1
‘Mum! Mum! Guess what?’ Ruth yelled, bursting in the front door.
‘Whatever it is, it sounds like good news,’ her mum said, laughing. She put down the carrot she was peeling.
‘Remember that script I wrote for the English creative writing competition before Easter?’
‘The one about the pyramids and the pharaohs?’
‘Yes! Well, I won! I came first in the competition.’
‘Oh, well done, love.’ Mum gave her a big hug. ‘What’s the prize?’
‘It’s a book token, so we can choose. But even better, we’re going to perform my play at the end of term for some of the other classes. The end of the summer term is fun. Less academic work, more time for things like trips and community projects.’
‘And to put on a play.’
‘Yeah!’
‘What were the other entries like?’
‘There were some short stories, some poems and there was even a memoir. Jessica wrote about when she and her family went to visit relatives in Jamaica and her dad got mistaken for Usain Bolt, the Olympic sprinter! She
wouldn’t read it out, even though she’s got a lovely rich voice, so Mrs McKenzie read it. It was pretty good and we all clapped. Daniel came second. He wrote a story about the donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem before Jesus was born. He wrote it from the donkey’s point of view. It was really good.’
‘But yours was a poem, wasn’t it?’
‘Sort of. It was just rhyming verse and rap. I learned rap from Chris. I had to work it all out slowly but he could always rap spontaneously. He said it was because his stepdad came from the Caribbean – the land of rap.’
‘Yeah. He was a good friend. Such a pity his family moved away.’
‘Anyway, everyone in the class seemed to like my verse and rap. Lots of people wanted to be in it. We were allowed to spend the rest of the lesson planning it.’
‘What’s your part?’
‘Oh, I’m not going to act. I’m the director and narrator!’ She laughed and stood up tall. ‘I wrote stage directions, too. I imagined each character emerging from a pyramid! Might have to use some upturned, tilted tables or something.’
‘Or a lot of cardboard boxes!’
Ruth helped her mum to prepare vegetables and eventually they sat down to dinner. ‘Mr Nevis agreed to be Howard Carter. He says he’s got a suit like the ones those British explorers used to wear when they were searching for tombs. Kind of beige. Or khaki.’ She put her fork down and went to get the script from her school bag. ‘These are his lines:
My name’s Carter.
If you’re smarter
You’ll recognise me.
I searched, urged the diggers to
Merge and go bigger, to forge ahead and spread
out across the sand.
The sarcophagus, success for us!
King Tut’s grave with its treasure
Bringing pleasure to tourists and historians…
‘But then, King Tutankhamun interrupts him. Actually, the historical bit’s rubbish. I’ve got the dynasties all mixed up.’
‘Whatever would Mr Kuhlmann say? I guess all your teachers in your school in Egypt knew their history!’ Mum said it with a grin and a twinkle in her eye, but the mention of her favourite teacher in her previous school in Egypt always made Ruth a bit sad. Mum noticed. ‘Sorry, love. You still miss that school and all your friends, don’t you?’
‘Yes, especially Cami. But we’ve been here in Edinburgh more than two years. I’ve got friends here now.’ Both things were true. She had friends in Edinburgh, both at school and at Energise Youth Club, but she did still miss her international school in Egypt and her best friend, Camilla, whom she’d known all her life. But Ruth generally tried to be positive and not to discourage Mum. After all, Mum had lost friends, too.
Ruth continued, ‘I don’t think anyone here is bothered about the right order of the pharaohs! Anyway, in my play the pharaohs and their queens are trying to drum up support and votes. It’s a competition for who’s the most famous – who will be best remembered.’
‘That’ll be Tutankhamun, obviously.’
‘Yeah. Someone said Simon O’Neal in the parallel class should get that part ’cos he already looks like an Egyptian prince!’
‘And does he?’
‘Yes, he probably does. He’s tall and dark and I guess he’s good-looking, but no one likes him very much. He can be a bit mean. But anyway, the cast will be just our class.’
‘I imagine you’ve mentioned Rameses and Cleopatra…’
‘And Hatshepsut!’
‘But no one will remember her name!’
Ruth laughed. ‘I know. But do you remember when we visited the tombs of the kings, the tour guide said her name is like hot chicken soup?’
‘Yes,’ Mum agreed, smiling. ‘You’re right, so now we do remember it! Now, let me guess who wants to be Cleopatra… Lucy?’
‘Right first time!’
‘But she’s blonde, like you.’
‘I know, and she threatened to dye her hair black for the occasion!’
‘Hope she doesn’t go for a permanent colour. Anyway, she’s already a drama queen. She’ll be very suitable. Are you still friends with her?’
‘I’m trying, but we don’t really have much in common.’
‘She was a good friend to you when you first went to that school, though.’
‘Yes, she was. I am trying, honestly.’
‘I know you are, love.’ Mum paused, then added, ‘But there’s Alison.’
‘Yeah. Alison’s probably my best friend here. But she’s in the parallel class. Wish she was in the same class as me.’
‘But you see her at Energise Youth Club…’
‘Yeah.’
After a moment, Mum asked, ‘What about costumes? Sounds like it could be expensive.’
‘We talked about that. Lots of people reckon they can produce something that’ll look Egyptian. They think their mums have evening dresses and their little sisters have tiaras! Dressing gowns might do for the pharaohs. We’re aiming to be imaginative rather than expensive! Ahmed says his mum is really keen on sewing and she might be able to help.’
‘Will everyone have to learn their words by heart?’
‘We didn’t talk about that. It would look better if they did, but it might be a lot of work.’
‘Will parents have the chance to see it?’
‘Hmm. Dunno. At the moment we’re only planning to perform it for some of the other classes. I guess it depends how it goes.’
At the end of the day, Ruth often sent WhatsApp texts to Cami and Chris, whom she called her faraway friends.
Ruth to Cami: Guess what! I won the writing comp with my drama about King Tut
Cami to Ruth: Well done! Always knew you were a budding scriptwriter
Ruth to Chris: I won the writing comp, mostly thanks to you ’cos there was lots of rap
Chris to Ruth: I salute your gallant talent.
Your expertise is set to please
Your name will earn fame…
Anyway, fat congrats!
2
Friday was Ruth’s favourite day. It was the beginning of the weekend, but better still, Friday evening was Energise evening. Energise was where Ruth had made her first real Edinburgh friends.
But before that, she’d met Lucy. Lucy had shown Ruth around when she’d arrived new to the school. She’d told Ruth not to leave her jacket or bag around in case someone nicked it, and she’d explained that in Scotland, Year 7 was still at primary school. It was called P7, and the following year, at secondary school, was called S1. Now, after more than two years, Ruth had got the hang of it, though it was very different from the school she’d attended in Egypt.
Starting secondary school in the middle of S1 had been hard. Everyone was already in friendship groups, but Lucy had stuck by her. Sometimes Ruth felt Lucy didn’t have much going for her. She didn’t seem to have many other friends. Not close ones, anyway.
‘Meet me tomorrow morning at Hot Choc Plus?’ Lucy hissed to Ruth as they were leaving at the end of Energise. ‘I want to show you something.’
‘Oh, but…’
‘Please…?’
‘Well, OK, but why couldn’t you…?’
But Alison and her twin, Daniel, joined them to walk home and Lucy put a finger to her lips. Must be a secret, then. Ruth feared it might be more new make-up or a video of her favourite boy band’s latest song, but she nodded. ‘OK.’ She forgot to ask what time.
Just as Ruth was about to get ready for bed, a text from Lucy pinged into her phone: 10.00am
She sighed.
Mum looked up. ‘What?’
‘Lucy’s asking me to meet her at ten tomorrow morning at Hot Choc Plus. She wants to show me something. But I’ve just spent two hours with her at Energise. Why didn’t she show me then? Or ask me then?’
‘Tomorrow’s Saturday. Have you got anything else planned?’
‘No, but I just wanted to stay at home and get on with some stuff.’
Ruth couldn’t think of an excuse, so she texted OK and promised herself she’d try not to be grumpy.
Lucy had arrived first and had chosen a secluded table in the corner. She was wearing a short black skirt and a glittery top. Her shoes were glittery, too, with a low heel. Why did she always have to dress up, even just to go into town? Ruth was suddenly aware of her own ordinary jeans, trainers and sweatshirt. But she ordered a hot chocolate and sat down. Lucy took her mobile out of her bag and put it on the table. ‘Look!’ she said triumphantly.
‘Um…’ What was Ruth supposed to notice?
‘It’s new. It’s the one I’ve wanted for ages. My old phone was so slow and you can get far more stuff on this one. The connection is really fast, too.’
Ruth picked it up and turned it over in her hand. ‘Mmm, very nice.’ Was that what she was supposed to say?
‘Don’t you want to know where I got it from?’
‘Oh. Well, where did you get it from?’
‘Zak gave it to me.’
‘Zak?’
‘My mum’s new boyfriend. He’s really cool. He’s good-looking, too, and he speaks with a bit of an American accent, even though he’s been in Scotland for ages. He told us he came from Texas originally but he lives here now, and reckons his ancestors came from Scotland. He’s got lots of money. He works in a bank, so I guess that’s a good job. Unless he’s a bank robber!’
Lucy laughed, so Ruth laughed, too.
‘At first, I felt a bit awkward about accepting this phone, but Mum said that if he wants to join our family, he’ll be like a dad to me, and dads should be generous. Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean…’
‘It’s OK,’ Ruth said. Her own dad had died when she was tiny, so she didn’t miss him. Up to that point, not having a dad was one of the few things that she and Lucy had had in common.
‘I haven’t told anyone else yet,’ Lucy said.
So this was new. A big deal for Lucy. Maybe Ruth should feel privileged at being the first to know.
‘Where did your mum meet Zak?’
‘In the pub. Tuesday night is quiz night. My mum enjoys it. She thinks she’s good at general knowledge. I reckon she learns it all from watching TV! Anyway, she and Zak ended up on the same team, and they won! She was dead chuffed.’
‘Was there a prize?’
‘Oh, just a round of drinks, I think. But after that, Zak asked Mum out to dinner. Then, the next week, he invited me as well.’
‘And you like him?’
‘You bet. He’s funny and really friendly. But don’t tell anyone. Not yet. Please.’
‘Of course not.’
Who would she tell, and why?
‘So what did she show you? What was the big special secret?’ Mum asked when Ruth got home.
Lucy’s words rang in Ruth’s ears: Don’t tell anyone. Did her mum count as anyone?
‘Um, well, she’s got a new phone.’
‘But she didn’t have it at Energise? She couldn’t show you then?’
‘I guess not,’ Ruth said. ‘I forgot to ask her.’ Then she gave her mum an elaborate description of the phone so she didn’t have to mention Zak. Keeping a secret made her feel a bit like a liar. What was it people had to say at a trial? The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
But Lucy had asked her not to say anything yet. So maybe she’d be able to tell the whole truth soon.
The following week at school, Lucy didn’t miss an opportunity to refer to her new phone and to flash it around, but without mentioning Zak. She was unusually bouncy, and if Zak was going to be an asset to their family, Ruth was happy for her. According to Chris, stepdads could be a very good thing. Chris’ stepdad was great.
