Read Online Freaks Out! by Jean Ure - Free Book Online Page A

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    â€œI told him I’d go every Sunday that I could.”
    â€œThat’s not what we said!”
    â€œYou mean it’s not what you said.”
    â€œBut you agreed!”
    â€œExcuse me,” said Jem, “but who was talking to him, you or me? You don’t know anything about these things! You wouldn’t even know how to begin talking to someone like Saint Anthony. It’s no use making promises you mightn’t be able to keep.”
    I opened my mouth to protest, but Jem just went battering on without giving me a chance.
    â€œSuppose I got the flu, or there was suddenly mountains of snow, or we got flooded, orsomething? That’d be an act of God. I could hardly be held responsible for an act of God!”
    I still didn’t see why she couldn’t just have done what we agreed and promised to go every Sunday. Saint Anthony, presumably, being a saint, knew all about acts of God; he didn’t need Jem reading him a lecture. Now he’d probably got the hump and wouldn’t help us at all.
    I said this to Jem and she went bright red and said, “That’s blasphemy, that is!”
    Now what was she on about?
    â€œTaking his name in vain,” said Jem. “You can’t talk about a saint like that!”
    â€œAll I’m saying –” we’d reached Jem’s block of flats, where we parted company – “I’m just saying , it would be nice if you could ask him to make Skye a priority. That’s all.”
    I decided that I would give Saint Anthony until the weekend. If he hadn’t made a move by then, it would have to be up to me. Which, as a matter of fact, it usually is. I’ve noticed this before. Skye doesa lot of thinking, and Jem does a lot of talking, but I’m the one that takes action!
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    Jem was eager to know, next morning, whether anything had happened yet.
    â€œLike… any clues, or anything?”
    Skye said, “Why do you keep on about clues all the time?”
    â€œI just wondered,” said Jem.
    â€œYou heard what Mum said… I’ll just have to accept that I’m never going to find Gran’s pencil. Ever!”
    â€œYou might do,” said Jem. “You shouldn’t give up hope. I mean, look at my auntie.”
    I’m sure she thought she was being supportive, but I could see that all she was doing was making Skye even more upset than she already was. It would have made me upset if I’d had to hear about her auntie’s engagement ring all over again. Well, what I mean, I did hear it all over again, but at least I hadn’t just lost my gran.
    I told Jem later that I didn’t think she ought to keep asking Skye the same question over and over.
    â€œShe’ll let us know if anything happens.”
    â€œBut I did what you wanted!” said Jem. “I spoke to him again. Saint Anthony! I got back to him.”
    I think my mouth must have dropped open. I said, “ Really? ”
    â€œReally! See, I thought about it, and I knew you couldn’t do it, cos I mean you wouldn’t know how, so I waited till I was in bed and then I had a word with him.”
    She made it sound incredibly important, having a word with him. But I guess it is pretty important, talking to a saint.
    â€œWhat did you say?”
    â€œI said –” Jem clasped her hands and tilted her face heavenwards – “I said, Please, Saint Anthony, hear my prayer— ” She broke off at this point to explain that that was what you had to do. “Like, you can’t just say ‘Hi,’ or ‘Anybody there?’ You have to use the right sort of language.”
    I said, “Yes, I can see that, but what exactly did you say?”
    Jem tilted her face back up. “ Please, Saint Anthony, hear my prayer and help my friend Skye find her gran’s pencil. And if you could be very kind and make it a priority, cos she’s really, really miserable, I could