Cowgirl Read Online Free Page A

that’ll be OK, Mrs Matthews.”
    “Please call me Lilly,” says Gran.
    So that was that. But the thing that got to me, apart from the fact that I had to walk back to school with Cowgirl, was that Gran had called her a “star” and I couldn’t remember the last time anyone called me a star, if ever.

E IGHT
    We went out the back way and into the alley that runs behind the terrace. As we were saying goodbye to Gran there was a shout from next door. “Lilly! Lilly! Got them this time!”
    “Roger?” called Gran.
    Gran’s neighbour, Roger, came into the alley from his backyard holding on to Jamie and his mate, Ryan, who were struggling and swiping out at him. Ryan is Sian’s brother, which made me a bit nervy.
    “Little brats!” said Roger. “They tried it again, Lil. You know, like with Mave, one round the front ringing the doorbell. Well, I smelled a rat, didn’t I?Found this pair in my lounge, rifling around. Do us a favour and call the police, I got my hands full.”
    “Oh, this place has gone rotten,” said Gran.
    “We did nothing!” shouted Jamie.
    “Zero to nick anyway,” said Ryan.
    “What’s going on, Lilly?” a woman called down from a house nearby.
    “Roger caught a couple of boys in his house, Polly.”
    “Oh, that’s twice this week,” the woman at the window said. “And poor Mave at number ten is only just getting over it!”
    Ryan kicked out and caught Roger on the shin. He yelped and let go of them. They made a dash for it but ran straight into Cowgirl. She grabbed them like they were a couple of shopping bags and cracked their heads together. Smack. They yelped.
    “That’s Sian’s brother,” I said, nodding at Ryan.
    He looked up at Cowgirl. “And she’ll kill you when I tell her!”
    “That supposed to make me let you go, is it?”
    She was so cool about it, but I was worried.
    Mr Banerjee and Polly came out into the back alley.
    “Get her off, Gemma!” Jamie said to me.
    “Go on. Let ’em go,” I said.
    Gran and Roger turned on me. “What? NO!”
    “It’s all right, is it, Gemma?” said Gran. “Theseboys – and girls too – making our lives along this terrace a misery? The Bryn Mawr estate was a lovely place years ago when they first built it. My back door was always open, to all and sundry…”
    “That’s right,” said Roger.
    “A community,” added Mr Banerjee.
    “Aye. Those days are well gone now,” said Gran. “The doors are double bolted, and we don’t go out after dark. It’s horrible, Gemma, and it makes me glad to be at the end of my life rather than at the beginning.”
    They were all looking at me as if I’d been the one who’d broken into Roger’s house. Then I spotted Darren coming along the alley.
    “That’s the monkey that rang my doorbell!” said Roger, pointing at him.
    “Darren!” Gran and me shouted at the same time. “Come ’ere!”
    “They made me do it, Gran,” he said, pointing at Ryan and Jamie.
    I grabbed him. “You wait till I tell Mam!”
    “Oh I see, Gemma,” said Gran. “Changed your tune now it’s your own brother that’s involved.”
    I couldn’t win.
    “He’s my neighbour, Darren!” said Gran. “Not that it makes it right if he wasn’t. What d’you think theywere doing round the back while you rang the bell?”
    “It was just a laugh.”
    “My own flesh and blood,” said Gran.
    “Would you hold on to this one?” Cowgirl said to Roger, handing Jamie over to him. She slung Ryan over her shoulder, as if he was nothing more than a jacket.
    “NO! Put me down!” he shouted.
    Cowgirl turned to Roger. “I think I can manage that one too.” Roger lifted up Jamie so she had one on each shoulder, struggling away.
    “Thanks for the lunch, Lilly,” she said.
    “Pleasure’s all mine,” said Gran.
    “See you up at the farm,” Cowgirl said as she walked off with Ryan and Jamie hanging down her back.
    Gran watched her go with a big grin on her face. “You got a special friend there, Gemma,” she