The Girls From Greenway by Elizabeth Woodcraft

Author:Elizabeth Woodcraft [Woodcraft, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781785767852
Amazon: 1785767852
Publisher: Zaffre
Published: 2019-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Sylvie Tries

EVERYTHING SEEMED CALMER AFTER THE trip to Wormwood Scrubs, and now I had to focus on my exams which were a week away.

When I got home from school Mum was ironing in the living room. She was having a week off. A heap of washing sat on her armchair. ‘Ah, there you are.’ She heaved a sheet across the ironing board. ‘I was in the shop this morning and Mrs Weston mentioned that as it was early closing this afternoon, she was taking Mansell over to Braintree for a visit.’ She straightened the edges of the sheet. ‘She wondered if you would like to go and sit with Sylvie.’ Mum gazed at me. ‘It’s a good thing to do.’

‘What about my exams?’ I said. ‘I’ve got to revise biology. It’s the ear. The ear is complicated.’

‘It’s a shame you didn’t use your holiday to do it,’ Mum said.

‘I was working,’ I said, bitterly. ‘Earning money. It’s not just about hearing, you know, it’s about balance and giddiness and all sorts.’

‘It sounds as if you know it already,’ Mum said. ‘But if you’re so anxious to revise, take your books with you. I think it’s important that you go. Have a slice of bread now and then you won’t need any tea.’

I had to knock three times. Then a tired voice called, ‘Coming.’ Sylvie pulled open the door. I stared at her. She looked cold, her skin was almost, what was that word? translucent. In fact she looked quite nice, what my mum would have called ‘pale and interesting’, in her plain green shift dress and her hair brushed back from her face in a French pleat. She smiled at me and silently beckoned me in.

I followed her into the kitchen. She put the kettle on, while I pulled out a chair and sat down.

She leaned back against the sink and held on with both hands. ‘It’s so lovely to see you,’ she said, the first words she had spoken. ‘I haven’t seen many people lately. So what have you been up to?’ She spoke as if it was a strain, as if she was trying to swallow the words.

I shrugged. ‘Nothing.’ She looked at me with a slight frown. I felt uncomfortable. ‘Going to school.’

‘And how’s school?’ Her lower lip was moving strangely.

I shook my head. ‘We’ve got exams coming up.’

‘That’s good.’ She poured boiling water into the pot. ‘And how’s Tap?’ she said. ‘That bad boy, what’s he up to?’

I smiled. It was nice to hear his name. It was nice to see her. ‘He still works in The Boutique. But because of my exams, I can’t really go out much.’

‘Lovely.’ She kept swallowing. ‘How’s school?’

‘We’ve got exams,’ I said again.

Sylvie sat down, putting the teapot and the cups on the table. ‘Ah, you must be working hard.’

‘Sort of.’

‘Oh dear.’ Her face stretched into an odd shape.

‘Are you all right? I’m sorry I haven’t been round lately.’

‘Well, I haven’t been here.’

‘Good job I didn’t come,’ I said.

She smiled.

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