The Great Ice-Cream Heist (4 page)

Eva followed his gaze. The red and orange sky had sunk into inky blue and a bright twinkle of light had appeared.

‘Do you know the best thing I ever saw?' Jamie paused to make sure Eva was listening.

Eva found her voice again. ‘No, what?'

‘Once, where we used to live, there was a power cut. It was night-time and all the lights went out in the houses and the streets. The whole place went as dark as a cave. Mum fished around in the kitchen, looking for candles and banging into things. But I went outside. You could see better in the garden than in the house because of the moon and stars. I climbed a tree. I could see the sky the way it's meant to be. There were so many stars. They were clustered together in a line, like the headlights on a motorway – a go-faster stripe in the sky. That was the Milky Way, I found out later. It was amazing.'

A second star appeared, near to the first.

‘And you know the most amazing thing?' Jamie asked.

‘No, what?'

‘The stars are always there. Even when the lights are on. Even in the daytime. That strip of stars is always there, right above our heads. Millions of them.'

Eva nodded slowly. ‘That
is
amazing,' she said.

They watched the sky as another star appeared, then another, until the pinpricks of light were tossed against the black like glitter on card.

From her own house, Eva heard a shout. ‘Eva! Eva!'

She could hear the worry, the panic, in Dad's voice. She had been out too long.

‘I have to go.' She kept low over the shed roofs and dropped down into her own garden. She ran into the kitchen and through to the hall.

Dad stood at the bottom of the stairs, his face twisted with anguish.

‘Where were you?' he asked. She could see a vein on his neck pulsing hard.

‘Just in the garden,' she whispered. ‘I'm sorry.'

‘I thought . . .' Dad gave a faltering laugh. ‘I don't know. I thought you'd been stolen away. That the elves had taken you. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have panicked.' He gave her a hug, pulling her into him with strong arms. ‘I couldn't bear it if something happened to you,' he said. ‘We're all we've got now. You know that, don't you? It's me and you.'

Eva knew that.

But there was a part of her that wished she'd been able to stay to watch all the stars come out.

Chapter 7

Eva and Jamie weren't on litter duty the next morning. Instead, they had got their hands on some paintbrushes and were part of Shanika's team. Jamie muttered that Shanika should be collecting litter, seeing as they'd done it yesterday. It was only fair to swap. Eva blushed – they hadn't actually picked up any litter.

‘Here's an apron,' Shanika said.

‘Thanks.' It was firework-splattered with paint. Eva slipped it over her head.

‘What about me?' Jamie asked.

‘That was the last one,' Shanika said, though she didn't seem at all sad about it. ‘Maybe you'd better help outside, after all.'

‘No, it's fine. I'm wearing old clothes.'

Shanika glanced up and down. ‘Evidently.'

Eva wasn't sure if Jamie was being insulted or not, but, by the way he squared his shoulders, he obviously thought he was. Shanika walked away, following Sally.

They would be painting the main room of the lodge. It was going to be the heart of the club, with squidgy sofas, a pool table and computers. Right now it looked more like a building site. Well, a building site and furniture shop. Actually, a building site, furniture shop and sports centre, all chucked in a big blender and whizzed around. There were piles of wood, bags of plaster and towers of bricks. Desks balanced on top of each other, and stacks of chairs wobbled worryingly. Two five-a-side goals and some hockey sticks jostled for space.

‘A work in progress then?' Jamie said, looking at the mess.

There was one long, blank wall that was the perfect canvas for a mural.

Yesterday's crew had made a good start. The mural was the outside come inside. There was the lodge and the park around it, a baby-blue sky above with sheepish clouds, the hill in the middle of the park with its lumpy slopes and the whole town in miniature beyond with its rows and rows of houses and shops and offices.

Most of the park had been painted, but the town was still just a pencil sketch waiting for the colours to bring it to life.

Eva couldn't help smiling. It was going to be great. A proper work of art, something you could look at again and again. She hoped she could put her and Dad on their street. Playing a game, maybe, the way they used to.

‘The paint is all ready,' Sally said. ‘Shan came in early to mix it – thank you, Shan. Just try to stay inside the lines. Best you can, anyway. I'll be in the office, if you need me, trying to get donors to give us more equipment.'

Jamie scowled at Shanika who was busy handing out pots of colour. Eva hoped she'd get to do their street. Or maybe the hill with all the dogs on, or a bit of sky with kites sailing through.

‘You two,' Shan said, ‘here's some white and black. You can do the roads. And the pavements and the zebra crossings.'

Jamie didn't take the pots that Shanika held out to him.

Shanika sighed, then swivelled slightly and offered the pots to Eva.

Eva found she was holding them, though she wasn't sure that she had taken them.

‘Roads are the most boring bits,' Jamie said.

‘Well, someone has to do them. Or do you think your contribution yesterday was enough?'

Eva nipped her bottom lip. Shanika had a point. They hadn't done any work at all yesterday. They should make up for it today. ‘It's all right,' she said, ‘I don't mind.'

She took a brush from the pile on the floor and began painting.

She could feel Jamie's sulk. He was as miserable as cold rice pudding three days old. He didn't pick up a paintbrush.

‘If Shanika thinks I'm painting any stupid roads with stupid paint, then she has another stupid think coming. I won't do it, especially not without an apron. I want an apron.'

Eva felt the corner of her mouth twitch. Jamie sounded like a toddler.

‘Don't laugh,' he snapped. ‘There's nothing wrong with wanting an apron.'

‘Sorry, you just sound funny.'

‘You didn't think I sounded funny last night, when I told you about the stars. You listened to me then.'

‘I know. It was interesting.'

‘More than this stupid mural is. Hey, I've got an idea. Give me the white.'

Eva handed over the paint.

Jamie picked up a long, tapering paintbrush from the pile and began to stir the paint as if it were tea.

‘We're made from stars. Did you know that?' he said. ‘The Big Bang sent out millions and billions of atoms that got sucked up together to make millions of suns. And all the atoms in the whole universe were once part of a star like our sun. There are bits of stars everywhere. I'm looking at one right now.'

He was looking right at her with a lopsided grin.

‘I'm not a star,' Eva whispered.

‘You are, we all are. We can't help it. There are stars everywhere!' he said. ‘Here!' He moved the paintbrush over the mural. ‘And here! And here!' With every word, he painted a rough star shape on the wall. Five quick strokes that glooped and dribbled over the sky and hill and park. ‘Here! Here! Here!' The streets and shops and roads were all daubed. ‘Here,' Jamie said, and painted a white star on the lodge.

When he'd finished, he was panting.

Everyone looked at him, stunned.

‘What have you done?' Shanika asked. ‘You've ruined it. I'm telling!'

Shanika flounced out of the room, obviously on her way to tell Sally.

‘I'd better get out of here,' Jamie said.

‘No. Stay. Explain. They won't mind.'

He raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Of course they will. They always mind when you don't do as they tell you. Don't you know that?'

He put the pot of paint down and handed her his paintbrush. ‘Just say you didn't notice what I was doing. You won't get into trouble then.'

Before Eva could answer, Jamie had pulled his hood up over his head and banged open the emergency exit. He turned left into the park, then he was gone.

Eva gripped the paintbrush. There was a row coming – she knew it; it was like the metal taste of the sky when a storm was on the way. She wished she could wave the brush, like a wand, and whip the stars away. The white points were dripping down now, small streams of paint ruining the rest of the design.

Why had he done it?

Why?

Shanika's voice came from the corridor, shouting for Sally.

The storm was nearly here.

Eva dropped the paintbrush on a sheet of newspaper and followed Jamie though the exit.

Outside, the sun felt warm on her skin and the sound of shouting was replaced by birdsong and the yells of a game of frisbee.

Jamie was nearly out of sight, right at the end of the drive. Was he going home?

‘Jamie!' she yelled. ‘Wait!'

He paused, looked back, then waved to her quickly –
Run!

She ran until she caught up with him. ‘Where are you going?' she asked.

He grinned. ‘Just making myself scarce. Are they looking for me yet?'

She nodded.

‘So, looks like my painting and decorating days are over. It's all right – I didn't like it anyway. It's time for Plan B. This way!' Jamie set off at a sprint.

‘What's Plan B?' Eva yelled, chasing after him. But he just laughed. It was a sound without walls. A sound as free as the birdsong. Eva paused, just for a moment. Dad would hate this. She knew he would.
I won't leave the park
, she promised Dad silently, then she ran after Jamie.

He turned left at the drive, heading away from the main gate. She followed. The hill rose up in front of them, but Jamie turned left again, avoiding the rise. Instead he ran past the pinging basketball courts, past a ragged football match and on towards the play park. Eva was out of breath when she caught up with him at the swings. In seconds, he'd grabbed the chains of one and launched himself into the sky. She took the swing next to him and stretched her feet higher and higher. Her hair trailed out behind her like a comet's tail.

‘To infinity and beyond!' Jamie yelled, and leapt from the swing just as it reached the top of its flight. He was all arms and legs, flailing like a thrown spider. Then he landed on the squishy surface in a roll and a crash.

Eva dragged the soles of her feet against the ground, slowing herself with a jolt. ‘Are you OK?'

Jamie sat up and rubbed his elbow. ‘Yeah, of course I'm OK. I've got rubber knees and elastic elbows, my mum says. Do you want an ice cream?'

The van was parked at the edge of the playground. It was square and boxy with a window set in the side. The fading stickers surrounding the window showed ice lollies and cones with prices written on in marker pen.

‘You want to buy an ice cream?' she asked. She didn't have any money. Dad was going to meet her to walk her home at lunchtime.

‘Not buy it, no.'

Eva gripped the chains of the swing. ‘You don't want to steal it, do you?'

Jamie flashed her an angry look. ‘No. Of course not.' Then he grinned. ‘Probably not.'

Eva followed as he stepped up to the van. The man behind the counter wore what had once been a white coat, but it had long given up the fight against strawberry sauce and chocolate ripple and was now covered in stains. The man, and his coat, both looked a bit fed up. As Jamie approached, he didn't smile.

‘What can I get you, son?' he asked.

Jamie put his hands on his hips like a cowboy.

‘The chance to fulfil a lifelong dream,' Jamie said.

‘Well, I've never heard a ninety-nine described quite so enthusiastically,' the man said.

‘Ninety-nines, wafer cones, spirals, screwballs with a bubble-gum at the bottom, orange lollies, choc ices and fizzy pop.'

‘Is that your order?' The man grinned.

‘No. That is a list of the awe and wonder you have at your fingertips because of this magical van. And that machine.' Jamie pointed to the ice-cream maker that was fixed to the left of the man. It was square, silver and had a nozzle dripping vanilla ice cream into a tray beneath.

‘Oh,' the man said, looking a bit baffled.

‘Today is my birthday,' Jamie said. ‘I won't lie to you, I've had some great presents already. I'm lucky. I know that. I had a twelve-speed bike and a new game for my PS3. But what I didn't get was a go on the most beautiful invention known to man. That machine.'