Alarm Girl Read Online Free

ridges we could fall down, but inside the grounds it’s light the whole time. Robin said I would be pleased about that because I was scared of the dark. He said I was scared of everything – creepy-crawlies, lions, everything – and he told Dad I have to have the hall light on at home and I have to have my scarf wherever I go, like a baby with its blanket. When I shouted Fuck off at him Dad was nice and made him go out of my room. He went out too, so he could make pancakes and so I could have a bit of time to myself, he said.
    My suitcase zip made a loud noise. Nan had folded all my clothes in neat squares. Tops in one pile and bottoms separate. Socks and knickers in the special bags she got from her catalogue. Everything was cold, like it had been in the fridge. My new sandals were all squashed. They still smelled of the shop and I had to peel the stickers off the bottoms. I got changed and my clothes felt nice and cool.
    They gave us colouring books on the plane. Really babyish. Robin left his on the seat but I brought mine. The picture on the first page was of a bunch of flowers. The crayons that came with it were all melty from the heat. There were two different greens to colour in the flower stalks, dark and light. I made sure I didn’t get the floor or the bed dirty with the little bits that came off. I brushed them into the drawer of the table next to my bed. There was a Bible inside, with a silver cross on the front and really thin pages. I could hear Dad speaking on the phone. He had forgotten my drink and I was afraid I would die from thirst.
    I went into Robin’s room where he was arranging his wildlife books, lining them up on top of his table. Dad’s trying to get us to like everything isn’t he, I said, and Robin told me to lighten up. He had a Bible in his drawer too. I asked him what we were meant to do with them and he said Pray, even though he doesn’t believe in God or Heaven. Then Dad brought us water with ice cubes in. He had no shoes on, and instead of his trousers he was wearing a piece of material wrapped around like a skirt. A leather string around his neck had a pointy tooth hanging off. He said it was a Great White’s. I didn’t believe him but I didn’t say anything. I drank my water so quickly it was painful. Robin hadn’t even started his and mine was all gone. Dad asked if I wanted another one but I could hardly speak with the ice-cold all around my heart. He took my empty glass and you could see his bare footprints on the floor, walking out of the door.
    The pancakes had chocolate sauce and pineapple. I sat on one of the high stools to eat mine and there were cloth napkins, like in a restaurant. Dad never used a napkin at home, only kitchen roll if he needed to wipe his mouth or something. When Robin’s pancake was ready Dad let me bang a little gong. The end of the beater was wrapped in cloth. The sound it made was loud and soft at the same time, and kind of rippled through the air so you could almost see the airwaves.
    I was wearing my T-shirt with the horse on it and Dad said On a horse you can get up close to the animals because they can only smell the horse so they don’tknow you’re there. I said It’s Robin who wants to see all the animals and Dad said What are you into these days? I said I didn’t know.
    I checked out the presents underneath the Christmas tree. The tree was fake like Nan’s, except silver instead of realistic and only gold decorations, not multicoloured like Nan’s. All the presents underneath were wrapped in silver wrapping paper with yellow ribbon tied around them and tags made from plain card with no pictures on, just our names written in old-fashioned ink pen. To Indigo with love. It didn’t say who from. The handwriting wasn’t Dad’s. It was like the writing on an ancient manuscript that gets found in a grave in one of the films that Robin likes. There was a present for Dad, with his name written on the tag like all the others. When I asked