A Cuckoo in Candle Lane Read Online Free PDF

Ann who was still sitting quietly beside her. ‘Would you like to come with me?’
    ‘Well, I’d like to, but it would be better if you went on your own,’ she answered doubtfully.
    ‘Oh, why’s that?’
    ‘I always get picked on, and if you’re with me they might start on you too.’
    Sally shrugged her shoulders. ‘Don’t worry about me, I get picked on too, yer know.’
    Ann looked puzzled. ‘But you haven’t got anything wrong with you.’
    ‘Huh, they think I’m a right scruff. I get called Spooky and Weirdo too.’
    ‘Spooky? Why do they call you that?’ Ann asked, her eyebrows raised.
    ‘I dunno,’ Sally prevaricated, reluctant to tell her the truth.
    ‘Perhaps you’re psychic, like my mum.’
    ‘Psychic?’ she wrinkled her nose. ‘What does that mean?’
    ‘Well, she can read the cards, or your palm, and look into your future.’
    ‘No, I ain’t like yer mum then,’ Sally said emphatically. ‘I can’t do that.’
    ‘Do you really want me to come to the dinner hall with you?’ Ann asked quietly.
    ‘Yeah, of course I do. Anyway, I think we might be next-door neighbours. Did you move into Candle Lane yesterday?’
     
    It was the start of a friendship that grew as the week progressed, and Ann amazed Sally with her stoicism. She was teased mercilessly in the beginning, but just walked past her tormentors with her head lowered. ‘Ignore them,’ she would say, and after a few days this attitude paid off. Most of the kids grew tired of her lack of reaction, and the name-calling almost petered out.
    Sally found that it worked for her too. The bullying she had suffered was reduced to the occasional jeer from the other side of the road.
    ‘Do you want to come into my house?’ Ann asked hopefully as they made their way home from school on Friday.
    Sally stared at the ground. She had been making excuses all week and realised how lame they sounded. She was desperate to keep Ann’s friendship, but knew that, like other girls in the past, Ann would soon get fed up with a friend who wasn’t allowed out to play.
    With a gentle tug she pulled her to a halt, wondering if she dared confide in her. Ann was a loner too and so far she hadn’t seen her playing outside very often. Would that make a difference? ‘Look,’ she began hesitantly, ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’
    ‘What’s that then?’ Ann asked.
    ‘Well, you might not want to be my friend when you hear it, but it don’t matter. I’m used to it,’ Sally said defensively, kicking a small stone into the road.
    ‘What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I want to be your friend?’
    ‘’Cos I’m not allowed out to play after school,’ she said, holding her breath as she waited for Ann’s reply.
    ‘Crumbs – is that all? I get kept in too if I’m naughty. Never mind, come round tomorrow and I’ll show you my books; you can borrow some if you want.’
    ‘No, no, that’s not it. I can’t come round tomorrow either. I’m never allowed out.’ Tears pricked at Sally’s eyes. ‘Me dad won’t let me.’
    Ann looked at her in surprise. ‘Did you do something really, really naughty then?’
    Sally shook her head. ‘I haven’t done anything. He just makes me stay in me room, out of his way.’
    ‘But why does he do that?’
    ‘I dunno,’ she said, shrugging her shoulders dejectedly.
    With her head tilted to one side and a thoughtful expression on her face, Ann asked, ‘What about when he goes out? Couldn’t you come round to my house then?’
    Sally felt a surge of excitement. Could it work? He would be going to the pub tonight – but would she be able to persuade her mum?
     
    That evening Ann opened the door with a grin and beckoned her friend inside. Leading her to the kitchen, she said, ‘Mum, this is Sally.’
    Elsie looked at the girl hovering shyly in the doorway. ‘Hello, dear. Come on in,’ she urged.
    Large green eyes gazed back at her and once again Elsie felt that strange tugging sensation. She could see the