Forty

Maya hasn’t been at school. We’ve been back for three days and she hasn’t been there once! She might be poorly, I suppose. But, I don’t think she is, because today I asked Miss Price where she was.
‘Haven’t you spoken to her?’ Miss Price said.
‘No,’ I said. ‘She hasn’t called me, or anything. And she calls me a lot now. Most days. And I called her three times, but no-one was in.’
Miss Price frowned for a bit, like she was thinking. ‘Well, I hope Maya will be back soon. But she’s staying with her grandparents for a while. I’m sure she’ll ring you when she gets back.’
‘Is she on holiday?’ I asked – because we aren’t supposed to go on holiday when it isn’t the holidays, if you see what I mean.
‘No,’ Miss Price said. ‘It’s more respite than holiday, I think.’
‘What’s respite?’ I asked.
‘Rest. They’re all having a rest.’
‘Oh,’ I said. Because, really, what else could I say?

When I got home, I called Ben. I told him about Maya being away. And he said ‘Good.’
What?
Good!?
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It’s good, because now we can plan a tropical paradise for her and we won’t have to work so hard at keeping it secret.’
That made me feel better, because, somehow, it helps to be doing things when bad stuff is happening. So, we talked about what we’re going to do.

We’re going to turn the allotment into a tropical paradise for a day!
Ben says that everyone there will help. They’ll bring potted plants and exotic flowers from home. All we need to do is find the sand and the sea!