1
A Marvellous Surprise
Have you ever woken up one morning and felt like
everything has changed overnight? That's because it has.
Cecilia Hudson-Gray woke up on the morning of her
twelfth birthday to the gurgling sound of the radiators
coming on. It was a frosty March morning and the windows
wept with condensation as the heating kicked in to settle
the cold. Cecilia looked out of her window and was met
by two black eyes and a sharp black beak; she inhaled a
large sniff and pulled her quilt around her tightly. One for
sorrow she thought, remembering the first line of an old
nursery rhyme. She watched the brave bird poking about
on the window ledge, parading jauntily along like it was
performing a circus act. As the magpie dipped forwards
preparing for flight, Cecilia's brain also swooped into action
as it occurred to her that there might be presents waiting
downstairs! She leapt out of bed, her quilt flying out behind
her like a cape, and thudded through the house like a rumble
of thunder, followed by her sister, Hester, who must've heard
Storm Cecilia passing.
"Happy Birthday," chimed her parents as Cecilia wedged
herself in at the breakfast table.
"Thanks, guys!" she replied, pulling the sleeves of her
pyjama top over her hands like mittens, shielding them
from the chill of the morning and the heat of the hot cup
of sweet tea in front of her. She picked it up and blew on
it gently, tufts of steam rising off the surface.
"You'll stretch your sleeves and ruin your PJs doing
that, you know," her dad warned, planting an apparently
unwanted kiss on her mess of hair. Cecilia responded by
brushing away the invisible imprint of the kiss as her sister
entered the room.
Hester sidled up to Cecilia and whispered in her ear,
"Nappy turd-day!" and sat down, smiling smugly.
Cecilia put down her cup and began a mocking slowclap.
"Very funny. How long did it take you to come up
with that one... Fester?"
Hester refused a dignified response and stuck her finger
in her nose, then reached out to wipe the fruits of her labour
on Cecilia's arm.
"Daaaaad!" Cecilia wailed like a baby.
"Stop it, you two. Hester, it's not fair if you don't have
enough to go round!" their dad, Lyle, joked then returned
to making pancakes.
Meanwhile, the girls' mum--Alice--squirrelled away at
the crossword, nibbling the end of her pencil. "Drat!" she
exclaimed. "I've made a mistake!"
"You are a mistake," taunted Cecilia.
"Err, no! That's not a nice thing to say, missy. It might
be your birthday but that's no way to talk to ya' mum."
Her dad came rushing at her, brandishing a greasy spoon.
He held it up to Cecilia's chin, grinning from ear to ear.
"What have you done with my daughter?" he said playfully.
"And when are you planning on bringing her back?"
"Never!" Cecilia hissed dramatically, squeezing her eyes
into a villainous glare.
"Why, why, WHY!" Lyle broke down into a mock lamentation,
dramatically falling to his knees and reaching
his arms towards the sky, spoon falling to the floor, butter
dripping everywhere.
"You're such a doofus, Dad," Cecilia chuckled through
another sip of sweet tea.
"You're cleaning that up, by the way, Lyle," said Alice
without looking up from her crossword.
"No, I'm not," said Lyle. "Tatty to the rescue!" Tatty
was their cat and he hopped onto the floor quick as a flash
at the mention of his name. Lyle retrieved the spoon and
flung it into the sink, while Tatty licked the greasy patch
of kitchen floor. Lyle flipped the last pancake and plonked
it onto a pile he had already made.
"All right, all right, grub's up! Dig in, you scallies," said
Lyle as he put the pile of steaming hot pancakes in the
centre of the table. "Eat 'til your eyes are bulging out of
your head! We've got a long day."

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Excerpted from The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.