A Girl Called Blue Read Online Free Page B

plate on the floor, expecting to be punished. But a pretty waitress simply came over and picked it up and promised she’d be back with another plate straight away.
    ‘It’s so posh,’ laughed Molly, drying her tears immediately.
    Afterwards there were bowls of orange jelly and ice-cream.
    ‘Have you lot had enough yet?’ Jimmy joked, patting his own big stomach. ‘You’ve still got to see the monkeys and Pets’ Corner. So hurry it up!’
    They all queued up for the ladies’ toilet before rushing back downstairs and out onto the grassy front lawn again. Mrs Mooney checked their names off her list and led them to where all the noise was coming from.
    The monkeys screeched and jumped around their cages while the chimpanzees stretched their paws out through the bars and seemed to want to talk to the children. They reminded Blue of the babies in the nursery. She wished she could open the bars and lift one out and hold it in her arms.
    Pets’ Corner was the very last place on the list.
    ‘This is the best place of all,’ smiled Molly, who admitted to being scared of a lot of the animals they had already seen. Here, instead of tall wire cages and bars, there were low wooden fences and straw, and you were allowed to stroke and pet the animals.
    There were pigs and goats and ducks and rabbits and baby lambs and fluffy yellow chicks that chirped and cheeped, and two old donkeys called Tilly and Tommy. The children raced between all the animals, finding it hard to choose which was their favourite.
    There was also a wishing chair, like a big toadstool, and they all took a turn to sit into it and make a wish. Blue sat on the curved stone seat and closed her eyes; she wished as hard as she could that she would find a family of her own some day.
    There were two play houses and a slide there too and Bluewatched as Molly joined in the fun with all of the other smaller kids, her brown eyes shining. She had taken a liking to the rabbits and looked so happy when the keeper placed a soft white fluffy rabbit in her arms.
    ‘He’s lovely,’ smiled Molly, stroking the rabbit’s head and holding a small carrot for it to chew.
    They all wished they could stay at the zoo forever, playing with animals. But finally Jimmy called the group together.
    ‘We’ve got to make sure we have everybody before we leave the zoo,’ said Mrs Mooney, calling out their names again.
    ‘Aaaaahhh!’ they all complained, not wanting the day to end.
    ‘We don’t want to go back to awful Larch Hill!’ a brave voice called from the back. Lil and Blue agreed that it was lucky Sister Regina wasn’t there.
    ‘Now, now, the day’s not over yet,’ said Bill, pushing his sunglasses up on his forehead, ‘no, not at all. There’s going to be fun and games in the park, and a few more goodies before you all go home, I promise.’
    A huge cheer greeted that announcement and they all followed Jimmy and Bill and Mrs Mooney back outside. This time they were barely sitting in Jimmy’s taxi before he stopped again.
    ‘Here you are now,’ he said, throwing open the car door. Blue and Lil and Mary and Jess and Molly ran with whoops and shouts to follow all the other boys and girls who were racing down a grassy hill to an enormous hollow below. It was like a huge green bowl, surrounded by trees and grass. They could roar and scream as much as they liked, for there was nobody to tell them to hush up or be quiet asthey tumbled and rolled down the grassy bank. There were races and teams and they played football too, the boys beating the girls silly. But nobody cared. When they were panting and out of breath, there was a big picnic with sandwiches, bags of crisps and lukewarm orange in paper cups. As they went back up the hill, the sun started to dip. They all agreed that it had been the best day out ever and that Mrs Mooney and Jimmy and all the taxi men and helpers had made it so.
    ‘Three cheers for everyone,’ shouted a boy with red hair and freckles who had put