Page 14 of The Two Halves of My Heart

Chapter 5

Grace Ten Years Old

Summer arrived. Finally. Although this time, the uninterrupted weeks had a more daunting prospect at the end of them. Although, I’d promised myself not to let the nerves start already because I didn’t want to let them douse my fun before it had started.

As each year passed and I got older, Mum relaxed and knew I’d be safe with the boys. Sometimes, Oliver and I played in his room with the dragons he still collected while Maddison bashed the controller on his computer and yelled at his friends through the screen. The rain pushed us indoors, and for the first week of the holiday, it did nothing but pour.

“It better not rain all holiday,” Maddison grumped as we grabbed a juice from the kitchen. He’d been on the computer all morning, and his mood was always awful after he’d been shooting and fighting on that stupid game.

“Relax, it’s only been a few days.” Oliver tried to be positive, but as I stared out into their back garden, the water racing down the window in tracks, it was hard to see the end of all the cold and damp.

“I’m going to head home,” I said, my eyes didn’t meet either Oliver or Maddison’s, and I made my way to the door. Without the sun, and our usual methods of escape, it was hard to play with both of the boys. They didn’t want to do the same thing, and I’d got sick of being in the middle. The summer was supposed to be when we spent time all together.

I grabbed my coat from the hook and pulled up the hood. A cold gust whipped around me as I opened the door and peered out. It wasn’t far to my house, but it seemed a vast distance with the pelting rain in my path.

My fingers pinched the edge of my hood to keep it up as I dashed from the porch and raced back. I skipped over puddles to stop my Converse from getting too muddy, but by the time I hit the green, it was impossible. The rain had soaked into the canvas, my jeans were dark blue, and icy droplets blanketed my face. I kept my eyes screwed up against the rain and finally made it to the house.

After stripping off my sopping clothes and letting my coat drip-dry in the kitchen, I snuggled under the covers in my bedroom, relegated to the latest wizard book that Mum had ordered for the start of the summer. It was good, but it didn’t beat spending time playing outside. This year, the weather had seemed to forget about delivering a summer.

Two days later and I’d finished the book. The boys hadn’t come to call, and I didn’t venture out. But as I put the book down, I looked out of the window and saw blue skies for the first time in what felt like weeks. My eyes blinked, clearing any trace of sleep and checking they weren’t a figment of my imagination.

My legs raced as fast as they could go downstairs, and I burst into the living room. “Can I go out to the boys’?”

“Sure, sweetheart. But don’t go far, okay. The weather forecast doesn’t look good.”

She had to call the last part as I ran back upstairs to get dressed. I didn’t care how long it lasted, but I knew we had a window to play. Before I reached the front door, drumming echoed in the hall.

I opened the door to find both Maddison and Oliver looking at me with huge grins.

“Ready?” They both asked at once.

“Bye, Mum!” I called back, and as I closed the door behind me, I heard her warning of not going too far, but it was too late.

“So, what are we going to do?” I looked at both of them and noticed they didn’t have their bikes.

“The oak tree. I want to show Grace how to climb it properly, this time,” Maddison announced.

“Great, let’s go.” I’d only managed the first branch so far, and although it was higher than I’d ever climbed before, Maddison’s confidence pushed me to aim higher. We all ran off but soon calmed our pace. It would be a little walk without pedal power, and I didn’t want to be worn out before we got there.

The grass and trees all looked a richer shade of green from all the rain. Muddy water filled the dents and holes in the track road, and a stream of water trickled down one gully, running off into the fields. I couldn’t remember when it had last rained so much.

We arrived at the tree and jumped over the gate, ignoring the sign. So far, nobody had come to tell us off, and enthusiasm had replaced the worry that we were doing something wrong.

“Come on, Grace. I’ll show you where to put your grip.” Maddison pulled me over to the side of the tree where the funny knot provided the first ladder step up to the first branch.

Maddison shot up first, stopped two branches up and turned to look down. “Your turn,” he called.

The bark was damp as I found my grip, and I made sure my toe was secure, bouncing a couple of times before I reached up and pulled myself to standing.

“Great. Next level.”

With my heart thumping, I held my breath and placed my hand on the small branch jutting out and gripped it, pulling myself up as I stretched my leg to the branch at the side and used it to climb higher.

I looked up through the tree and saw Maddison looking back at me. He gave me the smile he only shared with me, and my heart skipped in my chest. As I reached up to climb even higher, a steady rumble cracked overhead and engulfed the air around me. It even made the tree vibrate through my fingertips. I crouched down, pulled my hand back and held on to the branch at my side.

“Grace?” Oliver called from his spot on the ground. “Are you okay?”

The excitement that had fired my courage had died with the noise still rumbling around us.

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