Butterfly Summer Read Online Free PDF Page B

into my lungs. “Are you sure it was only three-and-a-half? It felt more like ten to me.”
    “ Ten? I’d be dead if it was ten! Why don’t you come in with me?” She grabbed my arm. “Come on, it’s so refreshing. We could time each other.”
    I yanked my arm away and sat down. “I don’t want to right now. Anyway, I thought you were going to tell me about the Silver-studded Blue, remember?”
    She flopped down next to me on the grass. “I’m so happy you’re here. I was sure you’d forget or find something better to do.”
    “Of course I wouldn’t forget – but stop changing the subject! You promised you’d tell me, and the old lady in the shop mentioned it as well. So what is it? A butterfly?”
    “Not any old butterfly,” she said dramatically. “The Silver-studded Blue is the rarest butterfly in the Garden. It only lives for two months a year, July and August.”
    “So you mean we might find one this summer?”
    “We might, but we’d have to be very lucky.” She lay back in the grass, spreading her wet hair out behind her. “There’s a story about the Silver-studded Blue. I don’t know if you’d call it a rumour or an old wives’ tale. Some people say it’s an ancient myth.”
    I lay down next to her and we rolled in to face each other. Up close, she was so vivid I had to close my eyes for a second.
    “What is it? What do they say?”
    “They say that if you spot the first Silver-studded Blue of the summer then the person you love the most is on their way to see you. But...” She paused, looking serious for a moment. “If it lands on your shoulder, then that person has come to say goodbye for ever.”
    My eyes widened. “No way! Has anyone spotted one yet this year?”
    She sat up suddenly, staring out across the lake. “Not here at this Garden. I’ve been searching for years, every summer.”
    “Let’s make it our mission then,” I said. “Let’s make a pact to spot the first Silver-studded Blue.”
    Rosa May laughed. “Yes, let’s make a pact. A special promise.” She held up her hands and we laced our fingers together so that it was impossible to see where her hands started and mine ended.
    “So who’s the person you love the most then, Becky?” she teased. “It’s not that boy Mack, is it?”
    “Don’t be silly. I haven’t even met him yet.” I thought about showing her the note again, explaining about my dad and how he might still be living in Oakbridge. That maybe he was on his way to see me. Say the whole theory out loud to see if it felt as real and logical as it had last night in bed – but I couldn’t.
    “We need to find out everything about the Silver-studded Blue,” I said instead. “Where they like to fly and which flowers they’re attracted to. I bet you know loads already, don’t you? Are they beautiful?”
    “Very,” said Rosa May. “Deep blue with delicate silver edging around their wings, and more fragile than you can imagine.”
    “Come on then, let’s get going straight away.” I pulled her up, excited. “Let’s cross the bridge and start at the back. I swear I saw a blue butterfly there yesterday, I think I took a photo of it...”
    Rosa May skipped ahead, giggling. “There are loads of blue butterflies, Becky – all different species. The Common Blue and the Small Blue for a start.”
    “How will we know if we see the Silver-studded Blue then?” I ran to catch up.
    She grabbed my hand, smiling mysteriously. “We just will. Trust me.”
    We spent the rest of the day searching for ants rather than butterflies. Rosa May explained that the female Silver-studded Blues always laid their eggs near to ants’ nests because the ants protected the butterfly eggs from predators. It was difficult to imagine how an ant could protect anything, but I really liked the idea of them keeping the eggs safe.
    We started on the other side of the bridge where it was shady, crawling about on all fours in the long grass. Every few minutes one of us