Smooch & Rose Read Online Free Page B

looked over, as if checking we were still there.
    My eyes went all hot and runny. I dipped my face so Smooch couldn’t see. ‘Go on, Smooch,’ I whispered. ‘It’s okay. Nothing will hurt you, I promise.’
    Smooch turned back to the tree and Gran pulled me away. We stood with Carol and Lizzie at a distance and watched him climb until he got to a thick branch about halfway up. He pushed his bottom down into the ‘V’ between the branch and the trunk, clasping the tree with both hands. Then he looked down at us like he was making a decision, a very important decision. After a few seconds he blinked, and snuggled into his new home.
    Lizzie and I checked on Smooch every day after that. We’d race down to the creek after school and would usually find him resting high up in his favourite tallowwood tree. I felt like singing every time I spotted his fuzzy grey face among the branches. It was so good to see him there. We’d saved him: Lizzie, Gran, Carol and me. Now it was our job to keep him safe. Not that Smooch seemed to care. He would turn his head and chew slowly while I grinned up at him, as if he wondered what all the fuss was about.
    â€˜I’m glad I’ve got you, Smooch,’ I whispered one day. It was the day everyone but me received invitations to Kellee’s birthday party. Even the new , new kids got one. Kellee made a point of telling me I wasn’t invited – in front of everyone. Not that I wanted to go. I’d rather climb up in the tallowwood tree and spend the day with Smooch. ‘We could eat leaves and have naps and stay safe, high in the treetops,’ I told him. ‘What do you think? Maybe I’ll even stay. Never go to school. Never be called bumpkin or scarecrow again.’ And never see Gran’s fingers tremble every time she opened the mail . ‘If only something would happen. If only everything would be okay.’
    Not long before the start of the strawberry season, something did happen. Something horrible. And everything was definitely not okay.
    Before heading out to the strawberry patch to help Gran, I’d raced into the house after school to change into my old jeans and favourite blue hoodie. Then I ducked into the kitchen to grab an apple.
    That’s when I saw Lizzie.
    Curled up in her bed.
    Like she was asleep.
    I frowned. Lizzie always plastered me with muddy paw prints when I came home. Perhaps she hadn’t heard me.
    I stepped closer.
    Her body was cold and her pale gums were stiff across her old yellowy teeth. My heart froze and my eyes welled. I knelt beside her and kissed her face over and over. But she didn’t wake up. I stroked her head and scratched behind her ears. She still didn’t move. I made myself let her go. I squeezed away my tears and stumbled outside. ‘Gran!’ I yelled. ‘Come quick!’
    Gran gave me a long hug when she saw Lizzie. ‘At least she had a good life,’ she murmured, her voice thick. ‘She must have chased a thousand rabbits and she probably held the world record for eating strawberries.’
    We sat beside Lizzie, Gran hugging me tight.
    â€˜Remember all the funny things she used to do?’ said Gran. ‘Like when she came home with a ring of red dirt around her neck? From sticking her head down too many rabbit holes? Remember?’
    I sniffed. ‘And when she stood on her back legs and spun around when Mum sang Ring around the Rosie ? Like she was dancing?’ I said, blowing my nose loudly.
    â€˜Yes, that’s right. Before she got arthritis. Dear little thing. Come on, how about I make some hot drinks?’
    Gran made tea and hot chocolate and we pulled the wicker chairs out onto the verandah. It had been Dad’s favourite spot, even in winter when it was almost too cold to sit there. I wrapped my hands around my hot chocolate and breathed in the delicious chocolatey smell.
    â€˜How about we bury Lizzie under the tallowwood