Withering Tights - By Louise Rennison Page 0,55

really crap film.

Oh, it was so scary. In fact, it was Connie. Come to check on her eggs. I could hear her chuntering and screeching up in the eaves of the barn.

And suddenly I burst into tears.

Everything in my body seemed to just dissolve into tears.

Charlie said, “It’s alright, Lullah, it’s not going to hurt you. It’s just checking on the eggs. Come on.” And he got hold of my hand and took me outside.

He looked so kind and caring in the moonlight, and sort of handsome and brave.

Like Mr Darcy.

Maybe he would pick me up and carry me home. In his breeches.

And for a second, he just looked at me. Then he put his hand under my chin. And stroked my cheek with his other hand.

Cheek stroking! Did that come before snogging? Oh my God. Was this my second kiss???

But he didn’t kiss me, he said, “If I’d known that you were going to the cinema, I might have come. And that would have been stupid.”

What did that mean?

And then he looked at his watch and said, “Come on, otherwise I get the usual thrashing from the headmaster, if I’m late.”

As we walked along, I felt shaky and strange.

To fill in the gaps I said, “I don’t think you are allowed to beat school kids any more, it’s against the Geneva Convention and European Euro thing.”

He laughed and said, “Lullah, you’ve not seen our headmaster. I am taller than he is. And I’ve got more legs.”

More legs?

When we got to the Dobbins’ gate, he gave my arm a little squeeze and said, “See you soon.” And he went off into the night.

I was just going through the gate when he came back again.

“Lullah, I…”

I didn’t know what to say. I said, “Oh.”

He said, “Yep.”

I said, “OK, well, good.”

And we looked at each other, and then he said, “Night, night.”

What did that mean?

I woke up dreaming about Mrs Rochester cantering around my bedroom and then realised that the horsie legs were draped over the end of my squirrel bed.

I had my breakfast and sat on the wall, waiting for Ruby to come out of The Blind Pig. I am not keen to go in there after last night and the Mummers play. Already, one of the regular lads in the darts team has passed me by, neighing. Uh-oh, Mr Barraclough has seen me, he will have a field day. He did.

He said, “Ay up, I’ll just go get thee an apple, my beauty. Now don’t you poo on my front path.”

Oh, this is appalling.

Ruby came skipping out like a whirlwind with Matilda. When she saw me, she started jumping up and down.

“They’re here, they’re here! The owlets. Hooray! Hooray! Say ‘hooray’, Matilda. Say ‘hooray’, like I taught thee at obedience class.”

Matilda lay on her back and looked up at me with her lovely buggy eyes. She put her legs in the air.

I said, “Is that hooray?”

Ruby said, “Aye, she’s so excited, she’s had to have a bit of a lie down.”

I gave Matilda a big scratch on her tummy and she quivered like a jelly dog.

Ruby was chatting on. “I’ve called them Ruby and Lullah. Do you like the names? One of them is bigger than the other and it’s got reet long gangly legs, so I thought that one should be thee.”

I laughed at her, but I’m secretly loving it that she called the owlets after me and her.

We went down the back way to the barn and opened the door really carefully, shielding ourselves from Connie, if we needed to.

Ruby said, “We’ll just peep in and scarper. That was what I did this morning.”

I yelled, “Yarrooooo!” But nothing happened. So we went over to the corner where the eggs were, but they weren’t eggs any more, they were living, breathing owlets!!!!

Oh, I love them.

Ruby picked one of them up gently and said, “Do you see what I mean about Lullah’s legs?”

I said, “Yes.”

I felt a big surge of love for little Lullah. She was cheeping and blind and had gangly legs. I said to Ruby, “I am going to become like a big sister to them and always look out for them, and defend them against…”

Ruby said, “Right big mice?”

She was grinning through her gap teeth. Then she held little Ruby down for Matilda to sniff. Little Ruby cheeped and Matilda nearly fell over backwards, and raced for the door.

I started laughing, but then I said, “Maybe Matilda has used her dog hearing, and knows that Connie is