going to be so wonderful. The best party ever.
Amelia was so busy imagining it, and breathing slowly to calm the lurching excitement in her tummy, that she didn’t notice the anxious glance her mother exchanged with her father over her head.
And even if she had, she would have assumed it had something to do with Edmund, whose cold hadn’t seemed to get any better. In fact, it had got worse. Amelia could hear him coughing and spluttering in the night, even though he still had a fire in his room every evening.
The Birthday Present
A melia woke up earlier than usual, as she always did on birthdays. She lay in bed, pretending it was just an ordinary day and forcing herself to think about dreary things like homework and lacrosse practice. Then, just as she had almost convinced herself that it was any old Tuesday, the realisation that it was really and truly her thirteenth birthday and the day of her party would come flooding back into her mind, and the excitement would make her stomach turn right over so that she groaned into her pillow.
When she heard Mary Ann rattling around downstairs, cleaning the grates, Amelia knew it was time to get up, so she slipped out of bed and washed hurriedly, pouring water from the big flower-patterned ewer into the basin and soaping herself quickly and then rinsing and patting herself dry. She brushed her teeth in the last of the water, struggled into her everyday school clothes and her heavy school boots and, pulling the hairbrush quickly through her smooth hair, she left the bedroom and flew downstairs.
Breakfast was laid since the night before, and Amelia could hear Mary Ann’s footsteps coming from the kitchen, but none of the family had made an appearance yet. She paced to the window and looked out onto the garden, which was fresh with a recent shower of spring rain and bright withdaffodils. She didn’t know whether she wished the others would appear, or whether she wanted to eke out the anticipation a little longer.
The door opened quietly, and in came Mary Ann, carrying a breakfast tray.
‘Happy birthday, Amelia,’ she said with a grin. She put the breakfast tray down, and came over to Amelia at the window . She pushed a small package into Amelia’s hand, and then scuttled out the door.
Amelia certainly hadn’t expected Mary Ann to give her a birthday present. She opened the flat little package with shaking fingers. Inside was a plain white handkerchief, the kind you could buy very cheaply in any of the big shops in town. Amelia knew that Mary Ann couldn’t spare even a penny or two to be buying handkerchiefs for a girl like Amelia , who was so much better off.
She shook the handkerchief out, and the fresh smell of new cotton rose up to meet her. Just then, Amelia noticed a little sprig of embroidery in the corner. It was the letters AP intertwined, with a circle of lily-of-the-valley around them, all done in tiny stitches in cream thread. The stitching was so neat and smooth and the colour so discreet that Amelia had almost missed it. This was Mary Ann’s real present – her own handiwork. Amelia was very touched, and she hadn’t even had a chance to say thank you.
Edmund was the next to come bursting through the door. He had a package in his hand too. ‘Happy birthday, Mealy,’ he said, calling her by his baby-name for her. His present was a toy train carriage, gaily painted in royal blue with bright red and gold trimmings – just the sort of thing Edmund loved himself. Its very inappropriateness made Amelia smile, and she leant over and kissed her little brother and said ‘Thank you, Edmund’ in the sweetest voice she could manage.
She led Edmund by the hand to the breakfast table, whereMary Ann had set tea and coffee and warm muffins and apricot jam. As she sat down, Amelia noticed yet another package, wrapped in blue tissue paper and done up with a narrow pink ribbon, by her plate.
This was a puzzle. She’d already got Edmund’s present. Mama and Papa were
Amelia was so busy imagining it, and breathing slowly to calm the lurching excitement in her tummy, that she didn’t notice the anxious glance her mother exchanged with her father over her head.
And even if she had, she would have assumed it had something to do with Edmund, whose cold hadn’t seemed to get any better. In fact, it had got worse. Amelia could hear him coughing and spluttering in the night, even though he still had a fire in his room every evening.
The Birthday Present
A melia woke up earlier than usual, as she always did on birthdays. She lay in bed, pretending it was just an ordinary day and forcing herself to think about dreary things like homework and lacrosse practice. Then, just as she had almost convinced herself that it was any old Tuesday, the realisation that it was really and truly her thirteenth birthday and the day of her party would come flooding back into her mind, and the excitement would make her stomach turn right over so that she groaned into her pillow.
When she heard Mary Ann rattling around downstairs, cleaning the grates, Amelia knew it was time to get up, so she slipped out of bed and washed hurriedly, pouring water from the big flower-patterned ewer into the basin and soaping herself quickly and then rinsing and patting herself dry. She brushed her teeth in the last of the water, struggled into her everyday school clothes and her heavy school boots and, pulling the hairbrush quickly through her smooth hair, she left the bedroom and flew downstairs.
Breakfast was laid since the night before, and Amelia could hear Mary Ann’s footsteps coming from the kitchen, but none of the family had made an appearance yet. She paced to the window and looked out onto the garden, which was fresh with a recent shower of spring rain and bright withdaffodils. She didn’t know whether she wished the others would appear, or whether she wanted to eke out the anticipation a little longer.
The door opened quietly, and in came Mary Ann, carrying a breakfast tray.
‘Happy birthday, Amelia,’ she said with a grin. She put the breakfast tray down, and came over to Amelia at the window . She pushed a small package into Amelia’s hand, and then scuttled out the door.
Amelia certainly hadn’t expected Mary Ann to give her a birthday present. She opened the flat little package with shaking fingers. Inside was a plain white handkerchief, the kind you could buy very cheaply in any of the big shops in town. Amelia knew that Mary Ann couldn’t spare even a penny or two to be buying handkerchiefs for a girl like Amelia , who was so much better off.
She shook the handkerchief out, and the fresh smell of new cotton rose up to meet her. Just then, Amelia noticed a little sprig of embroidery in the corner. It was the letters AP intertwined, with a circle of lily-of-the-valley around them, all done in tiny stitches in cream thread. The stitching was so neat and smooth and the colour so discreet that Amelia had almost missed it. This was Mary Ann’s real present – her own handiwork. Amelia was very touched, and she hadn’t even had a chance to say thank you.
Edmund was the next to come bursting through the door. He had a package in his hand too. ‘Happy birthday, Mealy,’ he said, calling her by his baby-name for her. His present was a toy train carriage, gaily painted in royal blue with bright red and gold trimmings – just the sort of thing Edmund loved himself. Its very inappropriateness made Amelia smile, and she leant over and kissed her little brother and said ‘Thank you, Edmund’ in the sweetest voice she could manage.
She led Edmund by the hand to the breakfast table, whereMary Ann had set tea and coffee and warm muffins and apricot jam. As she sat down, Amelia noticed yet another package, wrapped in blue tissue paper and done up with a narrow pink ribbon, by her plate.
This was a puzzle. She’d already got Edmund’s present. Mama and Papa were
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