My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson

much power of deduction.’
    â€˜I
didn’t
know,’ I said. ‘Which do you like, Jodie?’
    â€˜They’re all a bit rubbish,’ she said. She grinned at Harley. ‘
Especially
the giraffe. Show us something else. Where are all the ordinary classrooms?’
    They were up the big flight of stairs to the first floor. Each classroom was pretty much the same, dull and a little dusty, with old-fashioned ink-stained desks and revolving blackboards on one wall.
    â€˜No whiteboards?
Chalk?
’ Jodie picked up a white stump of chalk and started drawing a cartoon version of herself, all big eyes and spiky hair and wide grin. She printed underneath
Jodie was here!!!
    â€˜Very artistic,’ said Harley sarcastically.
    The junior school classrooms up on the second floor were more interesting, with a Wendy house and floppy teddy bears and a set of enormous building bricks in red and blue and yellow. I’d have liked to play at building my own house but we had to be very quiet. Miss Ponsonby was in the junior art room with Zeph and Sakura and Dan. We tiptoed past the open door, peeping in at them. Zeph was painting in a careless splashy manner, waving his paintbrush around as if he was conducting an orchestra. Sakura was painting very delicately indeed, her tongue sticking out inconcentration. Dan wasn’t painting at all. He was stirring a saucer of red paint with his finger and then dabbing himself experimentally. He looked as if he had a bad case of measles.
    â€˜Poor little kid,’ Jodie whispered, when we were down the end of the corridor. ‘What is he,
three
?’
    â€˜He’s five. He’s ever so bright but he somehow seems a bit backward,’ said Harley.
    â€˜No wonder! How could anyone send such a baby to boarding school?’
    â€˜He cries a lot. They all do, especially at night,’ said Harley. ‘Well, I don’t know about Sakura. She sleeps in the girls’ dormie. Zeph and Dan are in the boys’ dormie with me.’
    â€˜So what do you do when they cry?’ Jodie asked. ‘Do you give them a cuddle?’
    â€˜I read to them,’ said Harley.
    â€˜Oh,
sweet
,’ said Jodie. ‘What, like, you read them
Little Noddy
and
Thomas the Tank Engine
?’
    â€˜No, if you really must know, I’m reading them
The Hobbit
.’
    â€˜Is that one of those hairy little dwarfy guys with big feet in that wizardy film?’ said Jodie. ‘They’re way too young for that.’
    â€˜
They’re
not reading it,
I
am,’ said Harley. ‘Zeph likes it because he’s seen
The Lord of the Rings
on DVD. And Dan likes the name Bilbo and laughs every time I say it, so we’re all three happy.’
    â€˜Where’s this boys’ dormie then?’ said Jodie. ‘Is it along here or upstairs?’
    â€˜The dormitories aren’t in the main building. There’s a boys’ house and a girls’ house, near the bungalows.’
    â€˜So what’s upstairs?’ said Jodie.
    â€˜There isn’t really an upstairs,’ said Harley.
    â€˜Yes there is!’ said Jodie, running down the corridor to the end.
    There was a big store cupboard standing there, but Jodie peered round it.
    â€˜Stairs!’ she said.
    â€˜Yes, but as is obvious, we’re not allowed up there,’ said Harley.
    â€˜Then surely it’s
equally
obvious there must be something exciting hidden away!’ said Jodie. ‘Come on, help me shift the cupboard till we can squeeze past.’
    â€˜It’s strictly out of bounds,’ said Harley.
    â€˜So what are they going to do? Kill us?’ said Jodie.
    â€˜Old Wilberforce is quite inventive when it comes to punishments,’ said Harley.
    â€˜Well, he can’t punish us
now
. It’s the school holidays. We can do what we like,’ said Jodie.
    â€˜I’m still in his care,’ said Harley.
    â€˜Well,
we’re
not,’ said Jodie.