The Butterfly Club Read online

  Chapter Eleven

  I SPOTTED SELMA the moment I got into the playground. She spotted me too. She was glaring. I clutched at Mum. I wanted her to pick me up even though I knew I was being a baby.

  Then Neera came running over. ‘Hi, Phil,’ she said, and they did a funny hello thing with their hands – a bit like a high five but more elaborate.

  ‘What are they doing?’ I asked Maddie.

  ‘Oh, they’re in this funny club thing,’ she told me. ‘They have secret codes and passwords and they make badges.’

  ‘Aren’t you in their club too?’ said Mum.

  ‘It’s really just for people on their table. I don’t mind,’ Maddie said cheerfully. ‘I’d sooner go and play footie with Harry and the boys.’

  ‘Well, I really want both of you to look after Tina today,’ said Mum.

  ‘She can play with us,’ said Maddie.

  ‘You know she’s not allowed to play football.’

  ‘She can be the ref. I’ll get Harry to lend her his whistle.’

  ‘Or she can be in our club. We’ll let her join because she’s my sister and she’s been poorly,’ said Phil. ‘It’s breaking the rules, but it doesn’t matter, because Neera and I are the ones who made them all up.’

  ‘Well, which would you prefer, Tina?’ said Mum.

  I didn’t prefer either option. I liked football, but I didn’t know the rules and couldn’t be bothered to learn them. I didn’t see how I could be a ref (though I rather liked the idea of blowing the whistle).

  I liked clubs but I knew I’d forget all these codes and passwords (though I wouldn’t have minded a badge).

  I didn’t say anything. I just bent my head.

  ‘I think just until Tina finds her feet again at school it would be better if you played together nicely, the three of you,’ said Mum. ‘Now, let’s go in and see Miss Lovejoy.’

  We had to go past Selma. I hung onto Mum’s hand tightly. Phil went first. She ignored Selma altogether. Then Maddie went by. She gave Selma a fierce look.

  ‘Hello, Selma,’ said Mum.

  Selma turned her back.

  ‘Here’s Tina, back at school again,’ Mum went on.

  Selma started to walk away.

  ‘Selma? I’m talking to you!’

  Selma stood still, hunched over.

  ‘I do hope that you and Tina can learn to play nicely together,’ said Mum.

  Phil and Maddie and I looked at each other. Phil and Maddie rolled their eyes. As if Selma would ever play nicely with anyone!

  ‘Tina was very touched to get your letter, Selma,’ said Mum.

  What??? Had Mum gone completely crackers? It wasn’t Selma’s idea to write to me. Miss Lovejoy made everyone write letters. Phil and Maddie and I all knew that.

  ‘Mum!’ Phil hissed.

  ‘Selma didn’t want to write a letter,’ said Maddie.

  ‘But it was a lovely thing to do all the same,’ said Mum. ‘Well done, Selma!’

  Then she hurried us into school.

  ‘Why are you being all nicey-nice to Selma, Mum?’ asked Phil.

  ‘She’s our deadly enemy!’ said Maddie. ‘She’s the meanest girl in our class. In the whole school. In the whole city. In the whole country. In the whole universe!’

  ‘But perhaps if everyone was a bit kinder to Selma, she might stop being so mean,’ said Mum. ‘I don’t think she has a very happy time at home. Remember how her mum slapped her?’

  ‘I’d slap Selma, given half a chance,’ said Maddie.

  I didn’t say anything. I was too busy being worried. I hated the smell of school and the sound of school. I shut my eyes and wished wished wished that I was back home in bed drawing butterflies.

  Miss Lovejoy was at her desk. She frowned when Mum opened the classroom door – but then she smiled a bit when she saw that it was us.

  ‘Hello, Mrs Maynard. Hello, Philippa and Madeleine. And hello, Tina! Welcome back to school! I’m so pleased to see you.’

  Mum gave me a little nudge. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t possibly say I was pleased to see Miss Lovejoy because it would have been a great big fib.

  ‘Tina’s feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment, Miss Lovejoy,’ said Mum.

  ‘Of course. That’s entirely understandable. Don’t worry, I’ll keep my eye on her,’ said Miss Lovejoy.

  Oh dear. I didn’t want Miss Lovejoy’s beady eye on me, thank you!

  ‘That’s very kind of you.’ Mum took a deep breath. ‘I know you want to keep my girls separated in class, but I was wondering . . . Would it be possible for Tina to sit with one or other of her sisters for a few days, just until she gets used to school again?’

  ‘Well,’ said Miss Lovejoy, lacing her fingers and looking at Mum over her glasses, ‘I’ve given it some thought, but I’m not sure it would be good for Tina in the long run. She has to learn to stand on her own two feet – even though they’re a bit wobbly at the moment.’

  ‘Could she at least change to a different table?’ said Mum.

  ‘I’ve considered that too. But if I let Tina sit on another table, then I’ll have half the class wanting to swap places. However, I don’t want you to think I’m too hard-hearted. I’ve rearranged Tina’s table. She’s sitting between Michael and Alistair now, and they’re both good-hearted boys. They’ll be little gentlemen and look after her. Don’t worry, Mrs Maynard. Tina will be fine.’

  Mum still looked worried. So did Phil and Maddie. And I was very, very, very worried.

  Chapter Twelve

  SO I SAT at the same table, though not next to Selma.

  She could still kick me under the table, but she had to slide right down in her seat to do it. Whenever Miss Lovejoy saw her slipping downwards, she said, ‘Come along, Selma, sit up properly.’

  She wasn’t near enough to nudge or poke me and she couldn’t reach to scribble all over my drawings. It was sooooo much better. And it was actually quite good to sit between Mick and Alistair.

  Mick was my second favourite boy in the class after Harry. He could be very funny. I loved watching him in dance and drama. He made us all roar with laughter when we were pretending to be dogs.

  Alistair was never funny. He was the most serious person I’d ever met. But it was very useful sitting next to him because he knew all the answers and didn’t mind if you copied a bit.

  He helped me catch up on all the work I’d missed. Miss Lovejoy nearly got cross when she saw I hadn’t done any homework at all.

  ‘There now! And I made all that effort to come over to your house to give you work so you wouldn’t fall behind,’ she said, shaking her head at me. ‘You’re a naughty, lazy girl, Tina Maynard.’

  ‘I’m naughty but I’m not lazy, Miss Lovejoy,’ I said. ‘I did do lots of work in my butterfly book. Do you want to look at it?’

  ‘Not just now. This is a maths lesson and you must practise your multiplication sums,’ she said in a stern voice.

  I hadn’t got to grips with multiplication before I got ill. I couldn’t work out how to do it at all.

  I went up to Miss Lovejoy’s desk and she showed me very simple multiplication sums. They were still too difficult for me and I didn’t understand, but I didn’t dare tell her in case she got even crosser.

  I went back to my seat and looked at the three sums she’d set me, but I couldn’t do them at all. I bent my head over my book, feeling sick. I gave little moans, and Phil and Maddie heard.

  ‘Please, Miss Lovejoy, Tina doesn’t look very well,’ said Phil.

  ‘She’s gone all green. That means she’s going to be sick,’ said Maddie. ‘Can we take her out to the toilets?’

  Miss Lovejoy looked at me carefully. ‘I don’t think she’s sick. I think she’s simply sick of hard work,’ she said. ‘Have you finished those sums yet, Tina?’

  ‘Not quite, Miss Lovejoy.’ I started sniffling.

  ‘Haven’t you got a clean tissue?’ said Alistair. ‘Hang on, I’ve got a packet in my pocket. Have you sti