Paws and Whiskers Read Online Free PDF Page A

flat’s pretty cramped and we’re having to make do with grotty old carpets and curtains for the moment, and I haven’t even got my own bedroom. Julie’s bedroom is brilliant, a beautiful deep purple, with silver cushions in the shape of stars, and shelves all round two walls (but she hasn’t got as many Jenna Williams books as I have!). Julie wasn’t a bit sniffy about anything though, and she liked my mum and, weirdly, she
adored
Jumbo. I was scared he was being a bit of a pain, hanging around us and nattering away nineteen to the dozen, but Julie seemed to find him really funny.
    ‘You’re so lucky having a little brother,’ she said.
    ‘You’re so lucky having a little dog,’ I said. ‘I’ll doa swap if you like. I’ll have Bobo and you can have Jumbo.’
    The only awkward moment was when we were sitting near my computer.
    ‘Shall I just show you my Jenna Williams emails?’ I said hopefully.
    Julie sighed. ‘Oh, Leonie!’ she said, frowning.
    I decided it might be better not to pursue things. Julie was clearly never going to believe me – and it was really all my own fault.
    But wonderfully, it really was true. I had yet another email from Jenna Williams on Friday, the day before her big event in London.
    Dear Leonie,
    I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. I’ve reserved special seats for you at the theatre. Have you made a friend at your new school yet? If so, do feel free to bring her along to keep you company.
    Love from Granny
    I
loved
it that she was still calling herself my granny! And now I could bring a friend! I rang Julie straight away. I didn’t say Jenna Williams had specially invited me. I was sure she still wouldn’t believe me.
    ‘We’ve got special tickets to go to a Jenna Williams talk tomorrow, Julie. Can you come with us? Oh, I do hope you’ll say yes!’ I said.
    Julie wasn’t very sure at first, because she usually went to dancing class on Saturday – but she did get excited at the idea of hearing Jenna Williams talk.
    ‘You really truly have tickets, Leonie?’ she asked cautiously.
    ‘Really truly, I promise,’ I said.
    ‘Then OK, yes please!’ said Julie.
    So we went to pick her up on Saturday morning, Mum and Jumbo and me, and then we all got the train to London. Jumbo was wild with excitement because he loves trains, and he kept tapping on the carriage window and shrieking, ‘Look, there’s a
train
!’ whenever he saw one. He saw one all too frequently, and even Julie was a bit sick of him by the time we got to Waterloo. Then we went to a big building on the South Bank – and when we got inside, we saw a great long queue, all the way up the stairs, of girls waiting to see Jenna Williams.
    ‘Oh goodness, look at all those girls!’ said Julie. ‘Come on, we’d better find the end of the queue.’
    ‘We don’t have to wait, do we, Mum?’ I said.
    ‘Apparently not,’ said Mum, and she had a wordwith one of the ushers in charge of the queue.
    ‘Oh, yes, so you’re Leonie!’ said the usher. ‘Jenna told me to look out for you. Come this way. She’s in the Green Room signing some books.’
    Julie was watching with her mouth open. ‘You actually
do
know Jenna Williams!’ she gasped. ‘Oh my goodness, is she
really
your granny?’
    ‘No, not really – but she signed herself Granny on her email, honestly,’ I said. ‘Oh heavens, my tummy’s gone all funny! I’m really going to meet her!’
    ‘I feel a bit wobbly too!’ said Julie. ‘I’m scared!’
    ‘Harry and I think you two are daft,’ said Jumbo. ‘Jenna Williams is just a boring lady who writes books with lots of words. There are no pictures of trains in any of them.’
    Julie and I raised our eyebrows at each other. Then we were ushered into a side room, and we felt so weird we actually held hands, clinging to each other. There was Jenna Williams sitting in a corner, signing a huge pile of books. It really was the actual Jenna Williams with her short hair and her earrings and