Strawberry Sisters (20 page)

‘Well,’ she said, ‘I mustn’t keep you. Perhaps you could think it over and let me know if you come up with anything? Or if Lauren happens to mention something she’d
like.’

‘Yes, definitely. I can do that.’

And she showed me out. I thought hard about it all the way home. Any kind of jewellery or make-up had the same drawback as clothes: I was sure that Lauren would quite like those things, but they
could also be a reminder that she might not get much use out of them. Like her mum said, she didn’t need another computer and she was happy with her phone. There must be something that
she’d really like. I was going to have to rack my brains.

When I got home, Mum was on the phone and I could hear Lucy singing ‘Away in a Manger’ in the bathroom. I went into the sitting room where Chloe was playing on Mum’s
laptop.

‘What’s the best present you’ve ever had?’ I asked her.

‘That time Dad got tickets for him and me to watch Man U play Liverpool,’ she said without taking her eyes off the screen.

‘Hmm.’ I didn’t think tickets to go anywhere or see anything were a great idea for Lauren because she never knew in advance if she’d be too tired to go.

A wet and completely naked Lucy ran into the middle of the room, dripping bathwater on to the rug. Ella chased after her and managed to throw a bath towel over her. ‘Please get dry or
you’ll freeze,’ she begged Lucy.

‘What about you, Ella?’ I asked. ‘What’s the best present you’ve ever had?’

She thought about it. ‘When Mum fixed Wellington’s fur.’

Ella isn’t the type to spoil toys, but unfortunately Lucy is and she managed to spill blackcurrant juice on Ella’s teddy a few years ago. I don’t know how Mum did it, because
Wellington used to belong to my nana so he was very old and fragile, but after she gave Wellington a makeover he looked as good as new.

Lucy didn’t wait to be asked, she just announced, ‘My best present was Kirsti.’

‘Kirsti wasn’t a present for you, dummy,’ Chloe said.

Lucy shoved Chloe. ‘Yes she was. She’s my little sister, isn’t she? So she’s mine.’

‘If that’s true then she’s mine as well, and Ella’s and Amelia’s.’

Lucy looked at us pityingly. ‘I suppose so. But she’s only got one favourite and that’s me.’

‘How do you know?’ I asked.

‘Because she told me.’

You can’t really argue with a seven-year-old who thinks that she can speak to babies so I left it there. Chloe isn’t as mature as me so she grabbed Lucy and tried to wrestle her into
a full nelson, but Lucy was still slippery and the pair of them ended up rolling around on the rug. Which was quite entertaining, but it wasn’t really helping me think of a present for
Lauren.

‘Stop it!’ Ella said and she pulled Lucy away from Chloe and started putting her pyjama top on her. ‘You know what’s interesting about all those presents?’ she
asked me while she did up Lucy’s buttons.

‘What’s that?’

‘They’re not really things, are they? I mean, when you talk about buying a present, you think about something you can find in a shop like a book, or a toy, or a necklace, but the
stuff that people really love is something you can’t tie a ribbon round.’

I stared at Ella. ‘You say some really clever stuff sometimes.’

‘Yup, she’s a genius,’ Chloe said. ‘And I am a world-class athlete.’ Then she picked up Lucy and dumped her on to the sofa so her feet were on my lap.

‘Keep that bare back end away from me!’ I said.

Lucy tried to get up, but Chloe pinned her down. ‘Get her, Ella!’

And Ella laid in with a tickle. I couldn’t help joining in. Lucy shrieked like she was being murdered. We just tickled her more.

Sometimes my sisters are all right.

The next morning, I woke up way earlier than usual and I thought about Lauren’s present while I was eating breakfast. What Ella had said to me really made sense: some of
the best presents are things that happen, not things that you can wrap up.

But it was so hard to think of something that Lauren would want to happen that it was actually possible to carry out. Obviously, what she most wanted, and I wanted for her too, was to get
better. But that was out of my hands.

There were lots of places I could think of that Lauren would enjoy going, but it seemed like a bad idea to plan something like that when she might end up not being well enough to go to. That
would just make her feel worse. So what did she like? What could she still enjoy? Not much. She was mostly stuck in her room. What if she had a nicer room? Maybe I could offer to paint it. The
problem was that Lauren’s room wasn’t very big.

Then an idea hit me like one of Chloe’s punches. What if Lauren moved into her brother’s room? It was larger; she’d have room for a desk in there or maybe a comfy chair so that
she didn’t have to be in bed if she was feeling up to it. It seemed like a brilliant idea. The only problem was that it wasn’t my house to rearrange. I didn’t feel confident about
telling Lauren’s parents that they should switch their home about. Surely, if they’d thought that was a good idea, they’d have done it before? And Lauren’s brother would be
home from uni for the holidays. Would he be cross about losing the big room? I didn’t want to start any family fights.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I felt that giving Lauren a nicer room was the most thoughtful present she could have, and I decided I was going to have to suggest it to
Lauren’s mum, even if she did tell me to mind my own business.

Rather than dropping round, which might make it difficult to get Lauren’s mum on her own, I decided it would be best to ring. I picked up the phone straight away in the hope that Lauren
might still be in bed.

Mrs Anderson answered after the first ring.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi . . .’ I still wasn’t quite sure what to call her. ‘It’s me, Amelia.’

‘Hello, Amelia. I’m afraid Lauren’s in bed, I usually leave it till a little later to wake her.’

‘That’s OK. I wanted to speak to you. I’ve been thinking about Lauren’s present.’

‘Oh good! Have you thought of something?’

‘I did have one idea.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Well, it might not be something you want to do, so don’t worry if it’s a stupid idea. I just thought that maybe now Matt’s gone to university . . .’

There was dead silence on the other end of the phone and I nearly lost my nerve.

‘. . . I thought maybe you could give Lauren’s room a makeover and perhaps swap her room with Matt’s so that she has more space? Maybe for a desk?’ I said it all in such
a rush that I had to take a big breath when I’d finished.

Lauren’s mum didn’t say anything.

‘It was just a thought. You could get her something completely different.’

‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘No, I think you’re on to something. Matthew’s room is larger; he needed the space for his rowing machine and his other equipment, but now
he’s taken all that with him to Leeds we could switch their rooms, couldn’t we?’

‘Yes?’

‘We could paint it and get new curtains and bedding. A desk is a good idea for when she’s up to schoolwork.’

She definitely seemed to be warming to the idea. ‘I thought perhaps a comfy chair,’ I said.

‘Yes. And the view from the window is nicer too. Oh, there are lots of things we can do – Amelia, it’s a brilliant idea!’

I felt my face getting warm. That was possibly the nicest thing she’d ever said to me. ‘If you need any help with painting or anything, I could do that.’

‘That would be very helpful. I wonder if we might manage to make it a surprise.’

‘She’d need to be out of the house for a while if we’re going to paint.’

‘Lauren’s father had planned to take her to her grandmother’s for a Christmas visit this weekend. I wonder if we could make that an overnight trip.’

‘That would work.’

‘Let me think about this. Do you think you could keep this weekend free and I’ll get back to you?’

‘Definitely.’

‘All right then. Thank you so much, Amelia. I think it’s a marvellous idea.’

When we got to Dad’s house the next day, Suvi had put up the Christmas tree, but waited for us so we could decorate it. Which I thought was brave of her given that Suvi
likes brown and grey things and Lucy’s favourite colour is ‘rainbow’.

‘Is this all you’ve got?’ Lucy asked, looking at the box of wicker stars and felt birds.

Suvi nodded.

‘Don’t worry,’ Lucy said. ‘I made an angel at school. You can have it for your tree.’ She beamed at Suvi. ‘I used half a tub of glitter on it.’

‘Thank you,’ Suvi said, and I have to give her credit for completely sounding like she meant it.

Suvi handed Chloe candlesticks for the mantelpiece. ‘How’s your rugby?’ she asked.

‘It’s brilliant. Coach says I’ve got great power so now I just need to work on my speed.’

Suvi smiled. ‘This is fantastic. So you’re getting the same treatment as the boys?’

Chloe’s screwed up her face. ‘Well, it’s not exactly the same as the boys. But I’m sort of trying to forget about that and concentrate on the training.’

Suvi tilted her head to one side. ‘You should enjoy what you’re doing, yes, but for me, I wouldn’t forget about these other things.’

That got Chloe’s attention. ‘Really? Because the only difference is that they get to play at the stadium. And they got some free stuff. I mean, I do really like free stuff, but, when
you think about it, it’s only some drinks and a shiny shirt.’

Suvi shook her head. ‘When you give something to the boys that’s not available to the girls, it’s never just a little thing. It’s part of a much bigger thing and you
should always fight it, right down to the bottles of drinks.’

I hadn’t thought about it like that.

‘Are you telling Chloe to fight?’ Lucy asked with round eyes. ‘We’re not supposed to fight. Except Chloe does sometimes, and once her and Thunder were fighting and they
didn’t see the stairs and they rolled all the way down, but it was all right because Chloe landed on Thunder and he’s quite like a cushion.’

‘I don’t mean fighting with fists, I mean fighting with words and actions.’

Lucy’s face lit up. She was clearly delighted by the idea of new ways to do battle.

‘I’ll think about that,’ Chloe said and she went back to decorating the mantelpiece.

My phone rang during tea and, even though Suvi scowled a bit, when I told her it was Lauren’s home number, she said I should answer it.

‘Amelia, it’s Lauren’s mother. I was wondering if you were still free on Saturday to help with her room?’

‘Yes, definitely.’

‘Marvellous. Could you come over around ten?’

‘OK.’

‘I’m going to buy some paint tomorrow. I don’t know what your thoughts are, but colour-wise, I was thinking . . .’

‘Purple,’ we both said together. Lauren is crazy about purple.

‘Yes!’ she laughed. ‘But then I thought purple might be too dark for the actual walls.’

‘How about a paler shade? Like lilac?’

‘That’s a good idea. Then perhaps we could get some purple accessories?’

‘Great. I’ll see you on Saturday.’

After tea, Chloe and I did the washing-up. At least I did the washing-up while Chloe made us secret sandwiches. No one has ever actually forbidden us from making sandwiches
immediately after tea, but I sort of get the idea that Dad might think it looked a bit rude when Suvi has cooked for us. The thing is that I don’t mind Suvi’s vegetably, grainy cooking
that much, but it doesn’t always fill me up. So I made lots of splashing noises to cover the sound of Chloe opening the fridge and dropping the cheese on the floor.

‘Don’t put anything weird in mine,’ I whispered. Last time I bit into a sandwich that Chloe had made, I got a mouthful of marmalade and egg. Now I inspect everything she makes
for me.

‘It’s cheese and ham,’ Chloe said, putting down a plate next to the sink. ‘And here’s the ketchup bottle so you can add your own.’

‘It’s fine as it is, thanks.’

That didn’t stop her from adding a large dollop of ketchup to her own sandwich. And a squirt of brown sauce. I looked away as she took a bite and chewed squelchily. ‘You know what
Suvi said about rugby?’ she asked me.

‘Mmm-hmm.’