Lola's Secret Read Online Free PDF Page A

wouldn’t pay for lunch in a motel, let alone a night or two. But they were so happy she didn’t have the heart to stop the fun yet.
    “Great,” she said brightly. “But we’ll use my money for the boring things like motel rooms and food, and your money for ice creams and chips only, okay?” They both clambered back up beside her, their little bodies pressed on either side. “Now, what are your ages again? I’ve forgotten.”
    “Six!” Belle said.
    “Eight!” said Chloe.
    “Which equals fourteen. Right, then. Let’s choose the fourteenth motel on this list. You both count for me.” Down they went, bypassing motels in Queensland, Tasmania, Melbourne, Mildura, down, down until they reached number fourteen. Holly nearly laughed. Some adventure. They’d chosen a motel less than two hours’ drive away. Still, she’d go along with it.
    “The Valley View Motel,” Belle read aloud. “Click on it, Holly.”
    “Click on it, Holly,” Chloe echoed.
    Up came the motel website. “There’s a pool!” Belle said. There was, only a small one, but it looked blue and inviting. The photos of the interior showed a brightly lit function room and a cheerful dining room.
    “What would we have for our Christmas lunch?” Belle asked. Belle was very interested in food. She’d told Holly that when she grew up she was going to open a chain of bakeries called Belle’s Buns. Holly had found it hard not to smile.
    Holly clicked on the sample menu and read it aloud.
    “Yum,” Belle said, sighing at every description.
    “I hate prawns,” Chloe said, looking worried.
    “I’m sure you could have something else. Vegemite on toast, maybe?”
    “On Christmas Day? No way!”
    “That’s a poem,” Belle said. “On Christmas Day, no way, hooray!”
    The two girls laughed. Chloe pointed to the screen. “Is that where you book? Go on, Holly, please.”
    Holly couldn’t stop their fun yet. She scanned the website. There was a Christmas special on offer, three nights’ accommodation and a Christmas lunch. She’d send off an email and then later tell the girls that she was sorry, the motel was so good it was already booked out, but they’d have a pretend motel themselves here on Christmas Day. She’d set it all up herself, with a little counter for them to check in at. She’d make up their twin beds to look identical like they would in a motel. She’d even pretend to be their waitress and cleaner if she had to …
    She filled out the online form. “They’ll probably give us a family room,” she said, now wishing it was all for real. “With a big TV. And a big bed for me and tiny beds in cardboard boxes for you two.”
    “I’m not sleeping in a cardboard box,” Belle said. “Chloe and I are going to sleep in the big bed with you.”
    “Maybe Mum and Dad can sleep in the cardboard boxes,” Chloe said. “But only if they’ve stopped fighting and we’ve told them they’re allowed to come. It’s a secret till then, anyway, isn’t it, Holly?”
    “It sure is,” Holly said. “Now, who’ll press Send?”
    Both girls did, their fingers on the mouse together.
    “Right,” Holly said, standing up. Her sisters slid off the seat beside her. “Enough computer for today. Homework time.”
    Holly was in her bedroom helping Belle with her reading ten minutes later when Chloe came running in. The fighting had stopped in the living room. Now there was just something that felt like a cloud of hostility and anger in the house, like a fog leaking into corners. Holly smiled at the funny expression on her little sister’s face. Her cheeks were red, her eyes were wide, and yet her mouth was clamped tight. “What’s up, Chloe?”
    She said something but with her hand over her mouth.
    “Chloe? What is it? Good or bad?”
    “Something on the computer,” Chloe said, in a whisper. “Holly, hurry. Come and look.”
    Holly followed her, puzzled, with Belle close behind.
    Chloe had already opened the email that had come in. The