. It didn’t seem nearly long enough before Kick jabbed her with his elbow and said, ‘Time’s up! My turn for the window.’

  After playing three games of spit with her mum, and eating a tray of the tiniest, cutest sandwiches ever, Iris’s ears began to feel stuffy and blocked.

  Her stomach swooped a little, like she was on a swing, and her dad said, ‘We’ve started to descend. We’ll be landing soon.’ His voice sounded like it was coming from miles away.

  ‘What?’Iris said.

  Her dad smiled.‘Yawn as big as you can. It will help pop your ears. Or hold your nose while you blow. That works, too.’

  Iris tried it. It was seriously weird! She blew her nose and held it at the same time, like her head was a balloon that she was blowing up from the inside, and then, pop! She could hear again.

  Her stomach swooped again as the plane dropped lower, and she bit her lip. She couldn’t tell if she was excited or scared, so she decided that landing was full of scary excitement!

  Iris thought taking off would make her nervous, but it was landing that got to her. But she soon learnt to ignore the screaming sound of the engines.

  And it’s OK once you accept the fact that your big-headed brother won’t lean back so you can see out the window as well, she thought.

  After they’d all gotten their bags off the luggage carousel, Iris’s dad took a taxi to his meeting while everyone else headed to the hotel.

  And what a hotel! Iris gaped. There was a man in a lovely deep green uniform standing by the front doors, waiting to carry their bags. Inside, the lobby was like something from one of those travel shows on TV. There were giant vases of flowers everywhere, coffee tables and leather furniture by the windows, and sparkling gift stores by the lifts. It was all so hushed and calm and elegant.

  Iris stood up very straight, and tried to tiptoe across the shiny floor as they walked to the reception desk. Beside her, Kick dragged his feet and said loudly, ‘Mum, I really, really need the toilet.’

  Iris couldn’t believe it. ‘Kick!’ she hissed. ‘Shh!’

  ‘What?’ said Kick, even louder. ‘I’m just saying, I’m really, really desperate for a –’

  ‘Be quiet!’ Iris glared at him. She was whispering so low Kick would have to lip-read. ‘You don’t have to be so noisy all the time.’

  Kick just rolled his eyes at her.

  ‘All right, guys,’ said their mum, turning away from the reception desk. �
�We’ve got our room key. Let’s go!’

  Iris gave Kick one last scowl, and then smiled brilliantly at her mum. ‘Cool. I can’t wait.’

  ‘Neither can I,’ said Kick. ‘And I mean, I really can’t wait.’

  Iris tried to ignore him. What a pain!

  The hotel room was brilliant! Iris had thought a hotel room would be exactly what it sounded like – one room. But they had something that looked more like a whole apartment. They had a little kitchen with a dishwasher and a microwave, and a sitting room with a TV, two sofas and a balcony. And there was one bedroom for her mum and dad, and one for her and Kick.

  Iris remembered what Zoe had said about hotels, and went to check out their bathroom while Kick was on the balcony. She wanted to poke around a bit without him following her.

  The bathroom was at the end of the corridor, and when Iris opened the door all she could say was, ‘Wow.’

  ‘Hey! What?’ Kick had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

  Iris ground her teeth in frustration. For a deaf kid, he was pretty hard to sneak off from.

  Still, it was actually good to be able to share her excitement with him.‘Look,’ she said, pointing. There on the shelf by the mirror were almost a dozen tiny bottles. They went closer to read the labels.

  ‘Shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser,’ Iris said out loud. ‘Oh, look – you can choose between pine needles and sea salt for boys, or apricot blossom and vanilla for girls.’

  ‘And matching soap!’ said Kick. ‘Little bars, all in wrappers.’

  ‘Ooh, and look at the towels!’ Iris added.

  The railing by the bath was heaped with huge, fluffy white towels. There was a stack of smaller ones for drying your hands or wrapping your wet hair in.

  ‘You know, with this many towels you wouldn’t need to wrap yourself in one towel like a normal person,’ said Iris. ‘You could just make a huge pile on the floor and then roll in them.’

  ‘Well, don’t get used to it,’ their mum laughed as she stood in the doorway. ‘This is only for one night. Tomorrow we check out and go to stay with Nan and Pa.’