Esmerelda Smudge and the Magic Pepper Pot Page 13

theatre. And then on the screen, I see my beautiful Alice again, with a child. My child.” Esme let the Russian voice wrap around her and make her whole. She’d never wished for a dad until now.

  “I er I don’t know what to say. Um. I’m going to Borneo.”

  “Forever?!” Nicholai sounded distraught.

  “No, no, for a holiday,” Esme said quickly. “With Great Aunt Maud. Look, I have to go.” She passed the phone to Mum, then gripped her knees tightly with both hands.

  Mum talked quietly for a while longer before saying goodbye. Her face was pale, but her eyes shone. “He’s coming here,” she said in a voice Esme didn’t recognise. “To see me. One of his friends saw me on Dosh in the Loft and told him. Nicholai watched it on the internet and realised how much he missed me.”

  “He always was an idiot,” Maud said bluntly. Then her face softened. “I’m pleased for you, Alice. Come along, Esmerelda, time is ticking.”

  Esme shook away her foggy thoughts and leapt up to hug Mum. “Give him my love,” she whispered.

  Mum nodded. “I will.”

  With a last cuddle, Esme hurried from the room and into the waiting taxi. Whatever the future held, it was most certainly going to be an adventure.