Free Eva's Holiday by Judi Curtin Page B

while later, I checked my phone.
    ‘Oh no, it’s half nine!’ I cried, as I grabbed the basket and jumped to my feet. ‘I’m late. I have to get back or Mum and Dad will go crazy. Are you sure you’re going to be OK?’
    Kate stood up too. ‘It’s nice of you to worryabout me, but I’ll be OK.’
    And then for the first time ever, she hugged me. I hugged her back, and then set off down the hill.
    Near the end, I turned and waved. ‘I’ll be back first thing in the morning,’ I called.
    Kate waved back. ‘I’ll be here.’
    And then I went home.

Chapter Twenty
    W hen I went to bed that night, I couldn’t sleep. I tried to think of fun stuff, like hanging out with Ella and Victoria and Ruby, but nothing worked. The same picture kept pushing itself into my brain – a picture of Kate, all alone in the small, dark tent.
    Life just wasn’t fair.
    It wasn’t fair that Kate had no mum or dad.
    It wasn’t fair that she’d ended up living with that cross Martha in that horrible falling-down house.
    And it wasn’t fair that the one place in the whole world that was special to her was about to be destroyed.
    I couldn’t do anything to change the first two things, but I sure could do something about the third.
    Suddenly it became the most important thing in my life.
    Even if I had to chain myself to the tree for six months, I’d make sure that it wasn’t cut down.

    Another long hour passed, and still I couldn’t sleep. This was crazy. I climbed out of bed and got dressed, pulling on my warmest fleece and tracksuit bottoms. Then I tip-toed downstairs, carefully avoiding the creaky step that Dad hadn’t got around to fixing yet.
    I found a scrap of paper and wrote a note –
Mum and Dad, decided to get up early and go to the tree with Kate. See you later. Eva. xxx
    Hoping they wouldn’t guess exactly how early I’d got up, I slipped through the back door, closing it softly behind me.

    It was a clear night, and the light of the moon made everything a creepy silvery-grey colour.
    I didn’t want to frighten Kate, so I called softly as I got close to the tent. I could hear her fumbling with the tent-flaps, and seconds later she was kneeling at the tent opening, grinning happily.
    ‘You came,’ she said.
    ‘You don’t look surprised.’
    Kate shook her head.
    ‘I’m not surprised. You’re my friend. I knew you’d come.’
    I didn’t know how to answer that, so I just crawled into the tent and lay down. Kate edged back in beside me.
    ‘Now you’re here, I’m not afraid any more,’ she said. ‘So I can leave the tent-flaps open.’
    ‘But I thought you weren’t afraid anyway. I thought Jeremy was minding you.’
    She giggled.
    ‘He was doing his best, but it’s nice to have a human being here too. Just in case.’
    Neither of us spoke for a while. The air was warm, and there was a smell of damp canvas that was kind of nice.
    I was just dropping off to sleep, when Kate spoke.
    ‘I can see Lyra,’ she said.
    I sat up quickly.
    ‘Who’s Lyra? What’s she doing here? Is she on our side?’
    ‘Lyra’s not a person. It’s a constellation.’
    I lay down again, relieved.
    ‘Look,’ said Kate pointing through the open tent-flap. ‘See that bright star over there?’
    I shook my head. ‘What bright star? They all look the same to me.’
    Kate patiently explained, and after a while I could see what she was talking about. When I looked closely, I could see differences betweenthe stars. Some were brighter than others, some twinkled more, and some were almost invisible – just the faintest points of light. Then she showed me how some of the stars were arranged in shapes. She was really patient, and explained everything carefully. It was totally cool, and I forgot how tired I had been a few minutes earlier. By the time I fell asleep, I’d had my first, very thorough, lesson in astronomy.

    When I woke up, a greyish light filled the tent. It was chilly, and I pulled the old rug over me to try to get