Almost Home

Chapter One

'I'm going to be the next Sir Francis Drake,' I exclaim, whilst kicking my legs out to get more height on my rope swing.

'Who?' Tom, my brother asks from the tree above, hidden by the branches.

'He was an explorer in the olden days. Mr Hexley said he was born near here. He sailed across the world in a massive ship.'

We'd been learning about the world and explorers in school today and I thought it all sounded pretty adventurous. Seeing all the different countries and finding treasure sounded much more exciting than my other dream of being a rock star, and I just couldn't get to grips with the guitar I'd asked mum to buy me.

'You can't swim!'

'I didn't say I was going to swim around the world, did I?' I could feel myself getting defensive, I knew what was about to happen.

'I thought you wanted to be a police officer, Em?'

I knew I shouldn't have told Tom about that one. A police officer had come to our school to do a talk last month and he'd made it all sound so exciting. I knew this was what I was going to be when I grew up, telling Tom that I was going to arrest him every time he annoyed me. However, as we sat eating dinner that night mum put The Bill on and I was horrified, it didn't look fun at all. There was running and shouting, car chases and angry people screaming and as I looked across the room Tom was smirking at me, victorious.

And that was the end of that dream, however short-lived it was.

'Last year you said you wanted to be a movie star until you got up on stage, forgot your words and started crying!' Jamie, my brothers best friend pipes up, causing Tom to laugh so hard he had to grab the nearest branch to stop himself falling out of the tree. 'Mrs Blake had to come and grab you off the stage. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen!'

I thought back to last winter when I was adamant I wanted to do the school play. I was playing Martha Cratchit in a Christmas Carol and I'd learnt all my words perfectly, so excited to show everyone my acting debut. But when I'd stepped out on stage and saw Tom and Jamie nudging each other and whispering on the front row, all my lines left my head and I'd stood there in silence, full of terror. Mum was manically mouthing the words beside them, trying to help me to remember but because of the bright lights I couldn't see what she was saying and as I looked around, all I could see were eyes on me. I remember being frantic trying to think of something to say, anything that would cover my forgetfulness, but nothing came to mind and it was only when Mrs Blake grabbed my hand and lead me off the stage, tears pouring down my face, was I was saved from any further humiliation.

Needless to say, I stuck to the other side of the stage after that, an avid audience member who clapped the loudest, amazed at how anyone would put themselves through it.

Of course, Tom and Jamie liked to re-enact the moment every time they passed me in the school corridors, until I told mum and she banned them from playing the PlayStation whenever Jamie came over to stay.

'How about when she tried making cupcakes after she watched that baking show but forgot about them and nearly set fire to the kitchen,' Tom adds with a grin, his eyes lighting up mischievously.

'Yeah I remember. Your mum was so mad, there were actual flames coming out of the oven. I thought she was going to be grounded for life.'

'Let me guess, next week you're going to be an astronaut.'

'She's scared of heights.'

I look over to Jamie and scowl at him, hoping to make him shut up but I knew they'd just gotten started.

He gleamed at me from our makeshift hideout and winked. 'Ghost hunter?'

'Time traveller...'

'Superhero...'

'Nah, she couldn't be a superhero, she's too lazy.'

It was always like this when we were together. Tom and Jamie were a team of two and I was the kid sister who had to tag along. They liked to tease me but they always let me stay with them. Living in a small town we were pretty much left to our own devices after school, finding our own entertainment, whether it was bike riding or hanging out in our favourite den in the woods behind our house. There was only two rules; we had to stick together and we had to be in before the street lights came on.

I ignored them. So what if I couldn't decide what I wanted to do when I was older. All I did know was that I wanted to see everything and meet everyone. In six years I'd be eighteen and old enough to go away on my own without Tom and Jamie irritating me.

So what if they thought it was all stupid. I was going to see the whole world one day.

I'll show them.