Lost in London by Cindy Callaghan Read Free Book Online Page A

but with all the bouncing and wig hair, I’m not sure what I got.
    I bounced myself sweaty and eventually flopped onto the springy floor, flat on my back as I tried to catch my breath.
    “Something wrong?” Caroline asked.
    “I’m pooped.”
    “I’m a bit zonked myself,” she said. “I know where we can crash for the night . . . like real princesses.”
    “Really?”
    “The Furniture Department is just one floor up.”
    “And they have beds?”
    “Big, beautiful beds.”
    “I’m there,” I said.
    A few minutes later we were back in our regular clothes and tucked into side-by-side king beds. We chose two that couldn’t be seen with a quick glance from the hallway. And for a little extra insurance, we took a wooden screen like would be used to separate a room into two parts and relocated it to shield the beds.
    I sank my head onto a feather pillow and almost fell asleep instantly, thinking about my first day in London. I had set out for an experience to change my life, but got so much more. I was changing my life and my image. This trip had become an adventure. It had been a wonderful day, trapped-in-a-mega-department-store-slash-carnival wonderful.
    Caroline had started out not liking me, but now I thought she was my friend. “I had a great time today,” I said. “Thanks.”
    She said nothing.
    I turned to look at her. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply.
    I started falling into a dream about The Wizard of Oz , when I realized I wasn’t dreaming. Someone was humming “Over the Rainbow.”

11

    I peeked under the oriental screen and saw Hamlet’s wet shoes making their way over to us. Apparently he didn’t go to sleep. He did go through his rounds a second time.
    I grabbed a few big pillows and covered Caroline with them as my heart climbed into my throat. I did a good job, because I couldn’t even tell she was in the bed.
    His steps got closer, and my panic rose higher in my stomach. I pulled the comforter back up so my bed would look made, and then I got down on my belly and crawled under it.
    Hamlet came right up to the screen and switched songs to “Tomorrow” from Annie . I held my breath and prayed Caroline wouldn’t move or snore. I could see the thick soles of his squeaky orthopedic shoes come behind the wooden screen. A few more steps, and I could reach out and touch his toes.
    Then he turned and left.
    By the time he was at “I just stick out my chin and grin and say . . .,” it sounded like he was back at the Hole.
    I got back into bed and fell asleep.
    Quickly.
    Deeply.
    •  •  •
    It seemed like I was only out for a few seconds when Caroline woke me, but according to my watch it was eight a.m. “You sleep like the dead. I thought I’d never be able to knock you awake,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”
    I put my shoes on, made the bed, and got my backpack. We walked down the frozen escalator all the way to the Purse Department. “You going to pick one out?” Caroline asked.
    I thought my pack worked just fine for me. “Sure. I mean, you’re sure we’re going to pay for it?”
    “I promise we’ll pay for it. I don’t know if I can say the same for breakfast, though.”
    “What breakfast?”
    “The one we’re going to take from Lively’s. And, J.J., I do mean ‘take,’ like steal. Sebastian can’t spit on it if he’s not there, and technically you paid for tarts yesterday that were rubbish; so he owes you.”
    When she put it that way, I didn’t feel bad about taking tarts from Sebastian. However, even though Caroline and I had an awesome night, I believed she’d probably been very mean to Sebastian and deserved to be cut off from his tarts.
    I picked out a purse using a very scientific method I like to call eenie-meenie-miney-mo. Caroline nodded her approval, so I guess I’d eenie-meenie-ed a good brand and style.
    •  •  •
    From behind the counter at Lively’s, we slid the pastry case open. Caroline took a scone and