Read The Girl from Hard Times Hill for Free Online Page B

after her until your Nana gets back. She’s taken Barbara to visit Aunt Ada. Grandpa’s still at work.’
    â€˜Oh, Mum!’ I wailed. ‘Can’t she go with you?’
    â€˜No. Dad and I are going to have a nice afternoon tea – we don’t want a grizzling five-year-old with us today.’
    â€˜Neither do I,’ I muttered.
    Mum pursed her lips. For once she looked quite like Nana. ‘That’s enough cheek from you, young lady. You do little enough to help with your sisters. Now, if Shirley’s hungry she can have some bread and butter, but no cake until your Nana gets back. And go out with her to the toilet if she needs to go – you know she’s scared of the spiders.’
    I glowered. But the next moment, I was holding Shirley’s sticky hand, and Mum was walking briskly down the street.
    â€˜Why did Dad have to go to Cardiff?’ I groaned. ‘I’m going to miss the race now.’
    Pam looked at Shirley thoughtfully. ‘Can’t we take her with us?’
    I paused. I knew perfectly well Mum had meant for me to take Shirley home and look after her there. But she hadn’t actually
said
I couldn’t take Shirley to the Hill. Besides,
she
was off out with Dad – to a fancy tea shop, too – and they’d never even thought of taking me. So why should I worry?
    â€˜She’ll never know,’ Pam urged. ‘Come on, Megan!’
    So we both grabbed a bewildered Shirley by the hand, and started for the Hill. Pam shouted to Tom to fetch her skates from home when he got his own, and by the time we got to the Hill (Shirley was a bit of a slowcoach) Tom was already there, with a load of other kids from our neighbourhood.
    â€˜Now, you sit here, and don’t move,’ I told my sister, finding her a nice big stone to sit on.
    Shirley gave me an angelic smile. ‘I like watching races.’
    â€˜Don’t go wandering off, alright?’
    â€˜Don’t worry, I’ll help keep an eye on her,’ said Pam encouragingly.
    It was wonderful skating that afternoon. We raced off against each other, and counted up our wins. I was doing great, though I couldn’t help wishing that Pam’s skates didn’t pinch my toes. I knew I’d have done better in my own skates.
    As for Shirley, she watched for a bit, then started collecting pebbles. That seemed a nice, harmless activity so I left her to it.
    A bit later, I was sitting at the very bottom of the hill, completely absorbed in watching Tom race Brian Hughes from Copperworks Road. I knew that whichever of them won,
I’d
be racing next. And whoever won that race would be the overall winner. Pam was already out of the contest. She was sitting close to Shirley, and arguing with Mary Black about something: I could hear their raised voices. I held my breath and watched Tom come round the bend…
    â€¦And it was at that moment that a scruffy little terrier dog ran onto the road. Somebody said later that it was the dog that belonged to the caretaker at the Chapel. Anyway, he went bouncing out in front of Tom, tail wagging. This wouldn’t have mattered so much – but Shirley ran out after him.
    Tom was already veering to miss the dog: he went smack bang into Shirley instead. She went flying into the air. And when she landed her eyes were shut and she didn’t open them.

Chapter Ten

Waiting
    I sat with my feet squashed up on the chair in front of me, and my arms wrapped round my knees. All around was a hospital smell of chemicals and disinfectant. Sometimes a nurse or doctor would go past, and normally I would have been interested to watch what they were doing. But today I stared at the clock on the wall. Its hands seemed to move incredibly slowly.
    But maybe that was better. At the moment, I didn’t know if I wanted time to pass.
    My eyes slid to the door a bit further along the corridor. It was shut. Sooner or later, somebody wouldcome through. Then I