Eva and the Hidden Diary by Judi Curtin Read Free Book Online Page A

cake-maker.’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Zoe. ‘But enough about cakes, already. Kate told me what happened yesterday. I think that has to be the saddest story I’ve ever heard.’
    ‘It’s definitely the saddest story I’ve ever heard,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about poor Daisy. How could so many bad things happen to one person? It just doesn’t seem fair.’
    ‘So what are you going to do about it?’ asked Zoe.
    ‘Do?’ I asked. ‘What can we do? We can’t change the fact that Daisy’s dad went to jail, or the fact that her mother was sent to hospital just because she was sad. We can’t change the fact that both her parents died. And anyway, maybe none of it matters. For all we know, Daisy could be dead by now too.’
    ‘Put that stuff aside for a moment,’ said Zoe. ‘Do you believe that Daisy’s dad was innocent?’
    ‘Kate asked me the exact same thing yesterday,’ I said. ‘Are you two part of a big anti-Mr Lavelle conspiracy?’
    Kate and Zoe grinned at each other. ‘We just want to know the truth,’ said Kate.
    ‘The truth is always good,’ said Zoe, giving her a big, soppy smile.
    It was totally cute seeing Kate and Zoe get on so well, but I just rolled my eyes and pretended to be grossed-out.
    ‘Anyway,’ I said. ‘I’ve been thinking about that very question, and I remembered something Iread the other day.’
    I pulled Daisy’s diary from my pocket. I flicked through the pages until I found the one I wanted.
    ‘Daisy wrote this months before the whole affair of the chalice happened,’ I said, as I began to read aloud.
    Dear Diary,
    Daddy was late for supper tonight. He’d gone to the market to buy feed for the chickens and on the way home he realized that Jack Murphy had given him sixpence too much in his change. So he cycled two miles to Murphy’s farm to give it back. Daddy was drenched wet when he got home. He only laughed when Mammy made a fuss, and said he’d catch a deathly cold. ‘Honesty will keep me warm,’ he said, and even Mammy had to laugh then.
    I closed the diary. ‘Does that sound like a man who would steal anything?’ I asked.
    Zoe and Kate shook their heads. ‘Definitelynot,’ they said together.
    ‘But it was all so long ago,’ said Kate. ‘Even if Mr Lavelle was wrongly convicted, what can we do about it now?’
    ‘It’s never too late to make a wrong right,’ said Zoe.
    ‘Cool saying,’ I said. ‘Did you just make that up?’
    Zoe laughed. ‘Not exactly. My Grandma embroidered it on a sampler and hung it on her kitchen wall. She quoted it to me about five times every day.’
    Kate jumped up. ‘Come on, Eva,’ she said. ‘What are you waiting for? We’ve got a wrong to right – and I think I know exactly where to start.’

    Gerry the friendly policeman remembered us from when we’d saved Jeremy from being destroyed. He brought us into the waiting roomof the police station, and told us to sit down.
    ‘Hello, girls,’ he said when we were all settled. ‘What brings you here? Are you trying to save more trees? That was mighty work you did against that developer guy.’
    Kate giggled. ‘No,’ she said. ‘We’re not here about a tree this time. It’s something different altogether.’
    ‘So tell me more,’ said Gerry.
    ‘We need to talk to you about a crime,’ I said. ‘It happened very near here – in Newtown.’
    Gerry reached for a notebook, and fluttered through the pages until he found a blank one. Then he took a pencil from the top pocket of his uniform.
    ‘Take your time and give me all the details,’ he said. ‘What was the nature of the crime?’
    ‘A very valuable silver chalice was stolen,’ said Kate.
    Gerry wrote something down. ‘And when exactly did this happen?’
    ‘In 1947,’ I said. ‘In September.’
    Gerry put down the pencil and looked at us over his glasses.
    ‘Is this some kind of joke you girls are playing?’ he asked. ‘I presume you know that wasting police time is a