any good as an artist, no matter how hard I try. It’d feel like one of my arms or legs was useless, and might as well be chopped off.
“Come on! You’d better stop crying before Mum and Dad get in,” she told Prune. “You don’t want them to know where you’ve been, do you?”
“No,” Prune said, in a muffled voice. She got up from the bed, and went through to the bathroom.
Later, in bed, Andie listened for telltale creakings from above, hoping that Ravi might be skyhopping again. Not a sound. Disappointed, she wondered whether to creep out of the flat and go up to the attic, just in case the door was unlocked and Ravi up there. But while she was still dithering, she fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
Mountains on the Moon
Kris was away for part of the next week, visiting a cousin. With time to herself, Andie painted and painted. She worked at the kitchen table, so that Mum wouldn’t fuss about spilled water and stained carpets. Pleased with her moonscape, she made a whole series – fantastical landscapes with rocks and ravines, craters and crevices. She used harsh, bright colours that made the settings look larger than life.
At night, when she looked out of the window at the real moon, it felt like sharing a secret with it. But what sort of secret could it be, when the TV news and the papers were full of the approaching Apollo 11 launch? There were charts, diagrams, interviews, discussions – and it was still more than a week away.
And what about Ravi? When would she have the chance to look at the moon properly again through his telescope, or to stand lost in wonder at the huge spread of blackness and stars? She saw him only once – out in the garden with his mother, who was snipping mint from the herb bed beyond the shrubbery. Ravi had just come from school, and wore a brown blazer and a brown and white striped tie.
“Hello there, Andie! Isn’t it a lovely day?” called Mrs. Kapoor, and Andie went over hoping to talk to Ravi. Maybe Mrs. Kapoor would go indoors with the mint; then Andie could ask Ravi when he was next going star-watching. But he only said hello, in an awkward, formal way, then made an excuse and went indoors, and it was Mrs. Kapoor who stayed.
“You’ll have to excuse Ravi. He’s so shy, especially with girls,” she told Andie. “I hope you don’t think he’s unfriendly. He doesn’t mean to be.”
But Ravi hadn’t been unfriendly, or even the slightest bit shy, when they’d been up on the roof! He’d been a different person – confident, fun. Andie was mystified. Had she upset him, somehow? Or only dreamed about being outside with him in the middle of the night?
Prune remained doleful and downcast, though she tried to hide it when Mum or Dad were at home. She lay out in the garden on a towel, trying to get a tan, and complaining that the high walls and the walnut tree gave too much shade; all the same, she managed to get herself sunburned and sore. Without telling Mum, who wouldn’t have approved, she had bought herself a bikini – bright pink, with turquoise stripes – but was too self-conscious to let anyone but Andie see her in it. If anyone came into the garden, she made a grab for her towel, and shrouded herself from shoulders to ankles.
Andie did the sketches Prune had asked for, and Prune tried to draw clothes on the models, getting cross and frustrated when the drawings didn’t turn out as she wished. “ You do it, Andie!” She flung down her latest attempts on the kitchen table. “I just can’t get them right! I’ll tell you what I want, and you can draw it.”
Anything for a quiet life, Andie thought. She put her own painting carefully to dry, and drew and drew to Prune’s instructions. The results, they both thought, looked good. Andie had expected Prune to want frills and beads and floaty dresses, but the designs were surprisingly tomboyish and practical. Fashions For The Future, Prune called them. Since the clothes could be worn by either boys or girls,
“Come on! You’d better stop crying before Mum and Dad get in,” she told Prune. “You don’t want them to know where you’ve been, do you?”
“No,” Prune said, in a muffled voice. She got up from the bed, and went through to the bathroom.
Later, in bed, Andie listened for telltale creakings from above, hoping that Ravi might be skyhopping again. Not a sound. Disappointed, she wondered whether to creep out of the flat and go up to the attic, just in case the door was unlocked and Ravi up there. But while she was still dithering, she fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
Mountains on the Moon
Kris was away for part of the next week, visiting a cousin. With time to herself, Andie painted and painted. She worked at the kitchen table, so that Mum wouldn’t fuss about spilled water and stained carpets. Pleased with her moonscape, she made a whole series – fantastical landscapes with rocks and ravines, craters and crevices. She used harsh, bright colours that made the settings look larger than life.
At night, when she looked out of the window at the real moon, it felt like sharing a secret with it. But what sort of secret could it be, when the TV news and the papers were full of the approaching Apollo 11 launch? There were charts, diagrams, interviews, discussions – and it was still more than a week away.
And what about Ravi? When would she have the chance to look at the moon properly again through his telescope, or to stand lost in wonder at the huge spread of blackness and stars? She saw him only once – out in the garden with his mother, who was snipping mint from the herb bed beyond the shrubbery. Ravi had just come from school, and wore a brown blazer and a brown and white striped tie.
“Hello there, Andie! Isn’t it a lovely day?” called Mrs. Kapoor, and Andie went over hoping to talk to Ravi. Maybe Mrs. Kapoor would go indoors with the mint; then Andie could ask Ravi when he was next going star-watching. But he only said hello, in an awkward, formal way, then made an excuse and went indoors, and it was Mrs. Kapoor who stayed.
“You’ll have to excuse Ravi. He’s so shy, especially with girls,” she told Andie. “I hope you don’t think he’s unfriendly. He doesn’t mean to be.”
But Ravi hadn’t been unfriendly, or even the slightest bit shy, when they’d been up on the roof! He’d been a different person – confident, fun. Andie was mystified. Had she upset him, somehow? Or only dreamed about being outside with him in the middle of the night?
Prune remained doleful and downcast, though she tried to hide it when Mum or Dad were at home. She lay out in the garden on a towel, trying to get a tan, and complaining that the high walls and the walnut tree gave too much shade; all the same, she managed to get herself sunburned and sore. Without telling Mum, who wouldn’t have approved, she had bought herself a bikini – bright pink, with turquoise stripes – but was too self-conscious to let anyone but Andie see her in it. If anyone came into the garden, she made a grab for her towel, and shrouded herself from shoulders to ankles.
Andie did the sketches Prune had asked for, and Prune tried to draw clothes on the models, getting cross and frustrated when the drawings didn’t turn out as she wished. “ You do it, Andie!” She flung down her latest attempts on the kitchen table. “I just can’t get them right! I’ll tell you what I want, and you can draw it.”
Anything for a quiet life, Andie thought. She put her own painting carefully to dry, and drew and drew to Prune’s instructions. The results, they both thought, looked good. Andie had expected Prune to want frills and beads and floaty dresses, but the designs were surprisingly tomboyish and practical. Fashions For The Future, Prune called them. Since the clothes could be worn by either boys or girls,
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