Asking for Trouble: 1 (London Confidential)

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Authors: Sandra Byrd
Tags: JUVENILE FICTION / Religious / Christian
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want to look like a lurker, so I headed into our house.
    “Come on, Giggle,” Louanne called and took the dog out for one last potty break. After crating him, we all got in the little car and tootled away.
    I have to admit, I still closed my eyes half the time when we were driving. It was just so weird to be on the left side of the road! I kept imagining that someone was going to come around the corner and smash right into us and we’d all be dead.
    I do want to see You face-to-face, Jesus, I thought. But not today. I had a lot of important things to do first. Like buy some black patent zip-up boots at Topshop. Have afternoon tea at Claridge’s, an extremely swanky hotel. And be a wildly successful journalist with my own byline. So no car crashes yet.
    Mom popped a praise music CD into the car’s player—one of my favorite mixes with “Blessed Be Your Name.” But while the Matt Redman music was great, it did make me a little sad. We still hadn’t found a church. If all of this great praise music was coming out of London, which is where Redman was from, where were all the good churches?
    We drove through the spiderweb of paved streets that made up Wexburg and then through the damp green hills of the Kent countryside. The wind blew a little, and in the dusk it looked like the limbs of the naked trees waved us on our way to London.
    Half an hour later we pulled up in front of a hotel. “Here we are,” Dad said as he got out of the car. He leaned over and kissed Mom, then blew a kiss to both of us in the back.
    “Have fun,” Louanne called out as he shut the door.
    He poked his head back in through the open window. “No, you have fun!” And then he winked at both of us.
    “What was he talking about?” I asked my mom as she started the car and took off—in the wrong direction!
    “Mom, you’re going the wrong way. You’re heading toward London, not toward Wexburg,” I said. What was next? She’d be driving on the right side of the road and then I could kiss the black zip-up boots good-bye.
    “I’m not going the wrong way,” Mom said. “We’re going to London for the night.”
    “What? Really?”
    “Hooray!” Louanne piped up. Of course she would be happy. Unlike me, she’d already changed out of her school uniform.
    “It’s a surprise. I looked at that list your friend Penny gave you and chose a couple of things for us to do tonight and tomorrow.”
    “Seriously?” I could feel the excitement rising in me.
    “Seriously,” Mom said. “Why should Dad have all the fun?”
    “Exactly!” Louanne reached her hand out for a high five, and I smacked her palm back. “But what about Giggle?” she sounded panicked.
    “Vivienne will let him out tonight and in the morning. I’ve got you covered. I even brought a change of clothes for you, Savvy,” Mom said, keeping her eyes on the road.
    Well, no matter what she’d picked out, it had to be better than my uniform. Nothing was going to spoil this—my first delicious taste of downtown London.

Chapter 24

    First we got to check into this amazingly cool hotel, the Renaissance Chancery Court. Even the name oozed London! We pulled up in front of a tall white building, kind of like a palace—more what I’d expected the Houses of Parliament to look like. Certainly not like anything in Seattle!
    We drove through a stone arch to get to the doors, and when we did, three men with long black coats and tall black top hats came to each of our car doors and opened them for us. The one who opened my mom’s door took the car keys from her and then opened the trunk and took out our suitcase.
    “Thank you,” Mom said.
    “You’re quite welcome, madam,” he replied.
    “Ooh, madam ,” we teased her as we walked into the luxurious hotel.
    I hope Mom packed my makeup and straightener. The damp British air did a number on my hair by the end of the day. We walked through some rotating brass and glass doors into a stately lobby with wall-to-wall Turkish carpets and

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