11 Ruby Road by Charlotte Barkla

Author:Charlotte Barkla [Charlotte Barkla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760657970
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Published: 2024-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

After school, Dorothy scampered up the road towards home.

‘Slow down, Dorothy!’ called Florence. ‘We waited ages for you to finish cleaning slates. The least you can do is walk slowly for the girls.’ Behind her, Margaret and Elsie were struggling up the dusty road, their cheeks pink with exertion.

‘Sorry,’ said Dorothy, waiting for her sisters. ‘I need to get this to George, that’s all.’ She held out the final part of the script, which she’d managed to retrieve from the dustbin when her teacher wasn’t looking. It was slightly smudged from Hector’s apple core, but otherwise it was fine. ‘I finally figured out how to end it,’ she said as the girls traipsed up the hill. ‘The final scene can show the main character as an old woman looking through photographs of all the wonderful plays she’s acted in and all the places she’s travelled to.’

It was the perfect ending.

She’d had the idea when she was looking at the faint wrinkles around Miss Armstrong’s eyes as she led the class in the Good Manners pledge at the end of the day. The children often wondered how old their teacher was. (Nobody knew, but they all suspected she was very old.)

‘That sounds lovely, Dorothy,’ said Margaret.

‘Yes, just lovely,’ said Elsie. ‘Have you written my part yet?’

‘I’ve written all the parts,’ said Dorothy. ‘I just need to take this at George’s house so he can do one final check. Then we’ll start making copies for everyone else. Thank goodness Mrs Lin bought us fountain pens. I don’t know how we would have done it in time with Ivy’s old dip pen.’

‘Can I have a turn with your fountain pen?’ asked Margaret. ‘It looks so nice.’

‘It is lovely,’ said Dorothy. ‘It’s like writing with silk! But I need to make sure it has enough ink for copying out the scripts. If there’s ink left over after that, you can try it.’

Elsie frowned. ‘What about—’

‘And you,’ said Dorothy, patting Elsie on the head. ‘I’d let you try it out too, Florence, but your letters to Freddy are too long and romantic. You’d probably need five fountain pens just to get through one letter.’

Margaret and Elsie giggled.

‘Sounds like jealousy to me,’ said Florence.

‘Jealous of your sappy letters? I think not. Oh, that reminds me.’ Dorothy stopped suddenly and pulled out an envelope from her skirts. Mr and Mrs Alfred McIntyre was written on the front in Miss Armstrong’s prim writing. ‘What am I going to do with this?’

While Dorothy was wiping slates, Miss Armstrong had penned a letter to Dorothy’s parents. She’d handed it to her with a sour, ‘Next time, keep on task.’

‘You’re supposed to give it to Mama and Father, obviously,’ said Florence. ‘That’s how letters work.’

‘Hmm … I think this might be a better place.’ Dorothy tucked it into a bush by the side of the road.

Margaret gasped. ‘Dorothy, you can’t! Miss Armstrong said you need to give it to Mama and Father!’

‘Oh, they don’t want to read that, trust me,’ said Dorothy.

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