Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
They arrived in Croydon. So many high buildings, thought Ana. So many windows, so many people,
so much traffic. She wasn’t sure if she liked Croydon. They parked in the car park
and walked to Top Shop (so windy here, and cold. Where is the sun?) Jean-Paul decided
to leave Toutou outside Top Shop, because Toutou was very big and he didn’t want Marta
to see them. So Jean-Paul left Toutou by the door with Jack. Jack was pleased to help and
to be with Toutou. Jean-Paul, Mrs Greenford and Ana walked into Top Shop quietly. But
then… Oh no! Toutou started barking and barking. Everyone looked at Toutou and at
Jack. Ana was horrified. If Marta sees Toutou and Jack, she will know, she thought. But
they couldn’t see Marta. They asked the people who worked in the shop, but nobody
knew Marta. ‘Polish,’ said Mrs Greenford
‘Black and red dress,’ said Ana ‘Long legs,’ said Jean-Paul.
‘No. Never seen her,’ the assistants said. How strange, thought Ana, Jean-Paul and Mrs
Greenford. Maybe she’s lying about her Top Shop job,
thought Ana. ‘Maybe she’s lying about her Top Shop
job,’ said Jean-Paul and Mrs Greenford. Ana didn’t know the word ‘lying’ before,
but now she understood it. ‘What now?’ said Jack.
Mrs Greenford wanted to have a coffee and cake and talk about what to do. Jack wanted
a Big Burger from Burger House. Mrs Greenford said ‘No, no, no!’ Jack started crying.
They started walking to a ‘nice coffee shop’ that Mrs Greenford knew. As they passed a
Burger House, Jack stopped and started shouting: ‘I want a Big Burger!’ again and again,
louder and louder. ‘Burger House is not bad,’ said Ana, trying
to make Jack happy, but Mrs Greenford and Jean-Paul decided it was bad and continued
walking. Ana was pleased, because really she wanted coffee and cake. But Jack was still
crying and shouting and then banging on the window. What a difficult child, thought Ana.
Suddenly he stopped. ‘Marta!’ he shouted.
Ana, Mrs Greenford and Jean-Paul ran back to Burger House.
‘Mum,’ said Jack, really excited, ‘Marta’s working in Burger House. And it was nice of
you to give her your special red necklace’. Ana was so pleased that Jack had seen the
necklace, because when Ana, Mrs Greenford and Jean-Paul went into Burger House, she
wasn’t wearing it. They all knew she had hidden it. They went to the counter where
Marta was serving burgers, chips and cokes. ‘Where is my necklace, Marta?’ said Mrs
Greenford. ‘I know you have it.’ Mrs Greenford didn’t shout. Her face wasn’t red. Marta’s
eyes went wide with surprise. She smiled and said in a calm voice,
‘Hello, Mrs Greenford. How nice to see you. And you Jack – I’ve missed you. Would
you like a Big Burger? I know you like them.’ ‘Ooh, yes, please,’ said Jack, ‘I miss
you too.’ ‘Jack’, said Mrs Greenford, ‘that’s
not helpful!’ ‘And you looked beautiful in Mummy’s necklace.
Where is it now?’ Mrs Greenford smiled at Jack.
‘Thank you, Jack. That was helpful. You can have a Big Burger after Marta gives me
back the necklace.’ To Marta, she said, ‘If you give me back the necklace, I won’t
go to the police.’ ‘If you do not leave the shop, Mrs Greenford,
I will call the manager and he will throw you out.’ But then the manager came to see
why the queue was so long. ‘These people are making a problem and I
can’t serve the customers,’ said Marta to the manager.
Mrs Greenford told the manager about the necklace. ‘And what was the necklace like?’ asked
the manager. ‘It’s a ruby with diamonds round it on
a silver chain. It’s lovely, it’s expensive and it was a present from my husband.’
The manager turned to Marta and said, ‘You were wearing a ruby necklace this morning.
We all saw it. Where is it?’ Now Marta was in a very difficult situation.
Ana felt sorry for her, but not too sorry. You did it, Marta, she thought, you made your
own problem. What are you going to do now? Marta was silent.
‘OK,’ said Mrs Greenford, and she took her phone out of her bag, ready to call the
police. ‘Here is your necklace!’ shouted Marta.
She took the necklace from her pocket and threw it at Mrs Greenford.
‘And here is your job!’ and she took off her Burger House uniform (with difficulty
because her shoes were very high) and threw it at the manager. The black and red dress
is so nice, thought Ana. ‘I can get a better job than this!’ she
shouted some more. ‘Yes, Top Shop,’ said Ana, pleased, because
that was a clever thing to say when you don’t have much English. Jean-Paul looked at Ana
and smiled. Marta started to walk out of Burger House
with her head high, but, as we know, her shoes were also high and she fell into a customer,
who was carrying chips and a coke. The coke went over Marta’s black and red dress, the
chips went over the customer. The customer shouted, Ana and Jean-Paul laughed, Mrs Greenford
smiled quietly, Jack laughed loudly. The manager apologised to all the customers and opened
the door for Marta, but then Toutou came running in and ate all the chips from the floor. The
customers laughed, Jean-Paul tried to take Toutou out of the shop, but he didn’t want
to go. Ana thought this was the funniest thing she had ever seen, and she laughed and laughed
with Jack all the way back to the car. Jack had forgotten about the Big Burger.
What a long day, but it’s not finished yet!