to say to myself . . .
Nope, the lecture seemed to be over. I took a deep breath.
‘Actually, we’re not a gang. We’re Tribe,’ I said.
It came out pretty good. Loudish. Not squeaky. No one laughed at me. I checked behind – Jonno made a carry-on sign with his eyes.
So I carried on. ‘And we’d like to come down the alley without you lot shouting at us.’
Good stuff, I thought.
‘Ahh! Bless. We’ve scared them,’ she said, looking round at her mates. I was getting ready to say the guns and cakes bit (I was, honest) when Bee barged past me with the
tin.
‘It’s simple. We’ve got weapons in there . . .’ She turned round and pointed at the bag. Copper Pie did an evil grin. ‘Or we’ve got cakes.’ She opened
the tin.
You should have seen their faces. It was like happy dust had been sprinkled all over them. The girls all whooped, and ahh-ed and wowee-ed. I could see why. Bee had made about thirty cakes, all
with different coloured icing and flowers made of pink and white marshmallow petals with Smarties for the middles. They looked amazing.
‘Did you make those?’
Bee nodded.
‘For us?’
‘Yes, but only if you agree to stop being bullies.’ She’d used the b-word. That wasn’t going to go down well.
The main girl, Sass, didn’t say anything right away. She turned round to face her mates.
It was like waiting to find out whether you were guilty, and about to be sent to the dungeons, or free to go.
Was she going to make a deal? Cakes for peace.
Or would she choose combat?
Or, worst of all, would they snatch the cakes from us but carry on teasing anyway?
I didn’t move or breathe. I don’t think my heart was beating either. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Copper Pie swinging the bag slightly, as though he didn’t want her
to forget what was in it. Like a threat. Nothing else moved.
Why was she taking so long? ‘So what do you think?’ she said to the rest of them.
I heard some mumbles but they didn’t make words.
Come on.
She slowly swivelled back round.
‘Well . . .’
I took a step back. I couldn’t help it. If they were going to attack I didn’t want to be in the front line.
I think she knew what I was thinking. It happens to me a lot. Maybe my thoughts are very loud.
I don’t see why someone being scared of you is funny, but she obviously thought it was. Her mouth curved up at the corners and she laughed.
‘I say we go for cakes. What do you think, girls?’
‘Definitely.’
‘For sure.’
‘NO WAY!’
Oh no! Who said that?
‘Only joking. I’m for cakes.’
They all agreed. Fantastic! No war.
We watched Bee offer round the cakes. Everyone took one. And then it was our turn. And it was totally weird. I don’t think any of us felt even a tiny bit scared of the Alley Cats. You
can’t hang around eating a cake with yellow icing and a pink flower with a blue Smartie middle and be frightened of someone standing by you eating a cake with green icing and a white flower
with a red Smartie middle. You just can’t.
It reminded me of that story about how the Germans and the English had a ceasefire on Christmas Day. One minute they were fighting and the next they were sharing their dinner and singing
carols.
THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE
In World War I there were loads of German and English soldiers fighting in the trenches. On Christmas Eve 1914 both sides had been sent
supplies like plum puddings and miniature Christmas trees but they couldn’t enjoy them because of the war. The front lines of each army were close enough to shout across, so some of the
soldiers decided to call a ceasefire. Amazingly, they even climbed out of the trenches and joined each other in No Man’s Land, sharing food and drink and singing carols like
‘Silent Night’. After Christmas Day they went back to being enemies.
By the time we’d eaten all the cakes (Copper Pie had three), Bee had agreed to meet the Cats the next day with the recipe written out, including
Nope, the lecture seemed to be over. I took a deep breath.
‘Actually, we’re not a gang. We’re Tribe,’ I said.
It came out pretty good. Loudish. Not squeaky. No one laughed at me. I checked behind – Jonno made a carry-on sign with his eyes.
So I carried on. ‘And we’d like to come down the alley without you lot shouting at us.’
Good stuff, I thought.
‘Ahh! Bless. We’ve scared them,’ she said, looking round at her mates. I was getting ready to say the guns and cakes bit (I was, honest) when Bee barged past me with the
tin.
‘It’s simple. We’ve got weapons in there . . .’ She turned round and pointed at the bag. Copper Pie did an evil grin. ‘Or we’ve got cakes.’ She opened
the tin.
You should have seen their faces. It was like happy dust had been sprinkled all over them. The girls all whooped, and ahh-ed and wowee-ed. I could see why. Bee had made about thirty cakes, all
with different coloured icing and flowers made of pink and white marshmallow petals with Smarties for the middles. They looked amazing.
‘Did you make those?’
Bee nodded.
‘For us?’
‘Yes, but only if you agree to stop being bullies.’ She’d used the b-word. That wasn’t going to go down well.
The main girl, Sass, didn’t say anything right away. She turned round to face her mates.
It was like waiting to find out whether you were guilty, and about to be sent to the dungeons, or free to go.
Was she going to make a deal? Cakes for peace.
Or would she choose combat?
Or, worst of all, would they snatch the cakes from us but carry on teasing anyway?
I didn’t move or breathe. I don’t think my heart was beating either. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Copper Pie swinging the bag slightly, as though he didn’t want her
to forget what was in it. Like a threat. Nothing else moved.
Why was she taking so long? ‘So what do you think?’ she said to the rest of them.
I heard some mumbles but they didn’t make words.
Come on.
She slowly swivelled back round.
‘Well . . .’
I took a step back. I couldn’t help it. If they were going to attack I didn’t want to be in the front line.
I think she knew what I was thinking. It happens to me a lot. Maybe my thoughts are very loud.
I don’t see why someone being scared of you is funny, but she obviously thought it was. Her mouth curved up at the corners and she laughed.
‘I say we go for cakes. What do you think, girls?’
‘Definitely.’
‘For sure.’
‘NO WAY!’
Oh no! Who said that?
‘Only joking. I’m for cakes.’
They all agreed. Fantastic! No war.
We watched Bee offer round the cakes. Everyone took one. And then it was our turn. And it was totally weird. I don’t think any of us felt even a tiny bit scared of the Alley Cats. You
can’t hang around eating a cake with yellow icing and a pink flower with a blue Smartie middle and be frightened of someone standing by you eating a cake with green icing and a white flower
with a red Smartie middle. You just can’t.
It reminded me of that story about how the Germans and the English had a ceasefire on Christmas Day. One minute they were fighting and the next they were sharing their dinner and singing
carols.
THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE
In World War I there were loads of German and English soldiers fighting in the trenches. On Christmas Eve 1914 both sides had been sent
supplies like plum puddings and miniature Christmas trees but they couldn’t enjoy them because of the war. The front lines of each army were close enough to shout across, so some of the
soldiers decided to call a ceasefire. Amazingly, they even climbed out of the trenches and joined each other in No Man’s Land, sharing food and drink and singing carols like
‘Silent Night’. After Christmas Day they went back to being enemies.
By the time we’d eaten all the cakes (Copper Pie had three), Bee had agreed to meet the Cats the next day with the recipe written out, including
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