Lizzie Zipmouth

  J a k e started messing about with his meal too. Sam told him off.

  "It's not fair! Lizzie Zipmouth isn't eating hers properly."

  "I've told you and told you not to call Lizzie silly names," said Sam. "Eat up at once, J a k e ! "

  "And you eat up too, Lizzie," said M u m .

  I zipped my lips shut tight.

  "She's a silly baby," said J a k e , dropping his forkful of potato onto his plate so that gravy splashed all over M u m .

  "You're both silly babies," said M u m . "Oh dear, look at my white shirt! And I wanted to look extra 30

  smart to meet your grandma, S a m . "

  We were going to have tea with

  this old, old lady. If she w a s Sam's grandma she was Rory and Jake's great-gran.

  "So does that mean she's Lizzie's sort-of step-great-gran?" said Rory.

  I've never had my own great-gran.

  I've got a granny at the seaside and a gran and grandpa in Scotland but I don't see any of them very often. I didn't want to see this sort-of step-great-gran either.

  31

  " M y m u m and dad live in Australia," said Sam. "So Great-Gran is very special for me."

  He said it as if special meant scary!

  "She's OK, I suppose. But she's very strict," said Rory. "She tells me off if I talk in a slang sort of w a y . She says it sounds sloppy."

  "She says I look sloppy," said J a k e .

  "She's always licking her hankie and wiping my face. Yuck! I hate that."

  I didn't want this old lady telling me off and wiping me. I looked at M u m . M u m looked as if she was worried about being told off and wiped too.

  Great-Gran lived in a big block of flats. I hoped she might live right up at the top but she lived on the ground floor. Sam said it was to save her legs.

  I wondered if they were wearing out.

  Perhaps they were about to snap off 32

  at the socket like an old doll.

  Great-Gran looked a bit like an old doll. This strange stiff little lady came to the door. She had very black hair combed so tightly into place it made her eyes pop. She creaked when she bent to hug Rory and Jake. She didn't hug me. She just looked me up and down. She looked M u m up and down too.

  "It's lovely to meet you," said M u m .

  33

  Great-Gran didn't look as if she thought it w a s lovely at all.

  "Say hello to Rory and Jake's great-gran, Lizzie," said Mum, though she knew I wouldn't.

  And I didn't. I stared at the

  doormat. It said WELCOME. The

  doormat w a s telling fibs.

  Great-Gran tutted. "Well, you'd better come in," she said.

  M u m held my hand tight and we stepped inside.

  "Dear, dear! Wipe your feet! Watch my beige carpet," Great-Gran fussed.

  But I wasn't watching her carpet. I w a s staring all round the walls in a daze. Hundreds of shining eyes were staring back at me!

  34

  Chapter Four

  Dolls! Old china dolls in cream frocks and pinafores and little button boots, soft plush dolls with rosy cheeks and curls, baby dolls in long white christening robes, lady dolls with tiny umbrellas and high heels, a Japanese doll in a kimono with a weeny fan, dolls in school uniform and swimming costumes and party frocks, great dolls 35

  as big as me sitting in real wicker chairs, middle-sized dolls in row after row on shelves, and tiny dolls no bigger than my thumb standing in their own green painted garden beside a doll's house.

  "Great-Gran collects dolls," said Rory unnecessarily.

  "She doesn't collect Beanie Babies,"

  said J a k e . "Not even the rare ones."

  S a m patted my shoulder. "Are you cold, Lizzie? You're shivering!" he said.

  "Lizzie likes dolls," said M u m .

  "Well, I'm sure Gran won't mind her having a look at them," said Sam

  – though he didn't sound sure at all.

  "She can look, but she mustn't touch," said Great-Gran.

  I put my hands behind my back to show her I wouldn't touch even one tiny china hand.

  "These are collector's dolls," said 36

  Great-Gran. "They're not for children."

  I nodded. I was very impressed. I thought I was too old for dolls but Great-Gran was very old indeed and she had hundreds. I knew exactly w h a t I was going to be when I grew up. A doll collector!

  I wandered very slowly and

  carefully round Great-Gran's flat.

  There were dolls on shelves all the w a y round her living room. She even had three special ballet dancer dolls on tippy-toes on top of her television set. She had a row of funny dolls with 37

  fat tummies on her kitchen window sill and a mermaid doll with a long shiny green tail in the bathroom. The dolls in her bedroom were all wearing their night-clothes, white nighties with pink ribbon trimming and blue-and-white striped pyjamas and soft red dressing-gowns with cords and tassels and little slippers with tiny pom-poms.

  "Well? W h a t do you think of them?"

  said Great-Gran, walking along briskly behind me.

  I didn't say anything. But I must have had the right look on my face because Great-Gran gave me a little nod.

  "I'd better go and put the kettle on,"

  she said. "They won't have thought to do it, the gormless lot."

  I gave the littlest doll one last lingering glance. Her plaits were tied with tiny pink ribbons and she was 38

  holding a little pink rabbit no bigger than a button.

  "I suppose you can stay in here looking," she said. "But only if you promise you won't touch."

  I did my pantomime of hands

  behind my back. But this wasn't good enough.

  "Promise me, " said Great-Gran.

  I didn't say anything but I tried so hard to make my face look as if I was promising that my eyes watered.

  39

  Great-Gran's eyes were a very

  bright blue even though she was such an old lady. They grew even brighter now.

  "I can't hear you," she said. She cupped her little claw hand behind her ear. "Speak up!"

  We looked at each other. I knew w h a t she was up to. And she knew that I knew. We looked and looked and looked at each other.

  "So you're not going to promise?"

  said Great-Gran. "Come on then, out of the bedroom this instant."

  I looked at her pleadingly.

  "What's the matter?" said Great-Gran. "Why can't you promise?"

  I shook my head helplessly.

  "Can't you talk?" said Great-Gran.

  I shook my head.

  "Of course you can talk if you really want to!" said Great-Gran.

  40

  "Open your mouth!"

  She said it so fiercely I opened my mouth automatically.

  "Aha!" said Great-

  Gran. "There! You've

  got a tongue in

  your head after all.

  And two rows of

  shiny teeth. So use

  them, please, M a d a m . Now!"

  My tongue and my

  teeth started

  working all by

  themselves. "I

  promise!" I

  whispered.

  Great-Gran smiled

  triumphantly. All

  the dolls in her

  bedroom

  seemed to be

  smiling too.

  41

  M u m called out to me from the other room. I zipped my mouth shut again.

  "Don't worry," said Great-Gran.

  "I won't tell the others."

  She put her finger to her lips. I put my finger to my lips.

  "You're a caution, you are," said Great-Gran. "I'm pleased you like my dolls. You can come and visit me again. I have some more dolls stored in trunks. I might let you play with those dolls if you're a very, very good girl."

  42

  Chapter Five

  I was sometimes a very, very bad girl at M u m
and Sam's place. I'd been a good girl with my first stepdad. They weren't going to catch me out again.

  Sam couldn't fool me. He'd turn out to be mean and scary like my first stepdad. M a y b e he'd even be worse. So, if S a m did the cooking I wouldn't eat any of it, even if it was one of my favourites, like pizza. If S a m chose a video I turned my chair round and 43

  wouldn't watch it, even when it was Little Women or Black Beauty or The Secret Garden. If S a m bought us ice -

  creams when we were out I wouldn't eat mine – not even when it was one of those big whippy

  ice-creams with

  strawberry sauce

  and a chocolate

  flake. My mouth

  watered but I didn't

  even have one lick.

  The ice-cream

  melted and dripped down inside my sleeve.

  "Honestly, Lizzie, why do you have to be so silly?" said M u m , sighing as she threw my ice-cream into the gutter.

  S a m sighed too. I was sure he w a s going to shout at me this time. But he didn't.

  44

  He asked me if I'd like to go over and see Great-Gran a g a i n .

  "Oh, Dad! Do we have to?" said Rory. "I thought we only saw Great-Gran on Sundays."

  " W e can't play properly at Great-Gran's. There's nothing to do," said J a k e .

  "This is a special invitation for Lizzie," said Sam. "Shall I drive you over there after tea?"

  I didn't know what to do. I wanted to go and see Great-Gran and her dolls very, very much. But I didn't want S a m to take me. I looked at M u m .

  45

  "I can't drive Sam's car, Lizzie," she said.

  I still looked at her.

  "I can't come too. I have to stay here to keep an eye on Rory and J a k e , " said M u m .

  I looked at M u m . I looked at Sam.

  "Coming, Lizzie?" said Sam.

  I didn't say anything. I just gave a little nod.

  S a m had to strap me into the

  seatbelt in the back of the car.

  "Comfy?" he said.

  I gave another teeny jerk of the head.

  S a m played music as we drove, silly old children's songs about pink toothbrushes and mice with clogs and circus elephants. S a m sang them all.

  "Feel free to join in," he said.

  I didn't sing. But my dangling feet did a little secret dance as S a m sang a 46

  song about a tiny house in a place with a very, very long funny name.

  Sam took me into Great-Gran's flat but he didn't stay. He said he'd come back for me in an hour.

  "She'll probably be bored in ten minutes," said Great-Gran.

  I wasn't the slightest bit bored. I had the most wonderful time ever.

  Great-Gran let me go on another tour round her flat. I looked at the dolls on shelves, the dolls on chairs, the dolls on the window sills, the dolls in their night-clothes ready for bed. Then I looked hopefully at Great-Gran. She looked back at me.

  47

  " W h a t ? " she said. Her eyes were gleaming as brightly as the dolls.

  I swallowed. My voice sounded

  rusty when I used it.

  "Could I see the dolls in the trunk?" I whispered.

  "Speak up!" said Great-Gran. "And remember to say please!"

  "Please could I see the dolls in the trunk. Please," I said, so loudly that I nearly set the dolls on the shelves blinking.

  "Certainly," said Great-Gran.

  "That's a very good girl! Come along then. You can help me get them out."

  48

  She kept the trunks in the back of her built-in wardrobe. There were two, one on top of the other. I had to stand on tiptoe to reach the top one.

  "Easy does it," said Great-Gran.

  I went so e-a-s-y I felt I was in slow motion. The trunk was heavy. There seemed to be several dolls inside.

  W h e n Great-Gran lifted the lid I saw them lying in a row, eyes shut. They looked as if they were fast asleep.

  "You can w a k e them up," said Great-Gran.

  49

  I gently lifted a beautiful big doll with long blonde hair out of the trunk.

  She had a white

  nightie but no

  slippers on her pale

  china feet. Her tiny

  toenails were

  painted pink. One

  of her hands was

  missing but I didn't

  mind a bit.

  "She's beautiful!" I

  whispered, cradling her carefully.

  "That's Alice. I expect she's a little chilly in that thin nightgown. Perhaps you'd like to find some clothes for her?" said Great-Gran.

  The second trunk was crammed

  with neatly folded outfits – party frocks, winter coats trimmed with fur, sailor suits, checked pinafores, 50

  lace-edged underwear, black knitted stockings and little boots with tiny pearl buttons.

  My hand hovered hopefully above the clothes.

  "Go on, have a little sort through.

  But don't get them rumpled," said Great-Gran.

  I sifted through the clothes with trembling fingers and found a pale blue smocked dress with a white lace collar and a darker blue satin sash.

  " C a n she w e a r this one?"

  "I think that's actually Alice's favourite outfit," said Great-Gran.

  I dressed Alice, moving her arms and legs very gently indeed. The blue sleeves were a little long for her, so her missing hand didn't show. She looked perfect.

  Then I woke Sophie and Charlotte and little Edward and weeny

  51

  Clementine and got them all dressed up.

  "There! Don't they look smart? All ready for a party," said Great-Gran, and she opened another box. There was a little blue-and-white doll's tea set inside.

  I thought we'd pretend the party fare but Great-Gran made real pink rosehip tea and opened a packet of tiny round iced biscuits that

  just fitted the

  plate.

  52

  We were still enjoying our party when S a m came to fetch me home.

  "Have you enjoyed yourself, Lizzie?" he asked.

  I didn't say anything. Not to Sam.

  But I nodded so hard my head hurt.

  W h e n I kissed Great-Gran goodbye on her powdery cheek I whispered,

  "Please can I come a g a i n ? "

  53

  Chapter Six

  I went to see Great-Gran almost every day. I always played with Alice and Sophie and Charlotte and Edward and Clementine. Sometimes we had dolls' tea parties. Sometimes Great-Gran and I had proper ladies' tea parties with big flowery cups and saucers and sandwiches and fairy cakes with pink icing and cherries.

  Great-Gran let me cut up my

  sandwich and cake to share with Alice and Sophie and Charlotte and

  Edward and Clementine.

  54

  Once Rory and J a k e came too.

  Rory was polite to Great-Gran but he kept yawning a n d when he got home he ran all round the garden like crazy, leaping and whooping.

  "It's great to be back! It's so b-o-r-i-n-g at Great-Gran's!" he yelled.

  S a m said he could stick to Sunday visits.

  "What about you, Jake?" said Sam.

  55

  "I don't know," said J a k e . "I don't like the dolls much. But I quite like the tea party. I might want to take all my Beanie Babies."

  I frowned. J a k e didn't play with his Beanie Babies properly. He got all silly and excited and threw them in the air and made them have fights. I was sure they'd knock the teacups over. Great-Gran would put Alice and Sophie and Charlotte and Edward and

  Clementine back in their trunk

  sharpish.

  S a m put his arm round M u m .

  "I take it you're not into dolls and tea parties either?"

  "No w a y ! Though I'm ever so glad Lizzie gets on so well with your gran.

  I'm a bit scared of her!" said Mum, giggling.

  "Don't worry,
she terrifies me!"

  said Sam.

  56

  "She can be seriously scary," said Rory.

  "She's so frowny," said J a k e .

  "Well, I like her," I said.

  They all looked at me.

  "Lizzie spoke!" said Rory.

  "Lizzie unzipped!" said J a k e .

  57

  M u m and S a m were smiling all over their faces. I smiled back. Then I skipped into my bright bedroom to get my knitting. I was making a teeny blue scarf for Alice. Great-Gran had taught me how to knit. She taught J a k e too. J a k e said he was going to m a k e thirteen rainbow-striped scarves, one for each of his Beanie Babies, but he'd only done five rows of the first scarf so far. I'd nearly finished mine, but I seemed to have dropped several stitches somewhere. I needed to see Great-Gran to ask her to fix it.

  58

  We were going to see her on

  Sunday, the whole family. But on Friday night there was a phone call. It woke me up. I heard S a m on the phone. He sounded very worried.

  W h e n I peeped out of my bedroom I saw his face was crumpled up the w a y J a k e looks when he's about to cry.

  "Oh dear, Lizzie, something very sad has happened," said Sam, coming up the stairs. He put his arm round me. "It's poor Great-Gran."

  "Is she dead?" I said, shivering.

  "No, she's not dead, pet, but she's very ill. She's had a stroke. She can't walk or talk properly. She's in hospital. I'm going to see her now."

  "I'm coming too!"

  "No, love, not now. It's much too late. Look, you're shivering. You hop into bed with M u m while I go to the hospital."

  59

  M u m cuddled me close and told me to try to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. I kept thinking of Great-Gran lying on her back in a hospital bed unable to w a l k or talk, just like one of the dolls in the trunk.

  60

  Chapter Seven

  S a m stayed at the hospital most of Saturday. M u m took Rory and J a k e and me to football. It w a s a great g a m e and our team scored. Rory and J a k e jumped up and down and yelled and then remembered and drooped back in their seats, looking guilty.

  61

  "It's OK, boys," said M u m , putting her arms round them. "We can be sad about poor Great-Gran and happy about football too. Great-Gran