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with hot water? What a load of rubbish – famous for making gravy. At least his horse story sounded like it might be true.
    He addressed the envelope and stuck the stamp on while he was thinking about what to write. The picture on the stamp was some kind of modern art painting that looked exactly the same upside down.
    He lay on his bed and thought for a while. Then he sat up, pulled the notebook onto his lap and began.
    Dear Penfriend,
    It’s been the worst week of my life. On Tuesday Rocket fell while he was in training and broke his leg,and had to be put down. The whole family is devastated. Rocket’s trainer said he’d never have another horse like him. I’m too upset to even talk about the race now.
    You asked about my sister having long hair as a baby. I’m wondering what on earth that would have to do with her being a model now. Anyway I haven’t a clue what kind of hair she had when she was small – I just said that I didn’t think babies had long hair. No biggie – get over it.
    My dad and I had a brilliant mid-term break in the Pyrenees. We had two excellent climbs, and we stayed in a 5-star hotel with a Jacuzzi in the bathroom. I had octopus for dinner on the first night. It was a bit salty but OK. I like to try new food whenever I travel.
    Speaking of food, I never heard of someone being famous for making gravy. You learn something new every day – although if I was famous for something I cooked, I’d rather it was something a bit more exciting than gravy.
    Sorry, but I’m just not in the mood to write any more.I keep thinking about Rocket.
    Luke
     
    PS I’ve never heard of a pop star who played the violin. Maybe you should just join a world famous orchestra instead.

ELMA
    Elma smiled to herself as Mrs Lawrence handed her the letter. Once again the stamp was upside down, though it was a modern art stamp and she had to look carefully to be sure. This upside-down thing couldn’t be an accident, could it? Surely no one could be that stupid? Maybe Luke Mitchell was trying to send her a secret message.
    Of course Tara got yet another beautiful envelope – this time it was all covered in mauve and blue stars. Still, Elma thought to herself, Tara’s penfriend sounded really boring, always going on about schoolwork and history projects and stuff, and at least that couldn’t be said about Luke Mitchell. She could think of lots of bad things to say about him –he was vain and boastful and a big fat liar, but at least he wasn’t boring.
    She wondered if there was any truth in the story about Rocket. She knew he’d never won at Leopardstown, but maybe he had existed. Maybe he really had died, and maybe Luke was really sad. If Snowball was a cat instead of a monster-dog, Elma would miss him if he died. Maybe it was time to stop going on about Rocket, just in case.
    And maybe it was time to stop arguing about Jessica’s hair, too. Since Jessica didn’t actually exist, maybe it was best not to spend too long arguing about how long her hair was?
    When Elma got home, she quickly forgot about Luke Mitchell and his strange letters with the upside-down stamp. The kitchen was filthy, just like she had left it in the rush for school that morning. Clearly, Dad had once again spent the whole day in bed, watching television.
    Elma was really cross as she tried to tidy up. So cross that she kept banging doors and slamming things into cupboards. So cross that Dylan and Zac didn’t argue once. So cross that they even tried to help her without being asked. Dylan vacuumed the living room, while Elma and Zac washed the breakfast stuff. It was really hard because all thefood was dried up and stuck on to the dishes.
    Zac chatted away about his teacher as he dried the glasses. Then he struggled to reach the cupboard to put them away. Elma wiped her hands.
    ‘Wait a sec,’ she said. ‘I’ll help you.’
    Zac grinned at her. ‘’s OK, Elma. I’m big. I can do it.’
    He scrambled on to the kitchen counter. Elma