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  Dad had sent Mum a red beaded purse in the shape of a heart, stuffed full of money.

  He hadn’t come to see us – but he hadn’t forgotten us.

  It was silly to hope for anything more. These were our Christmas presents this year.

  We still hoped, all the same.

  We sat up until we heard midnight striking.

  ‘Happy Christmas, darlings,’ Mum said, kissing us. ‘Come on, into bed, all of you. Help me, Em, I’m all woozy. Oh dear, I’m a terrible mum.’

  ‘No you’re not, you’re the best mum in the whole world,’ I said, giving her a hug.

  I picked Maxie up and herded Vita in front of me. We all three tumbled into bed, and Mum lay down on the covers beside us, kissing us all goodnight.

  ‘Are the socks still empty?’ Maxie mumbled.

  ‘So far,’ said Mum sleepily. ‘Oh, dear Lord, Mother Christmas is going to have to get busy.’

  ‘Father Christmas, silly,’ said Maxie.

  ‘Whatever,’ said Mum. ‘Night-night then, sweethearts. Sleep tight.’

  She stood up and staggered a little.

  ‘Are you OK, Mum? Hey, I’ll put you to bed, shall I?’ I said, sitting up.

  ‘No, no, I’m fine. I’m just so stupid. I’m like you, Em, wishing and wishing. How stupid is that?’

  ‘Wishes never come true the way you want,’ I said.

  Then we heard a noise downstairs. A tapping at the door. Then the letter box banging.

  ‘Who’s that?’ Mum called, her voice high-pitched.

  ‘Ho ho ho!’ someone called.

  We all four sat up, and then we jumped up and started running downstairs. It looked like there was a Father Christmas after all. Maybe it was going to be the best Christmas ever.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jacqueline Wilson is an extremely well-known and hugely popular author who served as Children’s Laureate from 2005-7. She has been awarded a number of prestigious awards, including the British Children’s Book of the Year and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award (for The Illustrated Mum), the Smarties Prize and the Children’s Book Award (for Double Act, for which she was also highly commended for the Carnegie Medal). In 2002 Jacqueline was given an OBE for services to literacy in schools and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame. She has sold over thirty-five million books and was the author most borrowed from British libraries in the last decade.

  ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

  NICK SHARRATT knew from an early age that he wanted to use his drawing skills in his career, so he went to Manchester Polytechnic to do an Art Foundation course. He followed this up with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design at St Martin’s School of Art in London from 1981–1984.

  Since graduating, Nick has been working full-time as an illustrator for children’s books publishers and a wide range of magazines. His brilliant illustrations have brought to life many books, most notably the titles by Jacqueline Wilson.

  Nick also writes books as well as illustrating them.

  Also by Jacqueline Wilson

  There are oodles of incredible Jacqueline Wilson books to enjoy!

  The Dinosaur’s Packed Lunch

  The Monster Story-Teller

  The Cat Mummy

  Lizzie Zipmouth

  Sleepovers

  Bad Girls

  The Bed and Breakfast Star

  Best Friends

  Big Day Out

  Buried Alive!

  Candyfloss

  Clean Break

  Cliffhanger

  Cookie

  The Dare Game

  The Diamond Girls

  Double Act

  Emerald Star

  Glubbslyme

  Hetty Feather

  The Illustrated Mum

  Jacky Daydream

  Lily Alone

  Little Darlings

  Lola Rose

  The Longest Whale Song

  The Lottie Project

  Midnight

  The Mum-Minder

  Sapphire Battersea

  Secrets

  Starring Tracy Beaker

  The Story of Tracy Beaker

  The Suitcase Kid

  Vicky Angel

  The Worry Website

  The Worst Thing About My Sister

  FOR OLDER READERS:

  Dustbin Baby

  Girls In Love

  Girls In Tears

  Girls Out Late

  Girls Under Pressure

  Kiss

  Love Lessons

  My Secret Diary

  My Sister Jodie

  CLEAN BREAK

  AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 407 04599 3

  Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,

  an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK

  A Random House Group Company

  This ebook edition published 2012

  Copyright © Jacqueline Wilson, 2005

  Illustrations copyright © Nick Sharratt, 2005

  First Published in Great Britain

  Yearling 9780440868507 2008

  The right of Jacqueline Wilson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.