My Sister Jodie Read online

  Mum dressed up too, changing from her checked trousers and white top into her best blue dress with the low neck and the tight patent belt, and she even wore her own high heels. We were so used to her in practical work clothes that she seemed like a glamorous stranger.

  ‘You look so pretty, Mum!’ I said.

  ‘Don’t talk nonsense,’ said Mum, but she looked pleased.

  ‘It’s not nonsense at all,’ said Dad. ‘You’re as 212

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  pretty as a picture. And so are you, birthday girl.

  And you too, Jodie pet. My three best girls, all of them little crackers.’

  ‘Then you’d better measure up, Joe. You can’t come to Pearl’s party in your work clothes! Get changed quick – best shirt, and wear a tie.’

  ‘Oh come on, Shaz, it’s only a party for the little-uns.’

  ‘ Sharon! Mr Wilberforce will probably look in, and Miss Ponsonby and that Frenchie, all sticking their noses in.’

  ‘Do we have to have them too?’ I asked, horrified.

  ‘If they’re coming, then I can’t see why Jed can’t come,’ said Jodie. ‘I bet he’s good at all sorts of games!’

  ‘Stop that silly talk, Jodie. The others will just be there for the birthday tea. I dare say they’ll clear off afterwards while you’re all playing.’ Mum looked at her watch. ‘Right, Pearl. You’d better go into the dining hall. Your guests will be arriving soon.’

  My stomach clenched. ‘Oh, Mum! I don’t want to.

  I don’t know what to say to them. I don’t want this party. Please, can’t I just stay here till it’s over?’ I begged.

  ‘Don’t be so silly,’ said Mum. ‘Of course you have to go to your own party!’

  ‘You’ll have a lovely time, pet, you’ll see,’ said Dad.

  Jodie put her arm round me. ‘I’ll come with you, Pearl. It’s OK. I’ll look after you. You’re going to have a great time, I promise you.’

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  We had to gallop the length of the dining room, hee-hawing at the top of our voices.

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  I clung to Jodie gratefully. We walked down the corridor, through the kitchen and into the dining room. I stood still, my heart thumping. Mum and Dad had put up a banner saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY

  PEARL. There were pink and white balloons taped to either end of the long table. The party food was laid out on pink plates. It was old-fashioned storybook party food: tiny sandwiches; sausages on sticks; fairy cakes; gleaming red and green jellies; a big bowl of creamy trifle studded with cherries.

  ‘Ah, bless,’ said Jodie, snatching up a sandwich and several sausages.

  ‘We’re not supposed to eat anything yet,’ I said.

  ‘It’s your party. You can eat your own food when you want,’ said Jodie, dipping her finger in the trifle and having a big lick of cream. ‘Yum! Try a bit!’

  ‘I don’t actually feel like eating. I feel sick,’ I said.

  ‘You are so weird,’ said Jodie. ‘Are you shivering?’

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  She briskly rubbed the goose pimples on my arms. ‘There, let’s warm you up a bit. Wait till you’ve played some of my party games. You’ll be warm as toast then.’

  ‘I really really really don’t want to play party games,’ I said.

  But then Harley came striding into the dining room, looking astonishing. He was wearing a bizarre black felt wizard’s hat, the plum silk smoking jacket from the attics upstairs, and his own too-short jeans, showing his socks, one scarlet, one canary yellow.

  ‘Good God, it’s a clown,’ said Jodie.

  Harley ignored her, took off his wizard’s hat with a flourish and bowed low. ‘Happy birthday, Pearl. I am Harley, purveyor of excellent, instructive and original party games. This is my magical wizard’s hat – and lo and behold, here is your birthday present lurking inside.’

  He held the hat out to me. I felt inside the silk lining and found a long narrow package tied up in brown paper and string.

  ‘Fancy party packaging,’ said Jodie.

  I undid the string, unwrapped the paper and found a long black object inside.

  ‘What is it?’ said Jodie.

  I flicked the switch and it lit up.

  ‘A torch! Well, that’s a weird present. Why on earth would Pearl want a torch?’ said Jodie.

  ‘I think it’s a wonderful present. Thank you, Harley,’ I said.

  ‘If you should ever find yourself out in the dark for any reason, I hope the torch will come in handy,’

  said Harley.

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  ‘Oh yeah, that’s so likely,’ said Jodie. ‘Look, I’ve got all the party games sussed out, Harley.’

  Miss Ponsonby seemed to think she was in charge of party games. She was carrying a big basket when she brought Zeph and Sakura and Dan to the dining hall. There were wrapped packages for prizes, a blindfold, and a big painting of a donkey with a separate droopy wool tail.

  ‘I painted the donkey’s bottom,’ said Zeph.

  They’d all painted me cards too. Zeph had daubed me another donkey eating an enormous orange carrot. He had a speech bubble saying, Hee-haw Happy Birthday.

  ‘It says Hee-haw – Hee-haw, you know, like a donkey!’ said Zeph.

  He was still damp from a scrubbing in the bath, but his hands were still ghostly grey with paint. He wore a white T-shirt, red shorts and red strappy sandals. He also wore a tartan bow tie on a piece of elastic. He kept snapping it proudly.

  Sakura had written her ‘Happy Birthday’ in lettering so little I could barely read it. She’d drawn me a delicate picture of tiny things: butterflies; rabbits; kittens; dolls; necklaces; fans; small smiley suns. She pointed to each object with her finger, explaining them. She looked beautiful in her Japanese costume. She even had a flower clipped above her ear.

  Surprisingly Dan wore flowers too, a long daisy chain round his neck like a garland. He had daisy-chain bracelets and even a daisy-chain anklet. His transparent man had his own daisy chain dangling down past his visible abdomen.

  ‘I’ve learned how to make daisy chains,’ he said 217

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  unnecessarily. ‘I’ll make you one for your birthday if you like, Pearl.’

  ‘That would be lovely, Dan, but I’ve already got my new necklace and my new bracelet. But thank you. Your daisy chains look lovely on you.’

  He did look very cute, especially as the flowers looked so incongruous with his blue and white striped dungarees. He’d drawn a picture of himself on his card, his blue stripes added so enthusiastically that he’d poked several holes in the paper.

  He’d drawn daisies at each corner and a carefully crayoned message: Hapy Burday Purl X X X.

  ‘Undie said I’ve spelled it wrong. She said I should have waited and asked her,’ said Dan.

  ‘I like it spelled just the way it is,’ I said. ‘It’s a lovely card. Thank you for all your lovely cards.’

  ‘Can we start eating now?’ said Zeph, eyeing the table.

  ‘We’re going to play a few party games first,’ said Jodie.

  ‘Oh yes, we’ve got to pin the tail on my donkey,’

  said Zeph, clapping his stained hands.

  ‘I’ve got much better games,’ said Jodie. ‘Take your pick: Ghosts or Murder or the Deadly Dare game.’

  ‘Maybe we’ll play your games after tea, Jodie,’

  said Dad, hurrying into the dining room in his best blue shirt and grey trousers. ‘We don’t want the little ones getting so over-excited they can’t eat their tea.’

  So we played Miss Ponsonby’s traditional party games first. We all took it in turns to be blindfolded and pin the tail on the d