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

looking at that real estate website?” he said to Mum.
    “Ye-e-es,” she said, looking expectant and pleased but wary at the same time.
    “Well, I have an announcement to make,” he said. He looked around at our wide-eyed faces.
    “We’re all going to have a big life change. I’ve bought a farm for us and we’re going to move from the city to the country. We’ll be on our new property by the beginning of next term.”
    The first noise I heard was a massive whoop out of Josh’s mouth. Mum’s eyes were popping out of her head, but the smile on her face said that she was happy and she expected it all along. Charlie was screaming for joy and yelling, “I’m going to have a pony, I’m going to have a pony.” Dad was laughing, looking around and enjoying the surprise and the delight and the reactions from them all.
    But there was no reaction from me. At least, not at first. I was frozen to my chair, my new skinny jeans still on my lap and the half-scrunched wrapping paper in one hand.
    Then I felt a white-hot flame of rage and fear burst up from my feet to my mouth. I jumped to my feet, pushed my chair behind me, screamed at the top of my lungs and ran, as fast as I could, out of the dining room and all the way up two staircases, crying and sobbing as I went. At the top of the stairs, just before storming into my room and slamming the door behind me, I turned around and yelled at them all.
    “I hope you’re happy. You’ve completely ruined my birthday. And my life.”
     
     
      

Chapter  6
     
     
    Normally we’re not allowed to slam doors—it’s another one of Mum’s toilet cleaning offences. (If you break a rule, she doesn’t yell. She just gets the toilet brush and holds it out to you. We have a lot of toilets and most of them are very clean.)
    But there are some times in your life where a door slam is completely and utterly necessary. This was one of them.
    I threw myself on my bed gasping for breath. My hands were shaking. I was so angry and upset that I was practically hyperventilating.
    This was unbelievable. Was my dad crazy? How does someone who carries a briefcase, wears a tie and catches the bus to work at a bank every day just suddenly announce, out of nowhere, that a whole family is going to move? From the city to a farm? And in the next six weeks?
    I couldn’t help it. I actually started talking out loud, even though there was no one else in the room.
    “It’s not fair! Not not not not fair!”
    My mind was whizzing with protests.  He’s not the only one in this family. I have rights too. And I don’t want to go anywhere. I love this house and I love the beach. And what about school? He wants to drag me away from my life and plonk me on a farm! I don’t do farms. They smell, they’re muddy and there’s nothing to do.
    I rolled over and thumped my fists on my bed. Did Dad expect me to cheer like Charlie and Josh? I mean, they love that stuff. Charlie could spend her whole day on a horse. Josh would give anything to drive a tractor around. They didn’t care about mud and dirt and icky things.
    Tears were prickling out of my eyes so I threw my hand over the side of my bed and scrabbled around for a box of tissues. I blew my nose snottily and dabbed at my face, trying not to wreck my mascara.
    I turned to the teddy sitting on my bed. He was white with gold flecks in his fur and his name was Ruffles. I got him for my fifth birthday and for some reason he had the sort of face that just looked like he was listening to me. I snuggled right up to his nose and looked him in the eyes. He stared back like he understood.
    “Yesterday it was like it was all beginning. And today it’s all ending. My future, according to Dad, is gumboots and mud. I mean, a farm? For real? And I won’t get to see my friends except for holidays and...”
    I sat up suddenly, my eyes opened wide. Friends? Forget friends. This was it for me. There was no way that I could tell Saffron, Tiger and the other girls in