The Girls from See Saw Lane by Sandy Taylor Read Free Book Online Page A

So Aunty Brenda hurled herself against the door, just as Rita decided to come out. They both went flying back into the room, and Rita nearly knocked herself out on the corner of the dressing table. Clark took a picture.
    â€˜Quick, Dottie! Get your mum!’ screamed Aunty Brenda.
    I ran downstairs. Mum and Dad were running between the kitchen sink and the shed with bowls of water.
    â€˜Aunty Brenda’s nearly knocked Rita out,’ I said, running beside them.
    â€˜She’s done what?’ said Mum.
    â€˜She pushed open the door just as Rita was coming out and Rita hit her head on the chest of drawers.’
    My dad looked ever so odd, his face was all black from the smoke, which made his eyes look really white. He looked a bit like a panda.
    Mum dropped the bowl she was carrying and ran back indoors.
    The shed looked great, just like bonfire night, only better. Clark was getting some terrific pictures. He had climbed the apple tree to get an aerial view.
    I went back upstairs. Rita was sitting propped up against the dressing table, looking a bit white, and Mum was dabbing her face with a wet cloth.
    â€˜For goodness sake, Dottie,’ said Mum, looking up. ‘Isn’t it time you were out of those pyjamas?’ The question was so unfair I couldn’t think of an answer.
    â€˜Maureen!’ shouted Dad from downstairs. ‘Are you sure you phoned the fire brigade? The apple tree’s alight now!’
    â€˜What a shame,’ said Aunty Brenda. ‘You’ve had some lovely apples off that tree.’
    â€˜Clark’s in the apple tree,’ I said, rummaging in the drawer for a clean pair of knickers.
    â€˜They were Worcester’s,’ said Mum. ‘Clark’s WHERE?’ she screamed.
    â€˜In the apple tree,’ I said. ‘Taking pictures.’
    â€˜MY BABY!’ shrieked Mum, dropping Rita’s head on the floor.
    She ran down the stairs and nearly bumped into Clark who was running up them.
    â€˜You’re supposed to be in the apple tree!’ yelled Mum, shaking him.
    â€˜But it’s on fire!’ said Clark, looking at Mum as if she’d gone mad.
    Mum flopped down on the stairs and burst out crying. Aunty Brenda put her arm around her. ‘What we need is a nice cup of tea,’ she said, taking Mum into the kitchen.  ‘Dottie, be nice to your sister.’
    I didn’t feel a bit like being nice to my sister. The last thing in the world I felt like was being was nice to my sister. All I wanted to do was get dressed. Was that such a lot to ask?
    I went into the bedroom. Everywhere was a mess. Rita was sitting on the bed looking pretty miserable. I thought I’d better try and be nice.
    â€˜Perhaps you could go to a country where they don’t mind short models,’ I said.
    â€˜What country?’
    â€˜I don’t know, Japan or somewhere like that.’
    â€˜You don’t know what you’re talking about, you stupid child!’
    So much for being ‘nice to your sister’.  I wish I hadn’t bothered.
    â€˜Have you got my new scarf?’ I asked.
    â€˜What would I want with your grotty scarf?’ she said, gazing at herself in the mirror. She swept her hair up at the back and turned sideways: ‘Do you think I look like Audrey Hepburn?’
    â€˜No, you look like Rita Perks.’
    â€˜But with my hair pushed up at the back like this, don’t you think I look a bit like Audrey Hepburn?’
    â€˜No, I don’t,’ I said, groping under the bed for my lost scarf.
    â€˜You don’t know anything,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why I bothered asking you.’  And she flounced off to the bathroom.
    There was just no pleasing Rita that morning. I found my scarf under the bed and also a sherbet fountain that I’d thought Clark had pinched. Just then Mary came into the bedroom.
    â€˜The fire brigade’s