THE HETTY FEATHER ADVENTURES!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacqueline Wilson is one of Britain’s bestselling authors, with more than 35 million books sold in the UK alone. She has been honoured with many prizes for her work, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award and the Children’s Book of the Year. Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, a professor of children’s literature, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame for services to children’s literacy.

Visit Jacqueline’s fantastic website at www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk

ABOUT THE BOOK

Tina is a triplet, but she’s always been the odd one out. Her sisters Phil and Maddie are bigger and stronger and better at just about everything. Luckily, they look after teeny-tiny Tina wherever they go – but when the girls start in scary, super-strict Miss Lovejoy’s class, they’re split up, and Tina has to fend for herself for the first time.

Tina is horrified when she’s paired up with angry bully Selma, who nobody wants to be friends with. But when Miss Lovejoy asks them to help her create a butterfly garden in the school playground, Tina discovers she doesn’t always need her sisters – and that there’s a lot more to Selma than first meets the eye.

A beautiful, heartwarming story about friendship, confidence and becoming your own person, from the mega-bestselling author of Tracy Beaker, Hetty Feather and Sleepovers.

THE BUTTERFLY CLUB
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 17451 5

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Penguin Random House Company

This ebook edition published 2015

Text copyright © Jacqueline Wilson, 2015
Illustrations copyright © Nick Sharratt, 2015

First Published in Great Britain by Doubleday, 2015
9780857533173

The right of Jacqueline Wilson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

To Tilly and Harry

And in memory of Lily Rose

Chapter One

THERE ARE THREE of us. Phil and Maddie and me.

We all have fair hair cut in fringes. I once tried to cut mine myself. Whoops!

We have blue eyes, and Dad says we have button noses. He sometimes pretends to pinch them but it doesn’t hurt.

Phil’s proper name is Philippa. I sometimes forget how you spell it and get the ‘l’s and ‘p’s muddled up.

Maddie’s proper name is Madeleine. Her name’s hard to spell too. I put the ‘e’s and ‘i’s in the wrong place.

My name’s Tina. It’s easy-peasy to spell, thank goodness.

We are triplets. Surprise! Everyone thinks I’m the little sister. It’s very annoying. I was the littlest even when we were born. I was very, very little.

I didn’t grow big enough when we were all inside our mum. I think Phil and Maddie must have sat on me and squashed me. When we were born I was too little to go home with Mum and Phil and Maddie. I had to stay all by myself in a tiny metal cot with a lid on it called an incubator. Well, I expect I had my teddy. I couldn’t wear proper baby clothes, and I had to wear a silly little hat to keep my head warm.

The doctors found out that I had something wrong with my heart. Perhaps it was too small, like me. I had to have an operation. They put a tiny little box in my chest to make my heart pump properly. Thank goodness they put me to sleep so I didn’t know anything about it.

I nearly died. I did, truly. I’m not meant to know but I’ve heard the grown-ups whispering about it. Mum and Dad came to visit me every day, while Gran and Grandad looked after Phil and Maddie. Mum cried because she couldn’t give me a proper cuddle. I had to stay inside my incubator.

But I got better! I was even allowed out into the open air!

I grew nearly big enough to go home, but then I got a chest infection and had to have lots of medicine. I didn’t have it in a spoon like I do now – the nurse just dripped it straight into my arm. I’m sure she was very gentle. I like nurses. I still have to go to the hospital for check-ups and they always make a fuss of me.

Anyway, I got home at last. I could be with Phil and Maddie again. They were still much, much bigger than me.

They stayed bigger.

I was a bit scared when I started school because I was so much smaller than all the other children. I wasn’t used to lots of big children. I’d never played their kind of games.

Mum was a bit scared too. She had a word with the Reception teacher, Miss Oxford.

‘I’m worried about Tina because she’s still very delicate. She’s got a w-e-a-k h-e-a-r-t and can’t take too much rough and tumble. Phil and Maddie know they have to be gentle with their sister, but perhaps the other children won’t understand. Do you think you could keep a special eye on Tina?’ she said. She spelled out weak heart, but I knew what she was talking about even though I couldn’t read yet.

Miss Oxford was very kind.

‘Of course, Mrs Maynard. Don’t worry. How lovely to have triplets in my class! You all look very special girls. Would you like to sit together?’

‘Yes please!’ we said.

Miss Oxford watched over me in the playground whenever she could.

Phil and Maddie looked after me too. If the big boys played chase and barged into me, my sisters got very angry. If the girls – like horrible Selma Johnson – wouldn’t let me join in their games, then Phil and Maddie shouted at them.

Oh goodness, that Selma! I hated her. She was the biggest girl in the class with a great red scary face. Her hair was pulled back in such a tight ponytail it made her look even scarier, especially when she pulled a silly face. She was boss of the whole class, even the boys. She pushed and she poked and she called people mean names. She couldn’t even be bothered to work out the difference between Phil and Maddie. It’s easy, even though they are very, very alike.

Look closer!

Phil has a tiny mole on her cheek. She doesn’t like it, but Gran says it’s her beauty spot. Maddie has a scar on her chin from when she fell over the first time she tried to skateboard. She’s absolutely brilliant at skateboarding now. Phil gets annoyed because Maddie is better than her. I don’t know if she’s better than me because I’m not allowed to do skateboarding.

Maddie’s always the best at sporty things, especially football. She jokes about a lot but she’s very brave. She always stands up for Phil and me. Phil is the sensible one. The teachers always pick her to run errands. She’s top of the class. She nearly always gets ten out of ten and a gold star. Maddie gets at least nine out of ten. I’m not going to tell you what I get. Sometimes Phil and Maddie help me.

Selma calls both Phil and Maddie Dim Twin – which is very stupid, because Phil and Maddie aren’t dim at all, they’re very clever. It’s especially stupid because they’re not twins, they’re triplets.

Selma calls me Little Bug. This is even more insulting, though actually I quite like bugs.

I don’t mind worms. I can pick them up. It’s great fun, because Phil and Maddie run away screaming. I’m good with spiders too. Do you know something – even Mum is scared of spiders! And I like caterpillars, with all their little feet. They tickle when they go for a walk up your arm. I particularly like ladybirds because they’re so pretty. I’ve got a red dress with black spots and I call it my ladybird dress. Phil has a pink dress with white spots and Maddie has a blue dress with yellow spots. I like mine best. We wear our spotty dresses to parties.

We just go to little parties. There’s a funny boy called Harry in our class, and when we were in Year Two he invited us all to a football birthday party. Phil and Maddie and I wanted to go – especially Maddie, because she loves football.

‘I’m sorry, chickies, it’s out of the question,’ said Mum. ‘You know Tina isn’t allowed to play rough games like football.’

‘Why can’t Phil and I play?’ asked Maddie. ‘Tina could watch us. You wouldn’t mind, would you, Tina?’

I would have minded a little bit, because it’s rubbish not being able to join in, but I shook my head.

‘Maybe I could go to the football party too,’ said Dad. ‘I could kick a ball about with Tina on the sidelines while the other kids play. Then she can have a bit of fun too.’

We all thought this a great idea, but Mum still said no. It’s because she worries about me. She can’t help it.

So we couldn’t go to Harry’s party. It was a great shame, because I like Harry a lot. One time we had to clear up the paints together and we got a bit carried away. I painted him a black moustache and he painted me great red lips so that we looked like two grown-ups. I painted Harry with red on his nose because lots of old men have red noses – my grandad does. Harry thought I might like to dye my hair like a big lady and so he started painting it black.

Miss Evelyn, our Year Two teacher, hardly ever got cross, but she went a bit berserk when she saw Harry and me. We had to be washed very thoroughly.

Then Phil and Maddie and I had our seventh birthday. Mum and Dad gave us our own iPad! We thought this very cool and grown up, though we wished we had one each. We’ve got used to sharing and taking turns, but it’s very boring having to wait for the iPad. Especially for me, because I nearly always have to wait till last.

Mum and Dad did give us new flowery satchels for when we started in the Juniors. Mine didn’t hold quite as much as Phil’s and Maddie’s, but Mum said a proper big one would be a bit too heavy for me.

Gran gave us three Victorian dolls with frilly dresses. This was a weird present because we were getting a bit big for dolls, weren’t we? Though we still liked to play games with our Monster High dolls.

We couldn’t play games with our Victorian birthday dolls because they were too precious. They just had to sit on our windowsill like ornaments. It was hard to pretend they were real, but we did give them names.

‘I’ll call mine Rosa, because she’s carrying a bunch of roses,’ said Phil.

‘I can’t call mine Hankie!’ said Maddie.

‘Perhaps you could call her Sneezy, like that little man in Snow White?’ I suggested.

‘Why don’t you call your doll Primrose, Maddie, because she’s got a pale yellow dress. And then you can call your doll Rosebud, Tina, because she’s a bit smaller than ours. There – they’ve all got three lovely matching rosy names,’ said Phil.

We told Gran what we were going to call our dolls and she was very pleased.

I thought Rosebud was a bit boring, but I liked her little baby. I took off her tiny dress. She wasn’t wearing any knickers! I gave her a red swimming costume with my felt tip and took her for a swim in the bath.

Baby’s scarlet swimming costume faded away but she didn’t mind swimming naked. I had to keep hold of her or she sank. I didn’t mind. Dad has to keep hold of me when we all go swimming or else I sink.

Baby liked playing all sorts of games. She flew, she climbed the curtains, she parachuted off the top of the wardrobe, she explored the great dark cave of the fireplace. She even braved ferocious wild beasts. They’re not really wild beasts, they’re our new birthday hamsters! Grandad gave us some money and we decided we all wanted to buy a pet. So we went to Pets at Home with him.

‘I want the brown one in the corner, chomping away on all the food! I shall call him Nibbles,’ said Phil.

‘I’ll have that fawn one racing round and round. I’ll call him Speedy,’ said Maddie.

‘I’ll have the really, really big yellowy one right there,’ I said, pointing. ‘He’ll be the boss of the other two and help them do everything. I shall call him Cheesepuff.’

We decided we really, really liked being seven.

Chapter Two

WE HAD A wonderful time that summer. We went to the seaside for two whole weeks! We’d only been on holiday for a week before. We didn’t always go away.

Phil and Maddie and I sometimes went to stay with Gran and Grandad in the school holidays.

But this summer Mum and Dad and Phil and Maddie and I went on a fortnight’s holiday to Norfolk! We stayed in a caravan. There were lots and lots and lots of caravans, like a special caravan village.

As we were there for two whole weeks, Nibbles and Speedy and Cheesepuff had to pack their tiny bags and go to stay with Gran and Grandad.

We sent them a postcard.

I really did love it in the caravan. It was a bit of a squash when we were all inside, especially when we went to bed, though that just made it more fun. We were mostly outside, even for meals. I helped with the cooking! Well, Mum didn’t want me to have a turn frying the sausages as she said I was too small and they kept spitting fat – but I did cook baked beans one day, and everyone said they were delicious.

We ate heaps and heaps on holiday. And we had an ice cream every single day! Mum fussed that she was putting on weight. By the end of the fortnight she couldn’t get her shorts zipped up properly! I hoped I might put on weight too. And grow a bit. I kept measuring myself against Phil and Maddie. I didn’t seem to be having much luck.

We took our teddies on holiday because they didn’t mind being packed flat in a suitcase. (You obviously can’t do that with hamsters.) The first day we took the teddies paddling, but that was rather a disaster. They got very wet and had to spend a long time on the washing line.

Mum got a bit cross. ‘Really, girls, you should have had more sense! You can’t take teddy bears swimming!’

‘It was meant to be just paddling, Mum, but they got excited and splashed a bit,’ said Phil.

‘Splashed rather a lot,’ said Maddie.

‘I think my teddy might have splashed the most,’ I admitted guiltily.

‘They were just having a bit of fun,’ said Dad.

‘But they’re their special teddies – the ones they’ve had ever since they were born,’ said Mum. ‘I think you’d better keep them in the caravan when they’ve dried out.’

So the teddies had to have an indoor holiday after that. I think they felt a bit fed up, though we left them little treats to eat.

I took my Baby out with me every day. She had a lovely time. She came swimming with me and it didn’t hurt her at all.

We made her a special sandcastle. Dad did a lot of the hard digging. Phil and Maddie made a moat and filled it with sea-water. Mum found shells and seaweed, and I did the decoration. Then I put Baby on top of her castle and Dad took a photo of her. Baby loved being on top because she’s so little – though she’s very, very brave. She didn’t even flinch when a great flying dinosaur attacked her.

We didn’t want to go home. We wanted to stay on holiday for ever.

‘I wish we could stay here on holiday too, girls,’ said Dad, ‘but we’ve all got to go back to work.’

Dad works in a supermarket. He has special clothes for work.

Mum works part time in a building society. She has special clothes for work too.

I suppose Phil and Maddie and I go to work as well. We work at school. We had to have special new clothes for the Juniors. We’d always worn red sweatshirts in the Infants. But we’re not infants any more. We wear green sweatshirts now.

I crayoned a green sweatshirt on Baby so she could come to the Juniors with me.

‘My goodness, don’t you all look grown-up girls,’ Mum said on the first day of term.

‘Our big girls, in the Juniors!’ said Dad.

‘It’s going to be scary being in Miss Lovejoy’s class!’ said Phil.

Miss Lovejoy was famous for being very, very strict. She had such a soft, pretty name, but she wasn’t soft and she wasn’t pretty. We all knew about Miss Lovejoy, even in the Infants. And now she was going to be our teacher for the whole of Year Three!

‘I’m not scared of Miss Lovejoy,’ said Maddie. ‘I’m going to love being in Year Three. We’ll be playing netball and football!’

‘Yes, I need to have a word with Miss Lovejoy,’ said Mum. ‘I don’t want Tina playing games.’

‘Poor Tina,’ said Maddie.

‘I don’t mind.’ I decided I’d play games with Baby instead.

‘Finish up your cereal then, girls. We don’t want to be late on your first day in the Juniors!’ said Mum.

We had to rush around cleaning our teeth and going to the loo and putting on our sweatshirts and our new outdoor shoes.

Baby is very lucky. She hasn’t got any teeth to clean. She never needs to do a wee. She doesn’t wear school uniforms and shoes.

Dad kissed us all goodbye and wished us luck. I held Baby up so she could get a kiss too.

‘Oh my goodness, why has she gone green?’ asked Mum.

‘That’s her school uniform,’ I said.

‘No, Tina. You can’t take her to school. She’d only get lost or broken. And you’re not allowed to take toys to school in the Juniors.’

‘Baby isn’t a toy, she’s a person.’

‘She’s a person to you, but to everyone else she’s a little china doll. Put her back with your big doll – and when you get home you’d better give her a good scrub,’ said Mum.

‘But I’ll be so lonely without her!’ I whimpered.

‘Of course you won’t be lonely. You have Phil and Maddie to keep you company,’ Mum told me.

‘I want Phil and Maddie and Baby,’ I wailed. I opened my eyes wide so that they’d water. I was very good at making myself cry. It nearly always made Mum and Dad pick me up and give me a cuddle and let me have my own way. It always worked with Gran and Grandad.

But today Mum was a bit snappy.

‘Come on, Tina, we haven’t got time for an argument. You don’t want to make us all late for your first day in the Juniors, do you?’

I saw that crying wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so I ran upstairs with Baby. But I didn’t put her back with big Rosebud. I tucked her away in my school skirt pocket.

Then we set off with Mum. It felt very grown-up to be walking right past the Infants’ entrance, all the way to the Juniors.

‘I’m going to come in with you, girls,’ said Mum.

‘Oh, Mum. People will think we’re babies,’ said Maddie.

‘Mum’s not fussed about us, silly. It’s Tina,’ said Phil.

‘She needn’t be fussed about me. I’m not a baby. I’m exactly the same age as you,’ I said.

But secretly I was quite glad that Mum was coming through the Juniors’ gate with us. It felt a bit strange being in the Juniors’ playground. The Juniors were very big. Some of them were practically grown-up. They stared at us – they stared at me in particular. I edged in between Phil and Maddie. I wanted to hold their hands but I didn’t want to look even more of a baby.

‘Let’s find this Miss Lovejoy,’ said Mum, marching into the school building.

‘Mum! I don’t think we’re allowed inside yet!’ said Phil.

‘We’re supposed to stay in the playground until they ring the bell!’ said Maddie.

‘I know, but I’m sure Miss Lovejoy won’t mind,’ said Mum.

Miss Lovejoy looked as if she minded a lot when we found our new classroom.

‘Ah . . . school hasn’t quite started yet,’ she told us.

‘Yes, I know, but I wanted to have a little word with you about my girls.’ Mum spoke in the firm voice she always uses when she’s giving us a telling-off. But Miss Lovejoy’s voice was much, much firmer.

‘Your triplets, Philippa and Madeleine and Tina?’ she said. She obviously knew the register by heart already.

‘That’s right. Phil and Maddie are identical, as you can see – though if you look carefully, Phil has a mole on her cheek and Maddie has a little scar on her chin.’

‘I dare say I shall learn to tell them apart,’ said Miss Lovejoy.

‘And then there’s Tina.’ Mum took hold of me and gave my shoulders a little squeeze. ‘I don’t know whether you’ve been told about Tina . . . As you can see, she’s got a bit of catching up to do. She was very ill when she was born. She had to have major heart surgery and she’s had various problems since. She’s not allowed to play any contact sports, and I’d appreciate it if you kept an eye on her in the playground.’

Miss Lovejoy looked at me. I didn’t want her to keep an eye on me. It was too fierce and beady.

‘Don’t worry, Mrs Maynard,’ she said. ‘I’m sure Tina will flourish in my class.’

I didn’t think I was going to flourish. I thought I might very well wilt.

‘Off you pop now, girls,’ Miss Lovejoy went on, extra firmly.

It was clear that she expected Mum to pop off too. So we all did as we were told.

‘Well,’ said Mum, when we were out in the playground again. ‘She’s a bit of an old dragon, isn’t she?’

‘Yes!’ said Phil.

‘Yes!’ said Maddie.

‘Yes yes yes,’ I said.

‘But I dare say she’s perfectly lovely when you get to know her,’ Mum added quickly.

We weren’t sure we really wanted to get to know her.

Chapter Three

WHEN THE BELL rang for the start of school, Phil and Maddie and I ran fast so we could be first in line. Then we marched very, very quickly in through the door and down the corridor to our classroom.

It wasn’t because we were eager to start lessons with Miss Lovejoy. We just needed to get to the classroom first so we could get a good seat. Maddie forged ahead when we were inside and bagged three places at the table right at the back. Selma Johnson tried to push her out of the way, but Maddie was very fierce and brave. She got her bottom on one seat. Phil shoved her way onto the other. I squeezed in between them. There! We had the perfect seats, and there was nothing Selma could do about it. She couldn’t just tip us off, not with Miss Lovejoy’s beady eyes on us.

Some of the boys wanted to be on our table too.

‘No, go away, this is a girls’ table,’ said Phil.

‘Yes, push off. Go and find your own table,’ said Maddie.

So they went away to sit at another table at the side. I was a bit disappointed. One of the boys was Harry. I’d have liked to have him on our table.

But some quite nice girls, Sophie and Neera and Carys, came and sat with us. We all smiled at each other.

‘There!’ said Maddie proudly. ‘I got us the perfect table.’

Everyone else barged about the room until they found places too. All this time Miss Lovejoy was standing by the whiteboard watching us, arms folded. Her eyes were extra beady.

‘Have we finished playing Musical Chairs?’ she said eventually. She didn’t shout, but she used the sort of voice that makes you sit up straight and quiver.

‘Welcome to Year Three. I am your teacher, Miss Lovejoy. I hope you will learn many things while you are in my class. We’re going to start learning straight away. You might have pushed and shoved and run wild in the Infants, but now that you are in the Juniors it’s time you learned some manners! Now stand up!’

We stood up.

‘Pick up your school bags and line up by the door!’

We did as we were told. We thought she was mad as we’d only just sat down, but no one dared argue, not even Selma Johnson.

‘That’s better,’ said Miss Lovejoy. ‘Now, you will sit where I tell you. Is that understood?’

We all nodded.

Miss Lovejoy’s beady eyes looked up and down our line. She started picking children at random and pointing to tables. She mixed girls with boys. She put Selma Johnson right at the front!

Then she pointed to Phil and told her to go to a table at the side. Phil went to sit down. Maddie followed her, pulling me along too.

‘Excuse me,’ said Miss Lovejoy. ‘Where are you going, Madeleine?’

She was the first teacher we’d had who could tell the difference between Phil and Maddie.

‘I’m going to sit with my sister, Miss Lovejoy,’ said Maddie. ‘And so is Tina.’

‘Did I tell you to sit with Philippa?’

‘No, but we always sit together. We have ever since we were in Reception.’ Maddie was very red in the face.

‘We don’t want to be a nuisance, Miss Lovejoy, but Maddie and I have to look after Tina,’ Phil said quickly.

‘I believe I am the teacher,’ said Miss Lovejoy. ‘It’s my job to look after all of you. Now, go and sit at the table on the other side of the room, Madeleine. Quickly! And you, Tina, come and sit here.’

Oh no! She pointed at the table at the front. She actually pulled out the chair next to terrible Selma Johnson.

‘Sit here!’ she said.

I clutched Baby tight in my hand for courage. ‘Mum says I have to sit with my sisters,’ I said in a tiny voice.

Miss Lovejoy cupped her hand behind her ear. ‘I beg your pardon?’ she said.

I didn’t dare repeat it. I sat down next to Selma. She moved her chair away as far as she could, pulling a face. I tried very hard not to cry. One tear escaped – and Selma saw.

‘Cry-baby!’ she hissed.

Then Miss Lovejoy said that Kayleigh had to sit at our table. Selma smirked. Kayleigh wasn’t mean when Selma wasn’t around, but when she was with Selma she could be really horrid. She gave really painful Chinese burns.

So I had Selma on one side and Kayleigh on the other!

I hoped that some of the quite nice girls would be sent to join us. But the other three were boys – two big rough boys, Peter and Mick, and Alistair Davey. Alistair was quite small (though nowhere near as small as me), but even so, he had a very loud voice. He always knew the answers to all the questions. He spoke in an extremely know-it-all way, even to the teachers.

If we had to have a boy at our table, I wished it could have been Harry.

So there we were. Selma, Kayleigh, Peter, Mick, Alistair and me. The worst table ever. I craned my neck round to see Phil. She shook her head at me in sympathy, looking terribly worried. I peered round at Maddie. She pulled a sad face at me.

I slid further and further down my chair, feeling smaller than ever. Perhaps I could turn into a little girl-mouse and scamper across the floor and out of the door.

‘Everyone settle down. Now, I need someone sensible to give out these lovely new exercise books,’ said Miss Lovejoy. Her beady eyes swivelled around the room.

Phil sat up straight. She was nearly always picked to be book monitor. And flower monitor and cloakroom monitor. In the Infants she was famous for being reliable.

But this was Miss Lovejoy’s class in the Juniors.

‘You, Selma! Come and give out the exercise books, please,’ she said.

Oh no! Was Selma Johnson going to be teacher’s pet? I was doomed, doomed, doomed. I sank down further.

‘Sit up properly, Tina!’ said Miss Lovejoy.

I wriggled upwards, staring at the table because I didn’t want to look at anyone.

‘And put your head up! Goodness me, you’re slumped like a little old lady!’

Mick and Peter chuckled.

Phil put up her hand.

‘Yes, Philippa?’

‘Excuse me, Miss Lovejoy, but I don’t think Tina is feeling very well. I think she’d feel better if she could sit next to me. Or Maddie. She isn’t used to being on her own,’ said Phil, very bravely indeed.

‘She isn’t on her own, Philippa. She’s sitting with five other children. Now stop worrying about your sister. She’s perfectly all right. Aren’t you, Tina?’

No, I wasn’t perfectly all right. I felt very, very, very wrong, but I didn’t say anything. I sat as still and silent as Baby.

Miss Lovejoy raised her eyebrows. I wondered if she was going to shout at me. Or smack me. Perhaps she had a cane in her cupboard and was going to beat me . . .

Grandad had told us what school was like when he was a little boy. The teachers always shouted or threw chalk at you or whacked your hands with a ruler, and if you were very naughty you got the cane. Six times, on your bottom!

Grandad said teachers weren’t allowed to punish children like that nowadays. But Miss Lovejoy was very old. Perhaps she was still stuck in the old days.

She didn’t shout or smack or fetch a swishy cane from the cupboard though. She just shook her head at me.

‘Now, children, I want you to write on the top line of your new exercise books: My Summer Holidays. I shall write it out on the board for you, because you don’t want to start your brand-new book with a spelling mistake, do you? What do you think I want you to write about?’ she asked.

We stared at her. Was this a trick question?

‘Come along, wake up!’

Phil put her hand up. ‘You want us to write down what we did during our summer holidays?’ she said, a little nervously.

‘Brilliant deduction, Philippa,’ said Miss Lovejoy. ‘Right, get started, everyone. I want at least two pages. And while you’re writing, I want each of you to come out to me in turn. I want to hear you reading.’

There was a big sigh all around the room. Two whole pages! And how terrifying, having to read out loud, standing beside Miss Lovejoy.

It was my turn first!

I felt my throat go dry when Miss Lovejoy pointed and beckoned. I had to stand really close to her. She smelled of peppermints and washing powder. She had a lot more wrinkles when you got near her.

‘Start reading, Tina,’ she said.

I swallowed. I opened my mouth. No sound came out. I clutched Baby, who was hidden in my left hand.

‘Come on, Tina.’ Miss Lovejoy pointed to the first word. ‘What does this say?’

She had short, stubby, very clean nails. My gran has long pointy red nails. Mum has short nails, but sometimes she goes to a nail parlour and then she gets amazing nails, even longer than Gran’s, with pretty sparkly patterns on them. Phil and Maddie and I can’t wait until we’re old enough to go to a nail parlour.

‘Tina, I’m waiting. Now, I know you can read. Off you go,’ said Miss Lovejoy.