Little Darlings by Jacqueline Wilson Read Free Book Online

I’ve got you,’ I say.
    â€˜I’m a dreadful mum,’ says Mum. ‘Look at us now, stuck here all night. And look at the scene I made! I don’t know what happened, babe. I just lost my head. I couldn’t bear it when Danny didn’t spot us.’
    â€˜He
did
see us, Mum. He just didn’t want anything to do with us.’
    â€˜No, no, that’s not true. Well, he might have
seen
us—’
    â€˜And heard us.’
    â€˜Yes, all right, I know I was shouting – but he just didn’t recognize us, take in who we were. If only we’d been on our own with him, I could have introduced you all quiet and polite, and then I just know it would have worked.’ Mum pauses, winding my hair round her fingers. ‘I know! We’ll go to his house!’
    â€˜Mum, stop it. We can’t do that. We don’t know where he lives anyway.’
    â€˜Yes we do. He lives in Robin Hill – you’ve seen the pictures in
Hi! Magazine
. Remember I showed you their living room? They were all sitting on this big leather sofa when little Ace was just a newborn baby – and there was that lovely tender picture of Danny holding him in his arms. Oh, I’d have givenanything for Danny to have held you like that! Well, that was their house in Robin Hill. It’s only about ten miles from London, I looked it up. We could go there now.’
    â€˜Mum! Stop it! Look, this is crazy. We haven’t got any money.
How
can we go there? We can’t
walk
. Look at the state of your poor feet already.
    â€˜We could . . . we could hitch a lift. I always used to do that when I was fifteen, sixteen, and needing to get to places.’
    â€˜Mum, please.’ I cup my hands round her face, looking into her eyes. ‘Mum, you’re going a little bit nuts again. Please stop it.’
    â€˜No, I’m not nuts, Destiny, I’m just trying to make it all come right. I blew it at the cinema, shouting my head off, I can see that now. But we’ve still got a chance. We can’t go back to Manchester right this minute, we’ve got to wait till the morning, OK – so instead of sitting on our bums here, let’s go and find Danny’s house and we’ll just say hello to him, keeping it very polite and low-key. What have we got to lose?’
    â€˜We can’t just knock on his door!’
    â€˜It’s not against the law, especially when you just happen to be Danny’s daughter.’
    â€˜Anyway,
which
door? Do you know his whole address?’
    â€˜Not exactly, but Robin Hill’s just this weeny little posh estate. There aren’t many houses there, that’s the whole point. They’re all great big houses with huge gardens, swimming pools, stables, anything you fancy. Oh, Destiny, imagine getting up and going for a swim in your own pool and then having a ride on your own pony! Wouldn’t you just love that?’
    â€˜Yes, but—’
    â€˜We’ll find Danny’s house, easy-peasy. We’ll show him we’re not just silly fans shouting our heads off. Oh, I could
slap
myself for yelling at him. How he must hate it. But I won’t let you down this time, Destiny, honest to God. I’ll be dead quiet and dignified, and he’ll just need to take a proper look at you and he’ll be bowled over. Oh, Danny’s such a lovely man. He’ll make us welcome, you’ll see.’
    I don’t see at all. She’s making it all up again, she can’t seem to help it. I can’t figure out a way to stop her. At least she’s not angry now, she’s not shouting. Her whole face is lit up. She looks like those people on
Songs of Praise
, devout and inspired, singing Danny’s praises instead of God’s.
    We leave the station and Mum moves straight to the side of the road and holds up her hand like a lollipop lady. None of the cars take a blind bit of notice of her. No one even slows