Free Ask Eva by Judi Curtin Page B

will understand that we were just trying to help Gigi?’
    ‘No way. All they’ll understand is that I broke their rules, and I’ll be grounded for weeks.’
    I hugged Lucky even closer to me. If Ella got grounded, my life wasn’t going to be a whole lot of fun either.
    Just then there was the sound of a bell ringing, and Nurse Witch jumped up. Ella and I ducked back as she marched past. When she was safely gone, I peeped around the corner, just in time to see Nurse Witch disappearing into Eleanor’s room.
    ‘What is it, Eleanor?’ I could hear her saying. ‘It’s very late, and you should be asleep.’
    ‘I want to see the doggie,’ said Eleanor. ‘He was a very nice doggie. Can he come back?’
    ‘You’ve been dreaming,’ said Nurse Witch. ‘There’s no dog here. As you well know, animals aren’t allowed in the building.’
    ‘But he was here,’ said Eleanor. ‘I’m sure of it. And there was a lovely girl too. She said …’
    I wanted to hear the rest of the conversation, but Ella was pulling my arm.
    ‘We’ve got to go,’ she whispered.
    I knew she was right. We escaped from the nursing home, dropped Lucky back to Maggie’s house, and let ourselves in the backdoor of Ella’s place.
    Just as we were about to take off our jackets and boots, we heard the sound of Ella’s dad’s key in the front door.
    ‘Quick,’ whispered Ella. I raced up the stairs after her, and shoved the rucksack into a cupboard. There was no time to change. Without switching on the light, we both jumped into Ella’s big double bed and pulled the covers up to our chins. A second later, Ella’s mum was at the bedroom door.
    ‘Are you asleep, girls?’ she whispered.
    ‘Sort of,’ said Ella, in a fake sleepy voice.
    Her mum crossed the room and sat on the end of the bed. I hoped she wouldn’t notice that, under the covers, Ella and I still had our boots on.
    ‘Well, I just came to tuck you in and say good-night,’ she said, leaning over to stroke Ella’s face.
    ‘Oh, my goodness,’ she said. ‘Are you allright, Ella? Your skin is ice cold. And what about you, Eva? Are you cold too?’
    I shook my head, trying not to laugh. ‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m fine, thanks. Just a bit sleepy.’
    Luckily Ella’s mum took the hint. ‘Oh well, she said. ‘I’ll put the heating on for an hour and maybe we need to get you a warmer blanket for your bed, Ella.’
    ‘Yay,’ said Ella, forgetting that she was supposed to be sleepy. ‘There are totally cool fluffy ones in Daly’s. Maybe we should get two, just to be on the safe side. I’d like a purple and a black one, and maybe a few cushions to complete the look.’
    ‘You girls!’ said her Mum.
    She went out, closing the door behind her, and that was the end of another Friday night.

Chapter Seventeen
    O n Monday, it was lovely and sunny so Ella and I had our lunch on our favourite bench in the farthest corner of the playground.
    ‘I’m kind of worried about Aretta,’ I said as I unwrapped my lunch.
    ‘Why?’ asked Ella, leaning across to see what was in my sandwiches. ‘Oh, chicken – lucky you. Want to swap for my cheese and tomato?’
    I don’t much like chicken sandwiches, so we swapped.
    ‘Anyway,’ said Ella through a mouthful of my sandwich. ‘I haven’t seen Aretta all morning. Why are you worried about her?’
    ‘She’s in my geography class, and she was already at her desk when I got there. At first I thought she was reading her geography book, but then I noticed that it wasn’t even open. I asked her if she was OK, and she said she was, but she didn’t sound at all OK. She sounded really upset.’
    ‘Poor Aretta. What did you do?’
    ‘I know we agreed not to talk to her about personal stuff, but I couldn’t just say nothing. I asked her if she wanted to talk.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘She didn’t say anything for ages, and I was starting to think she hadn’t heard me, but then she looked up and I saw that her eyes were all red.’
    ‘She’d