Twin Tales Read online

  ‘What colour eyeshadow would Madam like?’ Mum asked, but as Connie was choosing there was a cry from downstairs. Then another.

  Mum looked at Connie. Connie looked at Mum.

  ‘Well, they’ll just have to cry for five minutes. We’re busy,’ said Mum.

  She made up one of Connie’s eyes very carefully, while the crying continued downstairs.

  ‘It’s okay, Mum. I’ll do the other one,’ said Connie. ‘You’d better go and feed the twins again.’

  ‘They’re going to get as fat as elephants at this rate,’ said Mum. ‘They’ll be growing trunks and trumpeting next. Sorry to interrupt the game, Connie. Here, tell you what – why don’t you phone Karen and ask her to come round and play dressing up with you?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ said Connie. And then she remembered. ‘Oh no,’ she said instead.

  ‘What’s up?’ said Mum.

  ‘Karen and I aren’t friends any more,’ said Connie.

  ‘Well, why don’t you phone her up and make friends?’ said Mum.

  ‘I’m not sure she likes me any more. And anyway, she’s probably playing round at that awful Angela’s,’ said Connie. ‘She wants to be her friend now.’

  ‘Why can’t you all be friends?’ said Mum.

  Connie raised her newly painted eyebrow expressively.

  But she rang Karen all the same. She felt shy and squirmy inside at first, as if Karen was a stranger.

  ‘Do you want to come round to my house to play?’ she blurted out. She was worried Karen might say no or make some excuse. But Karen seemed quite happy about the idea, thank goodness.

  ‘Bring some dressing-up clothes and some of your mum’s old make-up,’ said Connie. She was about to hang up the phone. She hesitated. ‘And you can bring Angela, too, if you really want.’

  ‘She’s gone off to her ballet class. She’s a bit miffed with me, actually. I accidentally kicked her when I was copying one of those twiddly things she does with her leg stuck out, and she didn’t half carry on about it. I think she takes all that dancing stuff far too seriously.’

  Karen only lived ten minutes’ walk away so she and Connie were soon playing dressing-up. They didn’t take it seriously at all. They strutted around in long frocks and smiled silly smiles and shrieked with laughter at each other’s antics. It didn’t matter about making a noise because the twins were awake anyway, being fed and changed.

  ‘Can I have a quick look at them?’ asked Karen, when it was time for her to go home.

  She’d already seen the twins when they came straight from the hospital and had privately agreed with Connie that they didn’t look a patch on her baby sister Susie.

  But now when Karen saw Claire and Charles, temporarily pink and peaceful in Mum’s arms, she seemed impressed.

  ‘Oh, don’t they look sweet like that!’ Karen whispered.

  ‘Sweet?’ Connie whispered back, staring at her baby brother and sister.

  ‘You are lucky, Connie. I wish Susie had been twins,’ said Karen. ‘Look at them, they’re as good as gold. I thought you said they cried all the time.’

  ‘They do, don’t they, Mum?’ said Connie.

  ‘It certainly seems like it,’ said Mum. ‘You’re not good at all, are you, twins? You’re big bad babies who bully us something rotten.’

  Baby Claire and baby Charles blinked blue eyes, all innocence.

  Karen laughed and said goodbye. ‘If you’re late to school again tomorrow I’ll wait for you,’ said Karen. ‘I won’t be Angela’s partner again. I’ve gone off her.’

  ‘I was scared you might have gone off me,’ said Connie. ‘We are still best friends, aren’t we, Karen?’

  ‘You bet, bestest friends ever,’ said Karen.

  They linked little fingers and vowed that they would never break friends again.

  9. Growly Bears

  Dad was very late home. The car had broken down and he was in a bad mood because it was going to cost a lot of money to get it mended.

  ‘Karen’s dad’s got a new car,’ said Connie.

  ‘ Well, your dad’s got to make do with a very very old car,’ said Dad, bitterly.

  ‘It would be nice to have a new car,’ said Connie. She was simply making conversation but it seemed to irritate Dad.

  ‘Well, we can’t have a new car so there’s no point asking,’ said Dad, though Connie had done no such thing. Then he took a close look at her. ‘What’s all that muck on your face, Connie?’

  ‘Make-up, Dad.’

  ‘Make-up? Whatever’s going on? You’re much much too young to wear make-up!’

  ‘It’s just for dressing up, Dad. I wouldn’t wear it out.’

  ‘You go and give your face a wash this minute.’

  ‘Oh, Dad. It looks lovely. I want to leave it on. And Karen’s mum lets her wear pink lip gloss even when she goes out.’

  ‘Connie.’ Dad was starting to look very cross. ‘I don’t want to hear another word about Karen. Or Karen’s mum. Or Karen’s dad. Or any other member of Karen’s family.’

  ‘Karen’s baby sister, Susie,’ said Connie helpfully, because she was the only one Dad hadn’t mentioned.

  Dad didn’t find this helpful. He seemed to think she was being deliberately cheeky.

  ‘That’s enough,’ he said, firmly. ‘Go and wash your face at once. And then get ready for bed.’

  ‘But it’s not my bedtime yet!’ said Connie, indignantly. ‘Mum, it’s not fair, Dad says I’ve got to go to bed and yet it’s not my bedtime for another twenty minutes.’

  ‘If you’re not upstairs in twenty seconds then you will seriously regret it, young lady,’ Dad bellowed.

  His shouts seriously upset the twins, who both started bawling.

  Connie practically burst into tears herself. Her face was all screwed up as she ran up the stairs, and when she was in the bathroom a few tears spurted down her cheeks. Blue tears, because of the blue eyeshadow still on her eyelids. The shiny blue tears made her remember her two shiny blue beads.

  ‘It’s not fair,’ Connie said, sniffling. ‘Dad can shout all he wants and wake up the babies and he doesn’t get told off. And I’ve got into trouble over nothing! I was being good, for goodness sake. It wouldn’t be so bad if I was being bad, but I wasn’t!’

  She twiddled the beads in her little plait and they clinked together.

  There was a blue flash in the bathroom. Then a knock at the door. Two knocks.

  ‘Who’s that?’ said Connie – although she knew perfectly well who it was going to be.

  But there was no answer. The knocking got louder. There was a sort of scratching at the door. And then a growl.

  ‘What’s that?’ Connie called,

  shivering.

  ‘A great big ferocious growly bear coming to hug you to death!’

  ‘Two big ferocious growly bears coming to gobble up their little girl!’

  The bathroom door burst open and Connie squealed as twin dads rushed into the room, growling and grunting.

  ‘Grrrr!’ ‘Grrrr!’ ‘Help! Don’t! Oooh! Tee-heeeee!’ Connie screamed, as they picked her up in their pretend paws and tickled her with their pretend claws.

  ‘Connie? What’s the matter? Why are you screaming? Hang on, Dad’s coming!’ Dad shouted from downstairs.

  He came running into the bathroom and bumped right into the twin dads and Connie.

  ‘Get off my daughter!’ Dad yelled, and he tried to drag Connie free.

  ‘She’s our daughter, too!’ ‘We’re having a game. Connie loves a romp, don’t you, darling?’

  ‘You haven’t played with Connie for ages.’

  ‘You just get cross with her when the poor kid hasn’t even done anything.’

  ‘I don’t know what you two creeps are playing at, but I’m Connie’s father!’ Dad shouted.

  ‘We’re playing growly bears, eh, Connie? Grrrr!’

  ‘And you call yourself a father, when you’re no fun at all. Grrrr!’

  ‘Will you stop this! G