Sammi and Dusty Read Free

a chat?’
    Sammi’s mum was looking at Kerry earnestly, but he knew she hadn’t understood a word she’d said. He felt a bit embarrassed for her. ‘She’s inviting you inside,’ he muttered to her in Pashtun.
    They walked up to the big old building. It was really old. Sammi stared up at it, wondering if it was something the Victorians had built. Then he pushed the thought away – he wasn’t in any hurry to start thinking about the Victorians again. He’d had enough of British history! Inside, he was surprised at how scruffy everything seemed to be. When he’d first arrived in England, he’d expected things to be shiny and new – after all, it was a rich country, wasn’t it? But here in the barn there was an old wooden bookshelf, a faded sofa and chairs, and wooden beams showing through the brickwork. He frowned. He wasn’t sure he liked it at all.
    ‘Come and meet the team,’ said Kerry, leading them over to an older man who was cradling a mug in his hands. ‘This is Rory, the farm manager.’
    Rory had a mop of white hair and twinkly blue eyes. He stepped forward to shake his mum’s hand, then he bent down and shook Giti’s hand too, and finally turned to Sammi.
    ‘Welcome, young Sammi,’ he said. ‘I know you’re a long way from the things you’re used to, but you’ll do all right here, lad. You’ll feel more at home, by and by.’
    Sammi liked Rory at once, but he could barely understand a word he said. His English sounded different to anything he’d ever heard before! His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he tried to think of what to say.
    Kerry must have understood, because she smiled. ‘Rory’s from the north of England,’ she told Sammi. ‘He speaks with a bit of an accent. You’ll soon get the hang of it.’
    She beckoned a slight girl over from the far end of the barn, where she was arranging a bunch of fresh flowers. The girl stepped back from the vase with her head on one side, checking it over, then skipped across to say hello.
    ‘This is Asha,’ Kerry told them. ‘She’s one of our volunteers. She comes whenever she’s got a spare moment, don’t you, Asha?’
    ‘You bet I do,’ said Asha, grinning enthusiastically.
    Sammi stared at Asha curiously. She was really tiny, and she had really short black hair. She almost looked as though she could be from Afghanistan, but he knew from her voice that she’d grown up here in the UK. And maybe her family had come from somewhere else, anyway, like India or Pakistan.
    ‘Who is this girl?’ asked his mum, in Pashtun. She was staring at Asha in curiosity too, and Asha began to look self-conscious.
    ‘She’s on the project, like me,’ Sammi told her in a low voice. ‘Mum, please stop talking in Pashtun.’ Sammi was getting mad at her. There was an awkward silence for a second, and Sammi realized that everyone else was waiting for him and his mum to finish their conversation.
    ‘Is Jack around?’ Kerry asked Rory.
    ‘He is, but he’s still with the goats,’ Rory told her.
    ‘Ah well. You’ll meet Jack soon enough,’ said Kerry, smiling at Sammi. She turned to Asha and Rory. ‘We need to have a chat, so why don’t you two go and see how many eggs we’ve got this morning?’
    ‘Sure.’ Asha skipped over to the doorway happily. ‘See you later, Sammi.’ Rory waved and followed her out.
    ‘Right!’ Kerry turned to them with a big smile. ‘Come and sit down.’ She led them over to a desk that was overflowing with papers. Like all the other furniture, it was old and scuffed, and covered with pictures of animals.
    ‘Take a seat,’ she said, clearing some papers up from one of the chairs.
    Sammi’s mum hesitated, looking at Sammi for guidance.
    ‘Sit down, Mum,’ Sammi muttered at her. ‘It’s all right. She told us to.’ Mum sank into the chair and pulled Giti onto her lap.
    Kerry looked from Sammi to his mum and back again. ‘Now, Sammi, I need to talk to your mum, but am I right in thinking she’ll