Page 62 of The Gingerbread Cafe
Amber guided Gretel back to the sofa, gave Angel Gabriel a quick fuss, then climbed across the mess of the maisonette to the pokey excuse for a kitchen in the corner of the living room. She clattered around like a girl on a mission, any earlier awkwardness thrown aside in honour of the emergency cheer-up situation. When she handed Gretel hot tea and plonked herself down on the saggy couch next to her, Gretel just wanted to sob with relief at having a trusted human close. She’d scarcely realised the extent of her loneliness until that moment.
‘Wanna talk?’ Amber asked. She manoeuvred herself into a cross-legged position facing Gretel and released the half packet of Ginger Nuts she’d been clenching under her arm.
And for the first time since for ever, Gretel actually did. Between tears and bargain biscuits, she shared some of the less private events of the last few days with Amber, and Amber soothed and got outraged for Gretel in all the right places.
Then Amber cleared her throat. ‘Look, I’ve got some confessions to make and you’re probably going to kick my arse about some of this. But hear me out.’
On the TV, little Kevin applied aftershave to his delicate face and let out a scream.
‘You’re still at school, aren’t you?’ Gretel knew she might as well dive straight in.
‘Erm, yeah.’ Was Amber blushing?
‘Shit, Amber. Shouldn’t you have been in lessons most days? You let me think your black and white outfit meant you were a waitress! You could have told me the truth.’
Amber exhaled sharply, her body sagging like the sorry brown couch. ‘The truth being that I’m sixteen and I should have been yawning my face off in some dumb Business Studies class? Yeah, because that would have gone down well.’ She looked up meekly.
‘So you don’t like school?’
Amber picked her nails. ‘It wasn’t just the classes that were bothering me.’
Gretel blinked a few times as she tried to compute. Amber was avoiding her gaze now, her usual bolshiness slipping as though she was letting Gretel in.
‘The other students?’ Gretel asked softly. She almost couldn’t imagine anything fazing Amber, and yet she was still so young in the scheme of things. Nearly the same tender age Gretel had been when she’d lost her family. That terrifying point when you’re stuck between childhood and becoming a woman and you’re not really sure who you’re meant to be.
Amber nodded, her eyes still firmly fixed on the black nail varnish she was now scratching off. ‘Yeah. School has never been great, because, you know.’ She gave a small smile and waved her hand around herself. ‘It’s not easy when you dare to be different. But over the past couple of years there have been a few girls …’ Amber’s voice caught and she stopped, as though she didn’t have the words.
‘Who’ve made it extra hard for you?’ Gretel finished, grabbing her and squeezing her tight. Her heart felt like it would sink right down to the core of the earth.
‘Look, seriously, I’m on top of it now. My sister came in to school to report it with me earlier this week. And man, people don’t want to mess with my sister.’ She gave a small laugh.
‘Your sister?’ Gretel asked. ‘You’ve never mentioned her. Or any of your family, to be fair. You’ve always avoided my questions.’
‘Yeah, that’s the second thing. And you’re not going to like it.’ She paused, as though working out the best way to break it. Was that a tarantula crawling across the TV screen? ‘My surname’s Whimple.’
Gretel’s mouth dropped open. ‘As in …Whimple?’ Seriously? She gulped in a deep breath. Part of her wanted to kick and scream and make an almighty fuss. What was it with people lying to her? And why did it invariably link back to that swingy bobbed monster? But she could see from Amber’s contorted face that she was suffering enough. ‘So Francesca is your sister?’ Well, it explained some of the ducking and diving. She guessed Francesca would go mad to hear of her sister skiving school to support The Gingerbread Café, and Lukas must know Amber is a Whimple too, if he and Francesca wentway back.
Amber nodded.
‘I won’t even ask why you didn’t tell me that.’
‘I know, I know.’ Amber jumped up and began tidying messy plates, as though they were still in the café. ‘I’ve always hated her too. More than most people. My brothers and dad are no better. But that’s not the worst of it.’
Gretel exhaled sharply. What could be worse than all of that? Even Angel Gabriel had gone into hiding. ‘Go on.’
‘Francesca saw me at the fair. She’d had no idea I was hanging around in Mistleton and supporting you all. She wasfuming. But I hadn’t even seen her arrive. When I popped to the loo and left Angel Gabriel with Bea’s son, Xander …’
Gretel stood up swiftly, cold tea and biscuit crumbs flying. ‘She took those photos of him in the kitchen and all over the gingerbread village, didn’t she?’
Amber grabbed a cleaning cloth, her eyes wide. ‘I’m so sorry. She staged and edited the photos then passed them to the papers with a fake story, before reporting you to some bloke she knows at the Environmental Health Department. I had no idea until last night when I overheard her bragging about it to Dad. She’s desperate to buy out the café to try and impress him. It’s actually pretty sad.’
‘But Lukas wants to sell it to her anyway?’
Amber looked blank. ‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘I overheard him talking to her.’
Amber tried to scrub tea from Gretel’s elf dress. ‘Look, I can ask her. Let me try and sort all of this out. I feel terrible. I swear, I’ve always been on your side and I only hid the truth because I couldn’t stand people knowing I’m related to her. I knew I’d be rejected if I did, and I hate what the family business does.’
