Longest Whale Song by Jacqueline Wilson Read Free Book Online Page A

late,sweetheart. Sally’s already upstairs in bed. Has Mum had the baby yet?’
    â€˜Mm.’
    â€˜Oh, wonderful! Is it a little girl or a little boy?’
    â€˜A boy.’
    â€˜What’s he going to be called?’
    â€˜Samson.’
    â€˜Oh, that’s a very special name. So, is Mum back from the hospital yet?’
    I swallow painfully. ‘Not yet.
Please
may I speak to Sally, Mrs Edwards?’
    â€˜Well, I’ll go and see if she’s still awake. Won’t be a moment, pet.’
    I wait, rubbing my eyes, standing on one foot and then the other. ‘Please please please let Sally come to the phone,’ I whisper, over and over.
    â€˜Hello?’ she says sleepily.
    And then I don’t know what to say to her.
    â€˜Hello? Ella, are you still there? What are you playing at?’
    â€˜I’m here. Hello, Sally,’ I say in a tiny voice.
    â€˜What? I can hardly hear you! Why haven’t you been at school? I’ve phoned you twice but you weren’t there. It’s been horrid without you. I haven’t had anyone to go round with at play time. I ended up playing Piggy-in-the-Middle with Dory and Martha. Dory’s OK, she’s quite good fun.Remember when she brought that mouse to school in her pocket? But I can’t stick Martha – she’s always showing off. Ella? Are you ill?’
    â€˜No,’ I say, though I realize I’ve been feeling ill for days. My head hurts and I feel sick and my tummy’s tight all the time.
    I can hear Sally’s mother talking in the background.
    â€˜Oh, Mum says your mum’s had her baby!’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜You lucky thing! I’d give anything for a baby brother or sister. I think babies are so cute.’
    â€˜You’ve got Benjy.’
    â€˜Yuck, he doesn’t count, and he’s not a baby, he’s more like an
animal
. Is your baby a boy too? Watch out he doesn’t grow up like our Benjy, he’s enough to drive you mental. Did I tell you he broke my pen the other day? You know, my real fountain pen. He
stabbed
me with it and bent the nib in two.’ She pauses. ‘Ella? What’s your baby like then? Are you allowed to feed it and dress it and all that?’
    â€˜Well, I suppose so. When he comes home.’
    â€˜Is he still in hospital then?’
    I hear Mrs Edwards muttering again.
    â€˜Is he . . . all right?’ says Sally.
    â€˜Yes. Yes, he is. He’s fine,’ I say. I feel the tears spilling down my cheeks. ‘It’s my mum.’
    â€˜What do you mean, your mum?’
    â€˜She isn’t all right. She’s had something go wrong inside her head. She’s gone to sleep and she won’t wake up,’ I whisper.
    â€˜You mean she’s
dead
?’ says Sally.
    Her mother exclaims and snatches the phone. ‘Oh, Ella, sweetheart, how
awful
!’ she says, sounding truly shocked.
    â€˜Mum’s not dead, but – but she’s in this coma thing.’ I’m crying so hard now I can barely talk.
    â€˜Let me speak to your dad, dear,’ says Mrs Edwards.
    â€˜He’s not my dad, he’s my stepdad,’ I gabble, and then go running for Jack.
    He stays on the phone to Mrs Edwards for ages. It’s not fair. I wanted to have a proper talk with Sally. I wanted her to tell me how sorry she was and how she’d give anything to make it up to me. I needed her to tell me she’d be my best friend for ever, no matter what. I wanted her to say all those things but she didn’t get a chance – and then Jack hangs up the phone before I even get to say goodbye to her.
    â€˜I didn’t get to talk to her
properly
,’ I sob.
    â€˜I know. But it’s getting really late now. And I think you should go to school tomorrow, so you can see her there and catch up with everything,’ saysJack. He flops down wearily on the sofa and opens a can of beer. He’s hardly touched his Chinese