I don’t,” said Annie, without even waiting to hear what it was that I was going to say. “I’ve got it all planned. Just leave it to me.” She looked at her watch. “Every quarter of an hour. That’s when the buses run. We’ll go in quarter of an hour.”
Unlike me, Annie hadn’t bothered to get dressed up. She was wearing the same pink joggers she’d been wearing all week, though she had put on a clean top and a big old swanky cap (all pink and puffy) that she’s had for ages. But that was all right! It wasn’t Annie’s birthday treat. She wasn’t Harriet’s number one fan.
“I’ll just do a note for old Bossyboots,” she said.
She showed me what she’d written: WE HAVE GONE TO HAVE TEA WITH HARRIET CHANCE. WE WILL BE BACK SOON.
“Annieeee!” I stared at her, reproachfully. “I thought we weren’t supposed to tell anyone?”
“I’ve got to leave her a note,” said Annie. “We don’t want her getting in a panic and phoning the police.”
“But you promised!”
Annie stuck out her lower lip. What I call her stubborn look.
“Annie, you promised,” I said.
“OK! I’ll write another one.”
WE HAVE GONE TO TEA WITH HARRIET. WE WILL BE BACK SOON.
“How’s that? If I just say Harriet?”
I told her that that was much better. “It’ll keep her from worrying, but she won’t actually know where we’ve gone.”
“Right. So now will you please just stop flapping?”
I was still a bit scared what we might find when we got to the bus stop. If Rachel was there, we would have to hide in a shop doorway until after she’d gone. Then we’d miss our bus! Harriet would be kept waiting. She would be so cross – it would be so rude! I couldn’t bear it!
But then we got there, and I breathed this huge sigh of relief. Rachel was nowhere to be seen!
“Told you so,” said Annie. “All that flapping and fussing!”
“I can’t help it,” I said. “It’s my anatomy.”
“Your what?”
I hesitated. Perhaps I’d got the wrong word. “It’s the way I’m made. You can’t help the way you’re made.”
“You don’t have to give in to it,” said Annie. “When you feel a worry fit coming on, just think, everything will be all right … Annie says so!”
I muttered that it hadn’t been all right when we’d fallen out of the stationery cupboard, but at that moment our bus came and Annie didn’t hear me. Which was probably just as well.
All the way into town my heart was hammering, but now it was with excitement, not worry! I had a tiny touch of anxiety when we reached Market Square, for really no reason at all, but as soon as we were safely on the number six bus, headed for Brafferton Bridge, it disappeared. I suppose I could have started worrying about pile-ups, or being hijacked, but even I am not that sad.
However … when the bus stopped at Brafferton Bridge, and we got out, and there wasn’t anyone there to meet us, my heart stopped hammering and went flomp! like a dead fish inside my rib cage. I could see that even Annie was a bit concerned.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” she said. “She’ll be here!”
The bus went on its way, leaving us all by ourselves. Stranded! In the middle of absolutely nowhere.
There aren’t any houses at Brafferton Bridge. No one actually lives there. It is just this old ancient bridge over a stream, with fields stretching out on either side as far as the eye can see.
“She’ll be here,” said Annie.
Even as Annie spoke, a red car drew up beside us and a woman got out. It had to be Harriet! She was holding a copy of Victoria Plum. A very old, battered copy, like my one of Candyfloss before Mum had replaced it. She came over to us, smiling.
“Oh!” she said. “There are two of you! I hadn’t realised you were both coming.”
I glanced anxiously at Annie. It takes a LOT to make Annie feel uncomfortable, but I could see she was a bit thrown. After all, she was the one who’d set everything up. In any case, I wouldn’t have been brave enough to come by myself.
“I th-thought it was w-what we’d arranged,” mumbled Annie.
“Of course! That’s all right. Two of you is lovely! So which one is the birthday girl?”
Annie beamed and shoved me forward. “Megan! She’s your number-one fan.”
Harriet held out a hand. “Happy birthday, Megan! Sorry I’m late. I hope you haven’t been waiting long?”
I shook my head. I wanted to say, “No, we only just got here,” but I couldn’t. I was suddenly struck dumb! I could feel my cheeks turning hot tomato. It was Annie who assured her that we had only that minute got off the bus.
“Thank heavens for that! I had visions of you giving up and going back home.”
“Wild horses wouldn’t get Megan back home,” said Annie. “She’s been, like, oh-my-goodness help-help I-can’t-believe-it ever since we set out!”
By now, my cheeks were starting to sizzle. It was just too embarrassing!
“Well, let’s get you into the car,” said Harriet, “and we’ll all go back and have some tea. Who wants to come in front? Megan?”
Annie gave me another shove. “Go on! It’s your treat.” She then added, beaming, that “Megan always gets sick if she sits in the back.”
I don’t know why she found it necessary to say that. Getting car sick is such a childish thing to do! But Harriet was really sympathetic. She said, “Oh, join the club! I always had to take pills if I was going a long journey.”
“Megs has to stick her head out of the window,” said Annie. “Even then it doesn’t always stop her throwing up. One time she did it and it all went splat down the door. D’you remember?” She leaned forward, chummily, from the back seat. “That time we went to Alton Towers with Mum and Dad?”
I did remember, but I didn’t particularly want to be reminded of it. Not in front of Harriet!
