Tao by John Newman Read Free Book Online Page A

both burst out giggling then, although there wasn’t really anything much to laugh about.
    “They’re twins, all right!” said Dad, and both he and Paul laughed.
    “Emma, that’s my cousin,” said Mimi, out of the blue, “you’ll meet her soon because she says she can’t wait to meet you and she’ll be over like a shot when we get home … well, she’s a terrible giggler, isn’t she, Dad?”
    “She’s the world’s worst,” laughed Paul. “When she starts there is no stopping her and if she gets a fit when she’s eating or drinking, it’s a total disaster!”
    “It all comes squirting out of her nose,” added Mimi.
    “Tao’s mother, Kate, has an extraordinary laugh too,” joined in my dad. “When she gets a fit of laughter, she starts snorting! It’s quite embarrassing actually.”
    “No, it’s not,” I interrupted him crossly. “It’s funny.” I didn’t like him talking about Kate in that way to strangers.
    There was an awkward silence in the car for a moment after that … and
that
was embarrassing!
    Then Dad said, “Of course. You’re right. It is funny.” He turned his head and smiled a sorry at me.
    “I can’t wait to hear her snort,” said Mimi. Everyone laughed and that cleared the air.
    “Nearly there,” said Paul. “Mimi’s grandparents live up that road.” He pointed up a road lined with trees as we drove by.
    I looked across at Mimi and she smiled and suddenly unbuckled her seat belt and moved into the middle seat beside me for the rest of the journey.
    She clicked in her seat belt and said, “My granny has been baking cakes for you all week. Fairy cakes and profiteroles and chocolate eclairs … they’re my favourite… Do you like cakes, Tao?”
    “I love cakes,” I told her. “Kate makes these big lumpy cakes all covered in chocolate – they look terrible but they taste like heaven.”
    “That is so true,” added Dad, turning around and smiling at me. “That’s one thing I do miss … Kate’s cakes!”
    I felt a bubble of happiness in my tummy when Dad said that. When he gets fed up with Jo and comes back to live with us, I’ll tell Kate to make the biggest cake ever.
    “Well, nobody likes cakes as much as my granny,” said Mimi, her eyes wide like plates. “Actually, that’s why she’s so fat, at least that’s what my grandad says when he’s teasing her, which is all the time.”
    “Here we are,” interrupted Paul, and he stopped the car in front of a red-brick house with a long front garden.
    My hands felt sticky again and I wished that he’d just keep on driving and never stop.

Chapter 12
    There was nobody in the house when Paul opened the door.
    “I bet they’re hiding,” said Mimi. But then a girl’s voice could be heard yelling from the back garden.
    “We’re out here! Come on, hurry up or you’ll miss it. The egg is hatching!”
    “The egg is hatching!” screamed Mimi. “Come on, Tao! Hurry up, we don’t want to miss this!” She grabbed my hand and we ran through the house and out the back door, which was open, and into a big wooden shed where there were three people kneeling down around a very strong light bulb. They were all looking into a tray of straw with six brown eggs in it. There was the dog, Sparkler, as well, wagging her tail and rushing about all excited, but nobody was paying her any attention.
    “Hi, Tao,” said a girl who was obviously Sally because she was all in black. “You look like Mimi.” She said that without even looking up at me, so I don’t know how she knew. “You’re just in time to see my first chick hatching.”
    “Hi, Sally,” I mumbled. “Hi, Conor.” I knew him from his photo.
    “Hi, Tao,” said Conor. “Kneel down here and you’ll be able to see.” He shuffled over a bit to make room for me, and Mimi squashed herself in beside.
    “Hi, George,” said Mimi to the other boy who was there. He had long hair with what looked like ketchup in it, and a lot of spots. “This is my twin