Read Online Love and Muddy Puddles by Cecily Anne Paterson - Free Book Online

eyebrows at each other.
    “That’s my girl,” said Dad, and he reached out to stroke my head.
    I rolled out of his reach, stuck my head up and looked at him full in the face.
    “Stop it Dad. I’m only doing this because I have no choice. Okay, sure, I’ll do the year. I’ll stick it out. But just so you know how angry I am, I’m not going to talk to you for the next twelve months.”
    “Coco!” said Mum. “Don’t be rude to your father!” Her face was red and her eyes were flashing.
    “No Deborah,” said Dad, “it’s ok. If she can’t talk to me yet, that’s fine.” He looked surprisingly calm and unworried. “It was a shock. She probably needs some time to be on her own now.”
    He stood up and went to usher Mum out of the door. “Come on, let’s go downstairs. She’ll come down when she’s ready.”
    Much you know,  I thought furiously.  I’ll never be ready.  But I went down anyway, stomping my feet and tossing my hair and making sure that they knew I was still cross. There was birthday cake down there and I wasn’t going to miss out on my once a year tiramisu just because my dad had turned into the world’s biggest nutcase.
     
     
     
     

Chapter  9
     
     
    On the bus to school the next day, Samantha was shocked and then firm.
    “You definitely can’t tell,” she said, shaking her head. “Not even one word. If Saffron and Tiger found out about any of it, you’d be dropped straight away. And if you’re coming back in a year, like your mum said you can, it’s best just to keep it quiet.”
    “I know,” I said, half groaning, “but how can I explain a whole year away? I can’t say we’re going overseas. For a start, I’m a hopeless liar and when I come back they’ll know I haven’t been in France or wherever for a year because all I can say is ‘bonjour’ in a really bad accent.”
    “I’ve got an idea,” said Sam, sitting up in her seat and turning towards me. “You said that Charlie got a horse-riding helmet for her birthday. On a farm you’re probably going to learn to ride, right? And you will be changing schools, kind of, yeah?”
    “Yes...” I said, curious.
    “Well, why don’t we say that you’re going to some sort of exclusive equestrian boarding school in the country—I don’t know—in another state even, with Charlie for a year?” she said. “You can tell everyone, which is kind of true, that your parents really want you to learn to ride well. And you can make it up that the school is so exclusive and strict and stuff that boarders aren’t allowed to have phones or use Skype or email or anything. So that way you won’t get anyone visiting you or finding out what’s actually going on.”
    My eyes widened and the anxious pain in my neck I’d been carrying around since slamming my door the night before seemed to slide down my back and into the bus upholstery.
    “That might work you know,” I said slowly. “It’s not too much of a lie that it’s completely wrong. It’s just kind of bending the truth. But it might work out so that I finish up not being too much of a loser.”
    I smiled at Samantha and put on the silly voice that we use when we say serious things. It’s kind of a cross between an American and a Scottish accent.
    “You’re a lifesaver and a true friend. Don’t ever change!”
    She grinned and shook her hand up near her face, like she was trying to cool down.
    “I’m good, huh?” she said in her matching silly accent. “Oh yes, sometimes I can’t believe how good I am. I’m sneaky and crafty! Just call me ‘the manager’.”
    I pretended to punch her in the arm and she shrank back in mock horror. “Watch out, you’ll get my uniform grubby, you muddy little farm animal!”
    I rolled my eyes and looked at my fingers, examining my manicure.
    “Ha! You say that like it’s funny. Can you imagine? Last night Dad was saying things like we’ll live in a pig shed.” I shuddered. So did Sam. “And we’ll be building a