Hannah in the Spotlight Read Free Page A

her and Maisie while I bring the boys?’
    ‘OK.’ I looked back at Meg, who suddenly looked kindof lonely. ‘Is it OK if I ask Meg to come in?’
    ‘Yes, of course. Hurry up though, I really need to get going. We should have been there ten minutes ago.’
    I called to Meg and started taking off my rollerblades as I explained to her that big sister duty was calling again.
    ‘Mum says you can come in and hang out with me while I’m babysitting,’ I told her quickly.
    ‘Really? That would be great!’ Her face fell. ‘Oh, I’d better not actually, Sadie is coming over soon.’
    ‘Oh, yeah.’ I felt disappointed. ‘How about we meet up later, then? We can call for Ruby too.’
    ‘Great! Let’s do that.’
    I watched as Meg skated back to her own house. Then Maisie called me to come and play teddies.
    Not teddies again! I thought to myself, trying to suppress a sigh.
    The morning had turned out better than I had been expecting, and I felt pretty sure I had made a new friend in Meg. Maybe she could help me with my summer project – whatever it turned out to be. One thing was for sure, I needed to come up with something fast, or this babysitting thing could turn into a full-time job.

Chapter Three
    All the time I was minding the girls, my mind was busily working away on a plan. Mum called me right after she dropped the boys at the party and said since she was out anyway she might as well go to Tesco, and did I mind looking after the girls for a bit longer? I said I didn’t mind and she could go ahead. It was true, I didn’t mind, not really. Being the oldest in the family does mean you have to help out sometimes, and I do actually like playing with Maisie and looking after Emma. I just didn’t want the whole holidays to go by without me having done anything except play teddies, find lost soothers and break up rows. That would make a pretty boring ‘What I did in my holidays’ essay when I went back to school.
    I kept thinking of Meg, all alone next door. It must be strange to move somewhere new and leave all your friends behind. I’ve lived in Carrickbeg all my life and I can’t really imagine what it would be like if Mum and Dad suddenly announced we were moving to a new town. I’d miss Ruby and Laura so much and all the things we dotogether. I wondered if Meg was missing her friends and her old life.
    I saw a stylish-looking older lady with short, neat grey hair making her way up Meg’s driveway. She was wearing high heels and a brightly coloured pashmina fastened at the front with a diamanté brooch. I could see why Meg called her Sadie – it was hard to imagine anyone calling her Granny.
    Unbelievably, Maisie was tired of teddies. ‘Will you read to me?’ she asked.
    ‘OK,’ I agreed. ‘Go and get your Secret Seven book.’ We were working our way through the Secret Seven series together. I’d really enjoyed those books when I was a bit younger, and now it was nice to get a chance to read them again and see Maisie enjoying them too.
    It was when we were curled up together reading about the adventures of Peter, Janet and all the rest that my super, brilliant, fantastic idea came to me. We should form a club! We’d need a clubhouse of some kind, and a secret password, and ways to get messages to each other. We’d each have our own job to do, and we’d hold regular meetings, and keep records in a secret journal.
    ‘Han – nah!’ Maisie was using her whiniest voice. I realised I’d stopped reading.
    ‘Sorry, Maisie! I was just daydreaming there for a minute,’ I told her. ‘Why don’t you read a little bit now,and I’ll listen? I’ll help you if you get stuck.’
    Maisie took the book and started reading. My mind wandered off again. What would we do in the club, though? I was old enough to realise that the type of mysteries that the Secret Seven and the Five Findouters were always solving didn’t really crop up like that all the time in real life. I wasn’t sure I was cut out for life