Average Alice

Gail Whalley

Description

Alice has always been average, which is hard when you have a brilliant athlete for a brother and a budding dancer for a sister. When Alice finds out her parents are going to have another baby, she is horrified. The new arrival is bound to be another high-achiever, leaving her feeling even more inferior and isolated. But the baby's arrival is a surprise and challenge to everyone, especially Mum. Will the family survive and will Alice be able to rise to the occasion

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528961097
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Average Alice
Gail Whalley
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-09-30
Average Alice About the Author About the Book Dedication Copyright Information © Synopsis Chapter 1 The Family Chapter 2 The Event Chapter 3 The Elephant in the Room Chapter 4 Life Goes On Chapter 5 The Not Date Chapter 6 The Hobby Chapter 7 The Presentation Chapter 8 Talent Spotting Chapter 9 Toby’s Mum Chapter 10 The Plan Chapter 11 The Plot Thickens Chapter 12 The Willing Accomplice Chapter 13 Unlucky for Some Chapter 14 Facing the Music Chapter 15 A Kind Act Chapter 16 Success at Last
About the Author
Gail lives on a smallholding in Devon with her husband, David, their beloved Standard Poodles, a horse, pet sheep and two chickens. She taught English to Secondary School students for many years and recently retired as Deputy Principal.
She is currently enjoying having time to write, travel, sing in the local choir, be a churchwarden and tend all those animals. Learning new skills and returning to old hobbies keep her very busy.
About the Book
Alice has always been average, which is hard when you have a brilliant athlete for a brother and a budding dancer for a sister. When Alice finds out her parents are going to have another baby, she is horrified. The new arrival is bound to be another high-achiever, leaving her feeling even more inferior and isolated.
But the baby’s arrival is a surprise and challenge to everyone, especially Mum.
Will the family survive and will Alice be able to rise to the occasion…?
Dedication
Thanks to David for the constant support and encouragement and for helping me keep a promise to my parents, Colin and Elsie Vinall
Copyright Information ©
Gail Whalley (2019)
The right of Gail Whalley to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528961097 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Synopsis
Alice believes herself to be a mediocre middle child between two talented siblings struggling to maintain her identity and be noticed in her aspirational family. She is horrified when her parents unexpectedly announce that they are having another baby but when it arrives, physically impaired, and Mum cannot love the little girl, it is Alice who takes on the role of championing her sister’s cause, ultimately saving the stability of the family and emerging as the unlikely heroine of the situation. In doing so, Alice finds she has some exceptional talents and discovers a sense of her own worth.
Chapter 1

The Family
Alice Kenton, aged 11, was a middle child. Her elder brother, Tom, was 15 and her younger sister, Annabel, was 8. Tom was clever and sporty, in fact, so clever that he had won a scholarship to a very good school which allowed him time off to attend extra coaching sessions with his gym instructor. Tom was under 16s’ County Champion on the parallel bars and his coach confidently expected him to compete at a national level one day. Alice’s parents were very proud of Tom.
Annabel was extremely pretty, with long dark hair which she liked to toss in its luscious ponytail. She was always flicking Alice in the eye with it, though not on purpose. Annabel loved dancing, in fact she was on her level two ballet exam a year early because she was so beautifully balanced and her neat footwork was so precise. At family parties, Annabel was usually persuaded to perform her latest routine to rapturous applause from doting relatives. For an 8-year-old, she was very confident. Grandma was particularly proud of Annabel because, as a girl, she had loved dancing so obviously that was where the talent had come from.
And that left Alice. Average Alice. Not dark-haired or fair but mousy. Not very clever or particularly talented at anything. Not terribly popular and certainly not sporty. A clumsy child, that’s what Mum said as she tripped over Tom’s sports bag left on the stairs or sloshed the milk over the side of the cereal bowl, too fast, in the morning. Of course, Alice wasn’t mistreated or ignored. She didn’t have a terrible life and she wasn’t criticised for being average. If she had wanted to do or try anything, Mum and Dad would have leapt at the idea but she didn’t despite the number of offers there had been over the years.
‘Would you like to learn an instrument?’ Oh, no, they wanted a classical pianist or a rock star. Very little chance so best not to start something.
‘No, thanks.’
‘What about joining the Guides?’ Lowering their sights, just wanting a kid who managed a few badges.
‘No, I was quite glad to leave Brownies, thanks.’
‘Riding lessons?’ Goodness, they must be getting desperate if they were ready to spend that sort of money!
‘Oh, is that the time? Bye, Mum.’
The truth was, Alice preferred to be at home, in her room, with a good book. Last Christmas, Dad had put up a whole wall of shelves for her and Alice was quietly building her personal library. She had a reference section with books on history, especially the Victorians, a favourite period at the moment, lots of animal books, metres of fiction and cookery books. The oldest of these had come from Dad’s mum and included lots of recipes written on slips of paper slid between the pages. Mum said they weren’t useful anymore because no one ate jugged hare or brawn these days but Alice loved fingering the tissue-thin slips and making up imagined scenes starring the ladies who had written them. She did enjoy cooking and that was at least one positive thing Dad was able to say about her to guests. ‘Alice makes the best cupcakes,’ he would boast but, to be truthful, they weren’t that great – just average. The best thing was the smell as they were cooking because Mum was so busy with work and then driving Tom and Annabel to school, extra lessons, coaching sessions and competitions that she never had any time to bake. She said that was what a decent local bakery was for so why would a modern mother bother?
Alice admired her mum. She had been a lawyer in London before Tom was born and now she worked part-time in a small legal practice doing something called conveyancing which was complicated and not very exciting but people needed it done when they moved house and paid well for the pleasure. She looked so smart in her pin-stripe suits when she went to work, and even at home, she was always neat and smelled nice.
Dad was a joiner. He worked in a unit on a local farm making bespoke kitchens or tables for customers who wanted something original. Sometimes, Alice went to the unit with him to watch. The flying wood dust was sharply acrid in her nose despite the extractor fans and it was noisy with the saws, planers and drills. Wherever she sat, the soft dust had gathered and clung to her trousers or socks. She made mugs of tea, strong and sweet, and filled up the varnish pots from a huge vat. It was difficult to hold a conversation over the din but she liked to watch her dad’s face, so tight with concentration, as he set up the machines or selected wood from the store.
Mostly, after school, Alice walked home alone because her friends, both of them, lived in the opposite direction. She would let herself in the house, make squash much stronger than Mum ever allowed and eat three biscuits before feeding Charlie, the cat. Alice would have liked a dog but Mum said they didn’t have time to walk a dog. Cats walked themselves and could let themselves out of the cat flap when they needed. Charlie allowed her to stroke him briefly every day but once food appeared, that was it. He would eat and then leave, narrowing his eyes at her if she tried to stop him for another cuddle.
‘Thanks, Alice,’ Alice would murmur to herself as his grey tail flicked out of sight. Then she was on her own again until Mum got back, which depended on the day. Monday was Annabel’s ballet class and Tom had training. They usually had takeaway on a Monday. Tuesday, Annabel stayed at school for Drama club and Tom trained again or might have a mid-week competition. Mum would have a casserole in the slow cooker ready for them to eat later on. Alice would drool over the aroma loving the warmth and homeliness it spread right through the house. Wednesday, they were all home together, then it was back to training and lessons until the weekend when Tom might have to be driven a hundred miles or more to compete in a county or regional competition.
Alice was thankfully old enough to stay at home on her own these days, rather than being hauled from sports centres to school gyms and waiting hours while Tom warmed up, competed, either won or lost and then celebrated or brooded on the journey home. It was no wonder she was such an avid reader… all those hours had to be filled somehow.
‘Oh, Alice, I hate leaving you on your own all day,’ Mum would sigh, her brow wrinkling.
That always made Alice smile. She’d been on her own at all those competitions for years but apparently no one had noticed. At least at home, she could amuse herself, didn’t have to get up at unearthly hours, could plan her day. Sometimes Gran would come round in the afternoon to make sure she’d had lunch and then stay to play cards, scrabble or do knitting together. Annabel was now ferried around but she didn’t seem to mind, well, she had more interest in competing for a start.
Then out of the blue, as they say, which means you didn’t see it coming, Mum stopped drivin