Susanna clapped her hands together. ‘Gayle, Gayle, where are you?’ She found her in the hallway, fiddling with a piece of Lego wedged in the sole of her boot.
‘Put your boots on,’ said Susanna, ‘we’re going outside.’ She grabbed Gayle’s coat from the peg.
‘Whatever for?’ Gayle asked, as she succeeded in removing the offending Lego piece.
‘Just do it,’ said Susanna, passing over her coat.
Addie and Louisa put their own coats on, and Louisa held Isaac’s hand as they all filed out of the back door.
‘It’s not fireworks time yet,’ Isaac pointed out.
‘No,’ said Louisa, ‘but we have a surprise for Gayle.’
‘A surprise for Nanna? What is it?’
Louisa laughed. ‘Well, if we told you then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?’
They reached the shed and stood in front until Susanna put her hands across Gayle’s eyes.
Gayle was understandably confused. ‘It’s not my birthday, and Christmas has long gone.’
‘This is an early birthday gift,’ Addie told her. ‘You’re getting it now so we can all be here to give it to you.’
When Addie nodded, Susanna took her hands from Gayle’s eyes.
‘Ta-da!’ the three girls called out, Isaac following on with his own ‘ta-da!’, never one to miss out.
Gayle stepped into the shed. ‘It’s a bicycle.’
‘It’s not just any bicycle,’ said Susanna. ‘It’syourbicycle.’
Gayle put one hand on the handlebar of the aquamarine bike. ‘This is for me?’ She ran her hand across the wicker basket attached to the front. ‘But I’m too old…’
‘Never too old,’ claimed Louisa.
‘I don’t think my doctor would approve,’ said Gayle.
‘Nonsense,’ Addie argued. ‘I think he would approve very much. Now, look in the basket.’
Gayle peered inside and pulled out a turquoise helmet. She roared with laughter. ‘You think I’m going to put this on?’
‘Weknowyou’re going to put it on,’ Addie said.
‘Put it on, Nanna!’ cried Isaac.
Gayle always found it hard to say no to Isaac, and his request did the trick. ‘What’s the verdict?’ she asked.
Addie stepped forwards. ‘It needs adjusting. Here, let me.’
Gayle spotted that in addition to her bike there were three more in the shed besides the girls’ old rusty bikes they’d long since outgrown. ‘Where did those come from?’
‘We borrowed them,’ said Louisa, ‘For us three.’ She indicated herself, Susanna and Addie.
Gayle was clearly happy, if not a little emotional. ‘You have all gone to such a lot of effort.’
‘You deserve it,’ Susanna assured her aunt, putting an arm around her shoulders. ‘Remember when we first rode bikes on the island? Well, you saidanother timewhen Addie wanted you to come with us. And it never happened.’
‘Until now,’ said Addie with a grin.
