A Bit of Earth by Rebecca Smith Page B

sandwiches.’
    â€˜Poor you.’
    â€˜Don’t tell Dad.’
    â€˜OK. But I’m sure he wouldn’t be cross.’
    â€˜Anyway, it was when I was in Reception.’
    â€˜Then he definitely wouldn’t be cross. They shouldn’t be standing up people who are in Reception. It sounds very cruel. Did you get to eat your dinner?’
    â€˜No. But I didn’t mind. It was fish and jelly.’
    By now they had reached Erica’s car. It was a pale blue Renault 4. The front seat was a banquette.
    â€˜Can I sit in the front? It’s sort of like a sofa for driving. I bet it’s really old. Is it vintage?’
    â€˜Kind of vintage. It hasn’t got any seat belts in the back, so you better had sit up with me.’
    â€˜Is it really, really old?’
    â€˜Um, nearly thirty. One of my brothers has a garage that fixes and sells French cars. He helps me look after it. I’ve always just liked these Renault 4s. I might get a van one day. It would be great for moving plants.’ She strapped Felix in. ‘We could have walked really. I just thought it would make a change for you to have a lift home from school.’
    â€˜Thanks,’ said Felix.
    Four minutes later they were there.
    â€˜If you could cut across gardens or wade along the stream, you could probably make a shortcut to the botanical garden,’ Erica told him. ‘It’s just there, behind those trees. Have you heard people say “as the crow flies”? Well, it’s not far as the crow flies.’
    â€˜If I shouted,’ said Felix, ‘would Dad be able to hear me?’
    â€˜Maybe, but we won’t try it. We don’t want to worry him. Anyway, come in.’
    â€˜Wow,’ said Felix, ‘it’s huge.’
    â€˜It is huge, but it’s not all mine. Just the ground floor is mine. And the garden. We can have tea outside if you like.’
    â€˜Yes please.’
    â€˜Who lives upstairs?’
    â€˜A lady from Poland. Some music students. Luckily they play nice instruments, and a man who nobody sees very much. I think he might be the real Mr Nobody. He doesn’t get much post. We aren’t meant to have pets, but the Polishlady, her name is Anna, has a grey cat. He goes up and down that plank to get in and out of her window.’
    â€˜It’s like a slide. Does she go up and down it too?’
    Felix supposed that the etiquette of not going up slides wouldn’t apply to cats or to private slides. ‘Even in the rain?’
    â€˜Anna uses the stairs. Sometimes she sits out in the garden with me in the evening. She’s only got a little balcony. I don’t think Sebastian (that’s the cat) goes out in the rain much. Cats don’t like rain, do they?’
    â€˜Some cats can swim. One day I might have a dog or a cat and teach it to swim. I have a book with all the names of all the types. Otterhound is best-looking, but I wouldn’t let it hurt any otters. Or a Burmese blue for cats. They aren’t actually blue, but I would call it Bluey.’
    He looked around, wondering what they were going to do. He had always wondered what people might do when they went to tea with each other. There were shelves and shelves, and piles and piles of books, but these were neat piles, not much like the ones at home. They had lots of strips of coloured paper poking out of them, like Guy’s, but Guy just ripped up anything to make his bookmarks. Erica’s TV was even smaller than the one at home. Felix hadn’t known that they came that small.
    Erica followed his gaze.
    â€˜Would you like to watch TV?’ she asked. ‘I know lots of people like to watch TV when they get in from school. I used to sometimes.’
    â€˜Um …’ said Felix, not sure which was the right answer to give. He could see the remote. It wasn’t lost the way the one at home was always lost. Sometimes they didn’t watch TV because they