Eva and the Hidden Diary Read Online Free PDF Page A

said. ‘It was just like the camping trips we used to have years ago, before he went to live in London.’
    ‘I’m glad,’ I said. ‘I know Zoe is great, but it’s probably good for you and your dad to have time together too.’
    ‘Oh yeah – speaking of Zoe. You asked me yesterday if she could sing, but you ran off before I could finish answering you.’
    ‘Did I?’ I asked, trying not to look guilty. ‘What were you going to say?’
    ‘I was going to say that she’s a really bad singer.’
    ‘But you said that she sings Simon to sleep every night.’
    Kate laughed. ‘She does – and within seconds of her opening her mouth, Simon closes his eyes. Dad and I joke about it when Zoe’s not listening. We think Simon just pretends to be asleep, so Zoe will be quiet.’
    I remembered what Simon had done the day before. The poor little kid had been pretending to be asleep!
    ‘Zoe’s so bad it’s almost funny,’ continued Kate. ‘But why were you asking about her and singing?’
    ‘Oh, you know,’ I said as vaguely as I could. ‘I was just wondering.’

    That night, I saw Daisy’s diary on the table next to my bed.
    ‘I’m sorry, Daisy,’ I whispered. ‘I almost forgot about you, I was so busy trying to fix up a job for Zoe.’
    I don’t usually talk to diaries, but I couldn’t help it. In a weird way, I felt like Daisy was my friend, like she was talking to me, like she wanted me to know her story.
    As I picked up the diary, something fell out and slid across the floor. I had to jump out ofbed and almost crawl under the wardrobe to find it. It was an ancient old black and white photograph of a man and a woman, and a girl with a big floppy ribbon in her curly hair. The girl was pretty, with huge dark, laughing eyes. All three were holding hands. They looked happy.
    I turned the photograph over. There was writing on the back –
    Jean-Marc, Florrie and Daisy Lavelle. April 1947
    ‘Daisy,’ I sighed. ‘Whatever happened to you? Where did you go to? And why?’
    I looked at the photograph for a long time, and then I picked up the diary and settled down to read.

    ‘Eva! It’s the middle of the night. Why is your light still on?’
    It was dad, and he was cross – until he looked at me properly. Then he ran over to my bed.
    ‘What is it, my darling?’ he asked. ‘Why are you crying?’
    He handed me a tissue, but it wasn’t enough for the streams of tears that were rolling down my face. Dad hugged me for a long time, and didn’t seem to mind that his favourite t-shirt was getting all gross and soggy.
    ‘Tell me, Eva,’ he said, when I’d recovered a bit. ‘Tell me what’s happened.’
    So I wiped my eyes on my sheet, took a deep breath and told him what I’d discovered.
    Telling Daisy’s story felt kind of strange, since it had all happened so many years ago, but once I started, I couldn’t stop. When I was finished, Dad hugged me again.
    ‘That’s a really sad story, Eva,’ he said. ‘But for all you know, things might have been fine in the end. Try not to worry about the poor girl.’
    ‘OK, Dad. I’ll try that,’ I said as he pulled the covers over me and I snuggled down to sleep.
    Then I spent the rest of the night lying awake and worrying about Daisy.

Chapter Seven
    W hen I called over to Kate’s place the next morning, it was so early that she was still in bed. While her dad went up to get her, I chatted to Zoe, and played with Simon, who luckily didn’t seem to have any lasting bad effects from Zoe’s disastrous singing exploits.
    When Kate came downstairs, she was dressed, but her hair was all messy and she was rubbing her eyes.
    ‘This had better be important, Eva,’ she said. ‘I need all the beauty sleep I can get.’
    ‘It
is
important,’ I said. ‘Really important. Now, do you want to go to Jeremy, and I’ll tellyou all about it?’
    We were headed for the door, when Kate’s dad called her back. ‘You’re not going anywhere without breakfast, young