Queenie Read Free Page A

more.
    ‘Where is she then?’ asked the policeman.
    ‘Vi says she comes and goes,’ said the friend. ‘It’s more going than coming, if you ask me.’
    ‘Nobody
is
asking you,’ I said, which made her suck her teeth. ‘My mum’s very busy. She’s a showgirl on the stage.’
    ‘There!’ said the friend, clearly disliking me back. ‘No better than she ought to be!’ she hissed.
    ‘I’d better go and phone,’ said the policeman. ‘How can we get in touch with Mummy?’ he asked me.
    ‘I have her phone number,’ I said, running to get Nan’s little notebook. ‘But you can’t call her just yet. She’ll still be asleep. She never gets up early.’
    ‘Well, she’ll just have to stir herself,’ said the policeman. ‘Is that her number, dear?’ he asked me when I came back.
    ‘I’ll do it,’ I said, but he wouldn’t let me.
    He turned to Nan’s friend. ‘Keep an eye on the kiddie while I go and give her mum a bell.’
    ‘Look, I’m not a babysitter,’ she said, but she sat down on Nan’s chair, sighing, as the policeman went back out of the front door.
    I waited, gnawing my thumb tip, while he went to phone Mum. I so hoped she wouldn’t be too cross when she answered.
    I stood staring at Nan’s friend. She fidgeted uncomfortably, digging her elbows into Nan’s special velvet cushion.
    ‘That’s my nan’s chair,’ I said.
    ‘Yes, well, she’s not here to sit in it, is she?’
    I started crying.
    ‘Oh don’t. I’m sorry, lovey. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I’m sure your nan will get better, pet. She gave us all such a nasty shock, keeling over like that, and then bringing up all that blood. I thought she was . . .Well, never mind. Don’t look so worried. There’s worse things happen at sea. I’m sure the doctors will make your nanny better.’
    I nibbled harder, biting at a hangnail.
    ‘Don’t do that now, you’re hurting yourself.’
    I sat down at the table, fingering the green chenille cloth instead. Nan’s friend started making laborious conversation, asking me about school and which lessons I liked the most. I mumbled brief answers, barely listening. I kept thinking about Nan, picturing her lying on the floor in her pinny. She sometimes went out with her hair curlers still in place, hidden by a turban. She’d hate everyone seeing her with her curlers in, especially at the hospital.
    She’d be calling for me now, I just knew she would.
    I’m coming, Nan
, I whispered inside my head.
I’m coming as soon as I can, and I’ll comb your hair out for you and make you look pretty. You’ll get better soon. You’re going to be as right as rain, like you said
.
    ‘Nice little flat you’ve got here,’ said the friend. ‘Cosy.’ She looked around at the twin china crinoline ladies curtseying on the mantelpiece and the baby photos of Mum and me in matching silver frames. Mum was smiling, all over curls and dimples. I didn’t have much hair at all, and I was scowling. ‘Sweet,’ she commented.
    I scowled in real life.
    ‘Ooh, there’s a face! Watch the wind don’t change, you’ll be stuck like it,’ she said.
    I turned my back on her. We waited and waited.
    ‘He’s a long time, that bobby. Maybe he can’t get hold of your mum. You sure you gave him the right telephone number?’ she said.
    I nodded. I was feeling sick with worry though. Mum’s phone number kept changing. I thought I’d got the right one, but perhaps she’d moved on. She lived in so many digs while she was touring. Or she might be living with an uncle. I wasn’t sure she had one at the moment, but you could never tell with Mum.
    What if he really couldn’t get hold of her? What would happen to me?
    Sour water spurted into my mouth. I had to make a run for it.
    ‘Hold on – where are you going?’ Nan’s friend asked.
    ‘The lav,’ I said tersely.
    I only just got there in time. I threw up down the pan and then stood there trembling, blinking away the tears. I blew my nose on