Butterfly Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

she left. The second Mum shut the door behind her, it was as if all the lights had gone off. The house felt dark and empty.
    “Isn’t Stella brilliant?” sighed Mum. “She’s always been such a good friend.”
    “Why did you lose touch with her?”
    Mum shrugged. “I’m not sure, to be honest. I moved away from Oakbridge, and I was busy working and looking after you. It was just one of those things I suppose... I think I’ll go up now, though. I’m dead on my feet. It hasn’t been the easiest day.”
    She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning back to me.
    “You know, I really hope I haven’t made a big mistake.” She was talking about work, about the new job, but I wondered how many other mistakes she’d made. Like not telling me the truth about her past for a start. I thought about the list in my pocket scribbled on the back of her note. All those questions swirling about in my head. Who is the baby? Is she my sister? Where is she now? Why don’t I know about her? I followed her up, thinking maybe I could just test the water.
    She was in her room, lying across the bed, her arm draped over her eyes. “Turn the light off, would you, love? I think I can feel one of my migraines coming on.” I stood by the door, my hand hovering over the switch. The questions seemed difficult suddenly, dangerous even.
    “Please, Becky, switch it off.” Mum propped herself up to see what I was doing. I opened my mouth but the words got jumbled up. I couldn’t figure out the right order, or how to make my voice work properly. “Why did you tell Mrs. Jackson that I can’t swim?” was all I managed in the end.
    Something flickered across her face. It was there and then it was gone. Fear, or guilt...I’m not sure. She lay back down, rolling over to face the wall. “I’m sorry,” she said after a bit. “I really am. We were talking the other day and it just slipped out.”
    “ Mum! You know I never tell anyone. ”
    “I’ll make it up to you, Becky,” she mumbled, her voice full of sleep. “Honest.”
    I switched off the light and closed her door. I couldn’t ask her about the photo. Not right then.
    I found it much harder to fall asleep than Mum. I lay there in the heat, with my eyes closed tight, trying to picture my dad on the doorstep, but something was bugging me. I went through everything that had happened since last night: finding the photo, the mystery note, Mrs. Jackson’s comment about the lake, meeting Rosa May. I retraced every moment since I found the box hidden under Mum’s bed, but I still couldn’t grasp what it was. It was like the new puzzle – except the pieces didn’t quite fit together. And then, just as I was drifting off to sleep, it came to me.
    It was what Rosa May said at the Butterfly Garden when I showed her the note.
    You mean you’ve come here to meet someone you don’t even know? That’s what she’d said when we were talking about Mack. I flicked on my light, fished the note out of my jeans pocket and smoothed it out in front of me on the bed.
    Meet me at the Butterfly Garden – any time after eleven this morning.
    It wasn’t from Mack, he was away camping. But there was one other person from Oakbridge who might want to meet me. One other person who I didn’t know, except in my dreams.
    My heart started to thump.
    It suddenly made perfect sense.
    The note had to be from my dad.

I only know three things about my dad. I was bugging Mum about him on my seventh birthday and in a weak moment she said, “His name is Ben, he’s very tall, and he’s a conservationist.” I didn’t know what conservationist meant – I couldn’t even say it properly then – but in the dictionary it said, Someone who works to protect the environment from destruction or pollution . I remember thinking that was really cool, like he was a superhero or something, off saving the rainforests or making sure that white tigers didn’t become extinct.
    That was enough for me for a while. I raced