I couldnât help comparing Dadâs handiwork with the very flashy maple and steel kitchen that Victoriaâs parents had had fitted in their house a few months earlier.
âIâm doing the bathroom next,â said Dad. âFirstIâm going to re-grout the tiles, and then Iâm going to sand the floorboards, and thenââ
âDad,â I wailed. âVictoria isnât here for a DIY lesson.â
âOh,â said Dad, disappointed.
I grabbed Victoriaâs arm and pulled her towards the hall.
âCome on,â I said. âBefore he gets started again.â
Victoria laughed, and followed me.
âYour dadâs changed,â she said as we went upstairs.â
âTell me about it!â I said.
âDonât knock it. Some changes are good you know. And your mum â she seems kind of different these days too.â
I smiled.
âYes she is, isnât she? She always used to go out to lunch and coffee mornings and stuff â but she never had any real friends. Now thatâs all changed though. Sheâs forever having the neighbours in for cups of tea. Theyâre always teaching her these weird recycled craft things, and talking aboutallotments and stuff. Sometimes I canât concentrate on my homework, theyâre laughing so much.â
âThatâs good isnât it?â
I shrugged.
âI suppose so,â I conceded.
âSo, any real news?â said Victoria when we were settled in my room.
Before I could answer, she noticed my new bracelet on my wrist. She leaned over and touched it, running her fingers along the tiny, shimmering beads.
âThat is so, so beautiful,â she said. âWhere did you get it?â
âYou mean âwhere did a poor girl like me get such a beautiful braceletâ?â I snapped.
Victoria shook her head.
âStop being so defensive, Eva. I mean itâs a beautiful bracelet, and Iâve never seen it before and Iâm wondering where you got it.â
âSorry,â I said.
She smiled.
âAnd?â
I hesitated.
I
so
didnât want to tell Victoria about Ruby and the market.
I didnât know how to say it without making myself sound like a loser.
But Victoria was my best friend in the whole world, and how could I be proper friends with someone I kept telling lies to?
So I took a deep breath, and told Victoria all about Ruby, and how Iâd started to help her in the market on Saturdays.
Victoria listened to my story with a puzzled expression on her face.
âThatâs really nice of you, and everything, but ⦠er ⦠why?â she said in the end.
âWhy what?â
Victoria sighed.
âThis is what Iâm hearing. Thereâs this girl, that you donât seem to like very much, and she doesnât seem to like you â or anyone else â that much.â
âI wouldnât exactly say that I donât like her,â I corrected Victoria. âItâs just that sheâs different to anyone Iâve ever known before.â
âWhatever. Sheâs in your class, but she doesnât talk to you at school, and you donât talk to her?â
âWellâ¦yes.â
âAnd yet you spend all of your Saturday mornings helping her to sell cabbages in the market.â
I giggled.
âPay attention. Itâs not just cabbages. We sell carrots, broccoli, apples, oranges. We have a very wide range of produce!â
Victoria giggled too.
âWell you know what Iâm trying to say. I mean, youâve always been a nice girl and everything, but youâre not a saint. So why are you doing this?â
I hesitated again.
It was one thing telling Victoria about Ruby.
Did I really want to tell her about Madam Margarita as well?
But Victoria was smiling at me, and I knew thatif anyone in the whole world was going to understand this crazy story, it had to be Victoria. So I took another deep
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