The Jacqueline Wilson Christmas Cracker Read online

  ‘Of course you are. I thought it would be fun if we decorated the tree together,’ said Cam. ‘Look in that big carrier bag. There’s all the decorations.’

  ‘Oh, fantastic! We don’t have a proper tree at the Dumping Ground because the little kids are so dopey they might mistake the glass balls for apples and the big kids are so rowdy they might knock it all over. I’ve always wanted to decorate a tree!’

  ‘Then be my guest. I’ll go and sort out what we might be having for Christmas dinner. I know you don’t go a bundle on turkey and I’m mostly veggie nowadays . . . I could do a sort of tofu and vegetable casserole?’

  ‘That sounds absolutely temptingly delicious – not!’ I said.

  ‘I rather thought that would be your response. I don’t fancy faffing around in the kitchen for hours anyway. How about egg and chips?’

  ‘Now you’re talking! With lots of tomato sauce?’

  ‘You can dollop it all over your plate, Tracy. It’s Christmas. Ah! What else do you get at Christmas? We’ve got a Christmas tree. We’ll have our Christmas dinner. But there’s something else you have at Christmas. Um. What could it be? Oh yes! Presents!’

  She opened up a cupboard and pulled out three parcels in jolly Santa wrapping paper tied with red ribbon.

  ‘Oh, Cam! Are they for me?’

  ‘Well, they’ve all got Tracy Beaker on the labels, so if that’s your name I’d say it was a safe bet they’re all for you.’

  I felt really really really great. Cam had bought me loads of lovely presents.

  I felt really really really bad. I hadn’t got Cam anything.

  ‘Oh dear, why the saddo face? Did you hope there might be more?’ Cam teased.

  ‘You haven’t got any presents, Cam!’ I wailed.

  ‘Yes I have. I’ve opened mine already. I got a silk headscarf from my mum – as if I’d ever wear it! Plus a posh credit-card holder when I’m so overdrawn I can’t use my blooming cards anyway. I got lovely presents from my friends though. Jane gave me my woolly hat and scarf and mittens and Liz gave me a big box of chocs and a book token.’

  ‘What’s a book token?’

  ‘It’s a little card for a certain amount of money and when you take it to a shop you can change it for any book you fancy.’

  ‘Oh, I get it.’ I nodded. ‘Good idea!’

  ‘Come on then, open your presents from me.’

  I opened the heaviest first. It was ten children’s paperbacks. They were all a bit dogeared and tattered.

  ‘I’m afraid they’re second-hand,’ said Cam. ‘I searched in all the charity shops. A lot of them were ten-pence bargains!’

  I eyed them suspiciously. ‘They’re classics,’ I said. ‘Aren’t they, like, boring?’

  ‘Is A Christmas Carol boring? No! These were all my favourites when I was your age. Cam Lawson’s Top Ten Super Reads for kids your age. If you don’t want them I’ll have a great time re-reading them. Little Women is about this family of sisters and they like acting too, and reading Charles Dickens. You’ll especially like Jo, who’s a tomboy and wants to be a writer.

  ‘Then there’s Black Beauty. It’s a wonderful story, and there’s a very sad bit about a horse called Ginger which always makes me cry, but it’s lovely all the same. What Katy Did is about a big family – Katy’s the eldest, and she’s always in heaps of trouble but then she falls off a swing and can’t walk for ages. She’s got a very saintly cousin who irritates a bit, but it’s a great story, truly.

  ‘The Wind in the Willows is about a mole and a rat who are great chums and they have this pal Toad who’s a terrible show-off, and there are some very funny bits. Five Children and It is also funny – it’s about these kids who meet a sand fairy and all their wishes come true, but they always go wrong.’

  ‘Chance would be a fine thing,’ I said, sniffing.

  ‘There’s also Mary Poppins. The book’s much better than the film. I loved Tom Sawyer because he’s very badly behaved and always in trouble, and you might give Anne of Green Gables a go. It’s all about this little orphan girl who won’t ever stop talking. You’ll identify big-time with those two.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll like The Secret Garden because Mary is wondrously grouchy and rude to everyone and has to live in a house with a hundred rooms on the Yorkshire Moors. And Ballet Shoes is a perfect book for you, because these three sisters go to a stage school and perform in lots of plays, and I think that’s maybe what you might end up doing, Tracy.’

  ‘OK, OK. I’ll give them a go,’ I said. ‘I can always share them with some of the other kids, eh? Peter might like the Mole and Rat and Toad book.’

  I tried the next parcel, the biggest. It had a big drawing book, a big pail of felt tips and a giant tub of modelling clay, all different colours. These were all brand new!

  ‘I thought it was about time you had your own art supplies instead of raiding poor Elaine’s art cupboard,’ said Cam.

  ‘Oh wow! I’m not going to share these!’

  Finally I picked up the tiniest parcel. I unwrapped it and found a little black box. I opened it up – and there was a silver star pin badge.

  ‘It’s for you, Tracy Beaker Superstar,’ said Cam, pinning it on me.

  I gave her a big big big hug. Then I decorated the tree, carefully dangling each glass ball and twirly glass icicle, while Cam wound the fairy lights round and round. When we switched them on the tree looked totally magical.

  Then I helped Cam cook the lunch. She got me peeling potatoes. I had no idea that was the real way to make chips. Ours come in giant packets at the Dumping Ground, already peeled and sliced. I started peeling pounds of potatoes, whistling as I whittled.

  ‘Steady on, girl. There’s just the two of us,’ said Cam.

  ‘I never get quite enough chips at the Dumping Ground,’ I said.

  ‘OK. It’s Christmas. Today you can eat until you burst,’ said Cam.

  She wouldn’t let me fry them in the big chocolate Santa and little bird and sizzling chip pan, but she did let me fry our eggs and that was great fun. We both had enormous piles of golden chips on our plates, with a fried egg on top like snow on a mountain peak. I squirted mine liberally with scarlet sauce and then we started eating. I ate and ate and ate. My meal was delicious.

  ‘I make the most excellent egg and chips ever,’ I said, licking my lips. ‘Maybe I’m going to be a famous chef as well as a brilliant writer and a superstar actress.’

  Cam ate her chips valiantly but had to give up halfway through. We had clementines for pudding, then Cam opened up her big box of chocolates from Liz and we snaffled some of those.

  Then Cam undid her jeans and lay on the sofa, groaning, while I got my new art stuff and started creating. Cam rubbed her tummy, reached for a book and started reading me the first Christmassy chapter of Little Women. It was quite good in an old-fashioned sort of way. Meg was a bit of a goody-goody and Beth was a bit wet and Amy was too pert and girly but I loved Jo.

  Cam’s voice tailed away after a while and she dozed off. I carried on and on and on creating. Then, when she started yawning and stretching and opening her eyes, I went and made her a cup of tea. No one has ever shown me how to do it but I’m not a total moron.

  ‘Thank you, Tracy!’ said Cam. She took a sip. ‘Delicious!’

  (I spotted her fishing several of the teabags out of her cup and spooning out a few of the still melting sugar lumps, but neither of us mentioned this.)

  ‘I’ve got you some Christmas presents after all,’ I said. ‘Look on your coffee table.’ I pointed proudly.

  Cam nearly spilled her tea. ‘Oh my lord! Multiple Tracy Beakers!’ she said.

  ‘Aren’t they great!’ I said. ‘I made them with my modelling clay. The pink face was fine, and the red jumper and the blue skirt, but making my black curls all squiggly took ages.’

  ‘Are all six for me?’ said Cam.

  ‘No, no. You have this one. She’s the best, with the biggest smile. And I’ve got one for Peter and one fo