The Rainbows and the Secrets - Christine Cox (the snowy day read aloud TXT) 📗

with coconuts. And there, squatting among the coconuts, was Softpad: dripping wet and shivering with shock, but alive.
Ellie had wrapped the monkey in Aunt Olga’s cardigan, but since that was soaked through anyway it wasn’t doing much good. Some of the Secrets formed a chain, with Jamie firmly gripping the ankles of the last “link”, and pulled their leader up onto the bridge. Then they gathered round him and started to rub and stroke him till he felt warmer. As they did so, they made a strange, low, whistling sound, as if they were all whistling the same tune. As Softpad gradually recovered and stopped shaking, the whistling became higher and more tuneful, until it sounded like beautiful tinkling bells.
It was a lovely sound, but Jamie didn't have time to listen longer. He addressed all the monkeys: “I have to go. Secrets, you must go back to your side of the river, and Rainbows, you must get back to yours. Promise you won’t fight any more – at least until I can get here again.”
“They stole our coconuts,” Softpad reminded him. “Make them give the coconuts back.”
“That was my fault," said Jamie, trying to stop him being angry with the Rainbows. “It was my idea. It was because they were hungry. But you’re right,” he added sadly, “they are your coconuts. Ellie,” he called to her over the parapet, “push the raft to the Secrets’ side, will you? We’ve got to give the coconuts back.”
“No,” said Ellie. “The Rainbows are hungry. The Secrets have thousands of coconuts. They can easily spare this lot. Tell them not to be selfish.”
Some of the Secrets on the bridge heard this and looked annoyed, but luckily Softpad had water in his ears.
Jamie tried to be tactful. “Ellie is worried about the Rainbows,” he told Softpad, “because they’re so hungry. Couldn’t you be very kind and just let them have a few coconuts?”
Softpad made a grunting, grumbling noise, but said grudgingly: "Just for her then. She saved my life.”
"Ellie!" Jamie called down to her again. "Softpad's being kind and letting the Rainbows keep some of the coconuts. I really think we ought to let the Secrets have the rest back. We mustn't make them angry."
So Ellie reluctantly threw half of the coconuts, one at a time, up onto the bridge. It was hard work, but only one or two missed the mark and fell in the river. Then she pushed the raft across to the Secrets’ beach and left it there.
Meanwhile, on the bridge, the Secrets vanished and the Rainbows scrabbled for the coconuts. Jamie did his best to make sure the original fifteen monkeys who had crossed the river with him had one each, and that nobody had more than one. Then he hustled all the Rainbows off the bridge before they started to fight amongst themselves. But most of them were too tired and sore to do that anyway, and went sadly home to lick their wounds. .
When the bridge was cleared of monkeys, Jamie joined Ellie on the Secrets’ beach. “We did it!” he said. “We stopped them fighting! Thanks for helping, Ellie.”
This was the probably the only nice (ish) thing her stepbrother had ever said to her, and Ellie felt pleased for moment. But “helping?” It seemed to Ellie she had done most of it: pushing the raft about, throwing coconuts (which were quite heavy) up onto the bridge, above all saving a monkey leader from drowning. She said: “It was your stupid idea to draw the bridge. There might not have been a fight anyway without a bridge. Now they’ll just get back on it and fight each other when we’re not around.”
“ ’Course there would’ve been a fight,” said Jamie. “The Rainbows couldn’t escape, could they? Derr-err-err!”
“Oh, hell – o?” replied Ellie scornfully. “Whose brilliant idea was it to take the Rainbows over there in the first place?”
This made Jamie angry. He felt like shaking Ellie, as he had done Snapper. But he didn’t, because he suddenly realised he needed her help again. He had to try to be nice to her, even though she was being horrible. The nurse had probably already been to check him again, and would be wondering where he was. He had to get back. So he said: “Well, it was good you rescued the coconuts and helped sort things out. Please can you go home and paint over the bridge – or draw something to stop the monkeys getting back up there – because I’ve got to go back to hospital?"
Ellie was worried about the monkeys too, but she wasn’t going to admit it.
“Maybe” she said.


9

Ellie in trouble

Ellie found her way back to Jamie’s bedroom through the still open window she had come through. She was dripping wet. Mrs.Wakefield was calling up the stairs: "Ellie! Are you all right, dear?"
Ellie went to the top of the stairs and shouted down: "Yes, Mrs.Wakefield, I'm fine, thank you!"
She grabbed some felt pens and scribbled tangles of barbed wire reaching to the ceiling across both ends of the bridge. Then she added a lot of extra, big, sharp spikes, in case the monkeys thought of scaling it.
As she was finishing this, she heard her mother’s key in the door below. How was she going to explain her wet clothes? She ran to the bathroom, put the plug in the bath, and turned the taps on.
Violetta came upstairs, calling to her daughter: “Ellie! Are you OK? Jamie will be fine, they think. I have bought him new pyjamas, two pairs.”
Vee was very tired, having worked all night, and her first customer was about to arrive at any moment, for a wedding dress fitting. The dress wasn't ready because she'd had to stop working on it to go to hospital with Jamie. It had been a bad morning altogether. Then she went into Jamie’s room to put one of the new pairs of pyjamas away, and saw painting and scribble all over the back wall. Vee let out a small shriek. She stared at the wall painting, in puzzlement. Some of it looked like children’s painting and drawing. Some of it looked so life-like, it must have been done by a very clever artist. For example, there was an exact copy of Ellie’s cardigan, the one she’d got from Great Aunt Olga, complete with its pattern, pointy hood and tassels. It was hanging over the parapet of the bridge, just as if someone had left it there to dry.
Scattered on the floor were Ellie’s poster paints, her felt tips and crayons, and two pots of Ian’s gloss. The tops were off the pots and Ian’s brushes were stuck in them. The carpet was spattered with paint. A trail of water led from Jamie’s room to the bathroom. Vee followed it and found her daughter lying quite still on her back in the bath, fully clothed, her long blond hair floating around her. Her face was under the water. Vee gave another little shriek, of fright this time, but Ellie suddenly sat up with a splash and breathed out with a noisy splutter.
“Practising holding my breath,” she explained.
“With all your clothes on?” exploded her mother. It was too much: her sensible daughter had painted all over a wall and got in the bath fully dressed. Was she going crazy?
The doorbell rang.
“I am very, very disappointed in you Ellie!” shouted Vee. “You have let me down badly! How will I cope with new baby if you are not good? Children in Estonia do not behave like this!”
Ellie tried to say: "Jamie painted the bridge,” but found her conscience wouldn’t let her. So she began instead: “It was Jamie’s idea –“
“And another thing!” interrupted her mother. “You are always telling the tales on Jamie and blaming him for all things. But Jamie is in the hospital and he is not painting the wall. And he is not in the bath with his clothes on.”
The door bell rang again and she stormed down the stairs to let her customer in, shouting: “To tell the tales is not nice. Children in Estonia never, never tell the tales! What are you English children like!”
Ellie was shocked. She had been born in Estonia, and always thought her mother counted her among the good children of that country. Now it seemed she was one of the bad English children her mother complained about. Ellie was usually so well-behaved, she wasn’t used to being told off, and it hurt.
She was also stunned by what her mother had said about a new baby. Mum must be pregnant! Mum was pregnant and was going to have a good baby to replace Ellie, who was English and bad.
She spent a miserable time on her own, while her mother dealt with this customer and then the next one. She changed her clothes and hung the wet ones on a clothes horse over the bath. Then she made Mum a cup of tea and took it up to her in the attic, hoping to please her again.
But Vee only said: “Oh, take tea away Ellie; you will spill it on dress next!”
When Vee finished with the customers, she went to bed. Ellie couldn’t watch television or put music on in case it woke her. She put peanut butter on the last slice of bread for her lunch and tried to read a book, but couldn’t concentrate. She started to think about Jamie. She wondered what he was doing in the hospital, and whether anyone had noticed he’d gone missing.
She thought about the new baby. How could they all fit into the flat? Where would they all sleep? Perhaps one of them would have to be sent away. Perhaps she, Ellie would be sent away to Great Aunt Olga in Estonia, to learn to be a good Estonian child. That would be dreadful. She didn’t want to be the one to be sent away, of course. But she discovered that she didn’t want Jamie to be sent away either. She didn’t want to be on her own with Mum and Ian and the new baby.
Suddenly Ellie wanted to talk to Jamie. She wanted them, together, to find a way of helping the monkeys share the jungle and the fruit. She called Ian on his mobile and said: “Ian, can I come to the hospital and see Jamie?”


10

Sticking together

When Ellie saw Jamie lying on his hospital bed, she grinned. He grinned back.
“Ian,” said Ellie. “There’s no food at home, I ate the last slice of bread.”
“We’ll get some on the way home," said Ian.
“You could go now,” suggested Ellie “and I’ll keep Jamie company. Then we won’t be home too late. Mum won’t want to start cooking late.”
Ian looked doubtful. He wasn’t sure visiting children were allowed in the hospital on their own. But he was tired and hungry, and didn’t want to be washing up late in the evening. He was also surprised the two children wanted to be friends, and thought he should encourage it. So he said: "I’ll just be half an hour then.”
“We need to talk about the monkeys,” said Ellie to Jamie, as soon as Ian had gone. “But first I’ve got something to tell you. It’s a secret, but Mum accidentally let it out. Bad news,” she added.
“What secret? What bad news?” asked Jamie. But at that moment the nurse appeared, frowning.
“Are you family, young lady?” she asked Ellie. “Only related children can visit, and they must be with