Free The Alien in the Garage and Other Stories by Rob Keeley Page B

blonde woman said.
    â€œJust body lotion, innit?” The checkout lady grinned. “With a bit of fake tan. Rubs on each day. Good as the real thing. Everyone thinks you’ve been to the Costa Brava.” She turned her attention to the next customers - Emma and Katie. “Hiya.” She reached out a ring-covered and orange hand to swipe the girls’ purchases through the till.
    Emma was staring at the hand, and at the checkout lady’s chubby face.
    It didn’t really look like a real suntan. But it wasn’t bad...
    â€œYou just get it at the pharmacy,” the checkout lady told the blonde woman. She looked at the readout on her till and turned back to the girls. “That’s eleven ninety-eight, then.”
    â€œI don’t get you.” Back on the seafront, Katie walked along beside Emma. They were sucking their lollipops. “All that way and that’s all you bought.”
    Emma didn’t answer. She was staring out to sea.
    The sky was still grey, and it didn’t look as if she’d be coming back from this holiday with a tan.
    But the checkout lady had given her an idea...
    â€œEmma!” Katie yelled suddenly, but too late. “Ow!” There was a cry.
    Emma came back to reality to find she’d walked straight into a girl of about her own age, who had been making her way in the opposite direction along the promenade.
    The girl had red hair. She looked mean. And very stroppy.
    â€œCan’t you look where you’re going!” she snapped.
    â€œSorry.” Emma backed off.
    The red-haired girl tutted very loudly and dramatically, then moved off.
    â€œOw.” Katie grinned. “You were, like, miles away then.” She looked at her watch. “Coming to the arcade, then, or d’you want to go on the beach? Mum wants us back home for lunch at one o’clock, ‘cause she’s taking us to the Pavilion this afternoon for Summer Show.” She rolled her eyes to Heaven. “She’s been thinking up stuff to do with you for, like, weeks. Said she wanted to make it a real holiday for you.” She moved on.
    Emma lingered for a moment, staring down at the chewing gum and dog mess-covered ground.
    As usual, the first two days of the holiday seemed very long, and the rest of the week seemed to fly by.
    On Saturday, the final day, Auntie Sandra drove Katie, Emma and her Mum into Chardwell, the local market town. The adults allowed the girls to go off for a wander around the shops on their own.
    It was then that Emma put the final phases of her plan into operation.
    â€œThere’s some secret stuff I want to buy,” she said mysteriously. She gave Katie as secret a smile as she could manage. “I’ll see you at the tearoom in a bit.”
    â€œOK.” Katie looked puzzled.
    Once Katie had gone off to look in the video store, Emma made off quickly through the crowded streets. She’d seen the shop she wanted to visit on their way into the town.
    Inside the pharmacy, Emma took a basket and made straight for the beauty products.
    There it was. The stuff she wanted.
    Body Lotion. With Self-Tanning Agent.
    She popped it into her basket. Then she moved aisles, and found some fancy bubble bath for Auntie Sandra, and a lipstick for Katie.
    It wasn’t just that she wanted a reason for her “secret shopping”. She really did want to thank her auntie and cousin for this holiday. Really, she wanted her family and friends to be pleased.
    She went to the checkout, and stood behind people buying sunscreen and sprays for wasp stings.
    The price of her three items used up nearly all that was left of her holiday money.
    To do the final bit, she had to move like lightning.
    She was going to an Internet café she had spotted next door to the town’s museum.
    Once in the café, she booked fifteen minutes on the Net and searched for “Spain”, “Marbella”, “e- cards” and