Missing
an excerpt

It was exciting staying at Ben’s house. Well it wasn’t a house really, it was a caravan but not one of those gypsy caravans Dane had seen in books. This was much bigger and it had a television and everything. Ben had bunk beds in his room and Dane got to sleep in the bottom bunk. Sometimes if Ben was in a good mood he would let Dane have a go in the top bunk. They weren’t allowed to play at jumping off the top bunk though. They’d tried that the first time Dane had gone to stay with them and June had been very cross about it.

“I’m not sending you back home with a broken leg,” she said. “It makes the whole place shake. You should know better Ben.”

She was like that. She could be very kind and friendly and they got to eat lots of biscuits but if you wanted to do something daft she seemed to know it every time before you had even started doing it. Dane couldn’t work out how she knew what was going on when his mother never seemed to notice.

The food was nicer here too. Dane’s mother always had chips from the freezer and he really liked those. But June peeled potatoes for her chips and Ben and Dane helped. Then they put them in this great big pot on the stove and watched the oil froth up around them. Dane burnt his mouth the first time he ate them. He couldn’t believe how hot they were. They tasted wonderful, even better than chips out of the freezer. Who would of thought that you could use potatoes to make chips?

The fairground rides were wonderful too. Most of the time they were all packed away on trucks and lorries. They were painted beautiful colours and sometimes they had to be got out for repairs. Ben and Dane would go and help for hours, passing tools and putting things away. Dane loved the smell of the oil and he could hardly wait to have a go on the rides.

It was only at night that he missed his mother. He had Flump with him, all fluffy and with his big, soft trunk, but he’d left Growly Bear behind because he was too big. He would have liked his mother to be there to kiss him good night and tuck him in. June was nice and she always read them a story but it wasn’t the same. His mother was fun at the end of the day. She might be getting ready to go out and leave him with a babysitter but she always kissed him goodnight.

It was funny going in to school from Ben’s place. The walk was a bit longer but they never took the car. School was just the same, though. His teacher was quite nice even if she was a bit bossy. Dane liked painting and drawing and PE and even maths. He didn’t like writing much and playtimes were a bit scary. If you were a boy you had to play football and some of the older boys were very rough. You couldn’t cry or they’d call you ‘gay’. So when Dane heard that Ben’s family were going to go and set up their fair somewhere else and that he could go with them he felt happy and excited as well as scared.

“What about Mum, can she come?” he asked.
“No, pet, she can’t come with us.”
“Are we going back to my house to say goodbye or is she going to come here?”
“Sweetheart, your Mum’s not in your house at the moment. She had some things she had to do. I’m sure she’ll come and see you as soon as she can.”

June hoped so. What a bloody cheek that woman had, clearing off and leaving her to look after the lad. Not that he was a bad lad, he was good company for Ben but that was not the point. June had no way to let her know that they were starting the season early this year. She’d tried to get hold of her on all the numbers she had for her but no luck. They would just have to wait till she got back from her holiday with that new man of hers. Until then, Dane was part of the family.

June looked at Dane, who was trying to hold back the tears. Poor little sod. It wasn’t his fault that his mother was always going off with some man or other.

“Come on, pet. Dry your eyes. You’ll love it when the fair gets going.”