Read Online Millie and the Night Heron by Catherine Bateson - Free Book Online

them.’
    â€˜You could try taking them to dinner,’ I said, suddenly inspired. ‘That’s what my mother and I do sometimes, when we feel a bit depressed. Then you have to talk to each other because you shouldn’t read in a café, right? And there’s no television. So there’s nothing to do but talk. To start off, you might just talk about the food. But pretty soon you’re talking, you know, really talking.’
    â€˜That’s an excellent idea, Millie. I think I’ll try that.’
    â€˜The other thing you could do, Mr Lawrence, if you don’t mind me suggesting it...’
    â€˜Not at all. Suggest away!’
    â€˜Well, people lose things at camp all the time. So instead of the bath idea, you could do the camp thing and lose your book here. I bet she wouldn’t bother buying you a new one, not if the dinner thing works. She won’t need to, will she?’
    â€˜That’s the ticket, Millie, that’s a great idea. Under the bed, I think, don’t you?’
    â€˜Under the mattress might be safer,’ I said. ‘Under our beds are pretty clean. Rachel checked because of her asthma. The cleaners do a good job. But under the mattress was pretty grotty.’
    â€˜Thanks. Now is there anything I can do for you?’
    â€˜Well, I was wondering if you play chess. See, Idon’t really know how to play but Patrick, my dad, does and I want to be able to impress him when he’s next in Australia. It’s good to throw something new at him, Mum says. It keeps him on his toes.’
    Mr Lawrence and I played chess until it was time for dinner. I liked Mr Lawrence. There was something Patrick-y about him, even though he wasn’t a drama queen. He felt safe. I was sorry he was married. If Mum was man-hunting again I wouldn’t be so worried if she turned up with someone like Mr Lawrence. Even though he was years older than Mum, and obviously thought brown was a power colour, judging from his taste in jumpers.
    Camp wasn’t as bad as it could have been and the trip home was great. Helen-Sarah-and-Rachel and I sat together, not in the back row, because Tayla and her gang had baggsed that, but we sat behind each other and talked.
    â€˜Mum will be pleased I’m home,’ Helen said. ‘She worries when I’m at camp. She gets lonely.’
    â€˜Yeah, my mum will be pleased, too,’ I said. ‘ I worry about her when I’m at camp.’
    â€˜Mum’ll be pleased to see me,’ Rachel said, ‘but Terry won’t.’
    â€˜Who’s Terry?’
    â€˜Mum’s boyfriend. They’ve been going out fornearly three months and when he heard about the camp he booked them into a motel for two nights, like they were on their honeymoon or something.’
    Sarah and Helen made throwing-up noises.
    â€˜No, it’s cool,’ Rachel said. ‘He’s okay, really. First thing he did, he gave me a TV. Honest. So I could watch it in my room while they cuddled on the couch. But that’s cool. I get to watch whatever I like, and if I turn it right down I can watch when they’ve gone to bed. What about your mum, Millie? Does she have a boyfriend?’
    â€˜No,’ I said, ‘she has Patrick. Well, she doesn’t exactly. They’re just friends.’
    â€˜Are you sure? That’s what they say, you know, before it happens.’
    â€˜Patrick’s my father,’ I said, ‘so it’s already happened, and they’re friends now. He’s overseas anyway. He’s a scientist.’
    â€˜So she hasn’t met anyone else?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Wait until she does. You’ll have to worry more about her then!’
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜Oh, you know, they forget things sometimes. Mind you, it can be good. Sometimes they forget to make you do your homework.’
    I wondered about Mum. She hadn’t even asked me about homework lately. And she’d