Eva's Journey Read Online Free

……?’
    Mum nodded sadly.
    â€˜I’m afraid we’re going to have to sell
this
house.We’re selling Castleville.’
    â€˜But you can’t sell Castleville,’ I protested. ‘It’s our house. It’s where we live. It’s our home. I’ve never lived anywhere else. I don’t want to live anywhere else.’
    Dad rubbed my arm.
    â€˜Don’t you think we know all that?’ he said. ‘This isn’t easy for any of us.’
    â€˜So don’t do it then,’ I said.
    Dad sighed.
    â€˜We don’t have a choice. The business is in ruins. We can’t afford to live here anymore.’
    Suddenly I had a great idea.
    â€˜But there’s a recession on,’ I said. ‘This is one of the biggest houses in town. If we can’t afford to live here, then who else can?’
    Mum gave a small smile. ‘There’s always someone. Dad and I have been to the estate agents already. They think they have a buyer. We won’t get anything like the full value of the house, but we’re not in a position to argue. We just have to sell. And when everything is finalised, we can renta smaller house, not too far from here, so you can still be near Victoria.’
    Suddenly I had another idea.
    â€˜Dad’s business might be in trouble, but there’s still your job, Mum. Why can’t we live here on what you earn?’
    Mum sighed.
    â€˜You know my job is only part-time. It hardly pays for the food we eat.’
    I grinned.
    â€˜I can help with that,’ I said. ‘I’ll eat extra at school. I’ll have second servings of everything – third servings even, if they’ll let me. I’ll eat so much at school, that you won’t have to pay for any food for me at home. I’ll even skip breakfast. I’ll ……’
    I stopped talking. Mum was looking at Dad in a way that was making me very nervous.
    I gulped. My school had one of the best canteens in the whole country. A celebrity chef visited one time, and we all got his autograph. There was a programme on TV saying that our school servedbetter food than most restaurants.
    â€˜Oh, Mum, Dad,’ I wailed. ‘Please don’t tell me that we can’t afford to pay for school dinners any more.’
    Dad went pale. He looked at Mum who nodded so slightly that I almost missed it. Then he took a deep breath.
    â€˜It’s not just the dinners, Eva,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid we can’t afford the fees for The Abbey any more either. You’re going to have to leave your school.’
    I shook my head, wanting to make all the bad stuff go away. This couldn’t be happening. I won’t pretend that school was my favourite place in the whole world, but I knew that The Abbey was the best one around. (That’s why I spent forty-five minutes on a bus to get there every morning.)
    Mum came over and hugged me.
    â€˜We’re sorry, darling, but it’s all arranged. We’ve already spoken to the principal. You’ll be leaving at the end of this term.’
    I thought quickly. ‘But that’s only two weeks away.’
    Dad nodded. ‘But look on the bright side. Even though it’s the middle of a school year, we’ve managed to get you in to a new school.’
    Ha. Look on the bright side – easy for him to say.
    Then I realised there
was
a bright side.
    â€˜Hey,’ I said. ‘I can go to Victoria’s school. It’ll be kind of cool being at school with my best friend at last. And she says her school’s not too bad really. She says …’
    I stopped talking. Why were Mum and Dad looking at me like that?
    Why were there tears in Mum’s eyes, even though there wasn’t a single onion in sight?
    â€˜We thought of sending you to Victoria’s school,’ said Dad. ‘It’s a good school, and they don’t charge fees. That would have been just perfect.’
    Would have