Mollie Cinnamon Is Not a Cupcake (16 page)

“Thank you, Mollie. Now back to the studio for more local news.” Davida waits for a few seconds and then says, “And cut.” She turns to me. “You were wonderful. Well done. Your mum must be very proud of you.”

“You were brilliant, Mollie,” Bonny says, coming up to me. “And I’m sorry about Nan. I hope she gets better soon.”

“Thanks, Bonny,” I say. “Nan’s much better. She’s coming home later, in fact.”

“Why are you talking to
her
?” Lauren scowls at Bonny.

“I can talk to whoever I want, Lauren,” Bonny says, going a little red. I can tell she’s still nervous of Lauren and I don’t blame her.

But suddenly I realize that I’m not frightened of Lauren any more and her mean comments don’t bother me. “You have no power here,” I tell her. “Begone, before somebody drops a house on you too.”

Bonny laughs. “
The Wizard of Oz
, right? Great film.”

Lauren is glaring at me. “You are so weird, Molly Cinnamon. And, Bonny, if you’re coming back to my place, you have to come now.” She flounces off with Chloe at her heels.

“Mollie,” Bonny says quietly, “about all that school stuff. No one believes Lauren. About you pushing her. You could come back if you wanted to.”

“Thanks, Bonny.”

She smiles at me. “You really were great. Good luck with the campaign. I’d better go, but maybe we can watch that movie together some time.” She runs after Lauren.

“Bye, Bonny,” I call after her. “I’d like that.”

Flora comes over then and gives me a hug. “You were amazing, darling, a natural.”

“She’s a credit to you, Flora,” Lucas says. “I can’t believe you have a daughter who’s so grown up. You only look like a teenager yourself.”

Flora slaps him on the arm. “Stop! You kidder.” But she’s clearly delighted.

“It must be cool having such a young mum,” Davida says. “And don’t worry, Mollie − I’ll make sure this goes out this evening. You have my word. Hey, Flora, do you have time for a coffee and a quick catch-up?”

“Why don’t you come to the house?” Flora says. “I know Lucas wants to see some of Mollie’s footage of the island. He can edit the piece from up there and send it straight to the studio.”

Davida smiles. “Sounds like a plan.”

Mattie gives Lucas and Davida a lift to Nan’s house as they have a lot of equipment to carry. Flora and I walk up together. At the end of the lane, she stops and says, “I’ve been thinking.”

“Don’t do too much of that, Flora,” I say with a grin. “You might injure yourself.”

“Ha ha! But seriously. I want you to know I’m very proud of you. And I really will try harder to put you first.”

I bump her with my shoulder. “OK, Mum.”

She grins and bumps me back. “You know what, I actually quite like the sound of that. And being your mum is pretty cool.”

At six o’clock we all gather in Nan’s living room to watch the news on her big telly: me, Flora, Alanna, Landy and Sunny. Sadly Lucas and Davida had to get back to Dublin. Alanna has prepared some finger food especially and I help her spread it out on the coffee table: tiny samosas the size of butterfly wings, smoked-salmon blinis, spicy guacamole with tortillas to dip into it, mini ham-and-cheese quiches. It all smells delicious.

“Tuck in, everyone,” Alanna says.

I try to eat a samosa, but I’m so nervous about the news piece – that they won’t show it, that they will show it and it won’t make any difference, the cafe will still close – that it tastes like cardboard in my mouth.

The news crawls by and I can hardly bear the wait. Landy is sitting on the sofa with Nan’s laptop on his knee. He has our Save the Songbird Cafe Facebook page open, and he’s ready to answer any viewers’ questions. That was Flora’s idea – she’s surprisingly clued up when it comes to social media. She says having a public face is part of her presenting job and Lucas is helping her set up her own
Travelling Light
social media accounts. She also put a PayPal button on the cafe’s website, so that people can make online donations, and then she linked the button to the Facebook page. She’s thought of everything.

But it doesn’t look like there will be any questions. “They’re not going to show it,” I say despondently.

“It’ll be on,” Flora says. “Davida promised.”

At quarter to seven there’s the sound of a car pulling up outside and then voices in the hall. Nan hurries into the living room, followed by Bat.

“Have we missed the bit about the cafe?” Nan asks urgently.

“Nan!” I run over and give her a hug. “How are you feeling? Are you well enough to be out of hospital?”

“Good to see you, child. And I’m fine. Nothing that a bit of rest won’t cure.”

“Sit down, Nan. It’ll be on any moment now.” Flora gives Nan her seat and perches on the arm of the chair beside her. Bat squeezes onto the sofa.

“It’s wonderful to see you, Nan,” Alanna says. “We’ve all missed you. Oh, wait. Look! It’s on.”

I look back at the TV and there it is – the Songbird Cafe. I squeal. “Turn it up, Flora,” I say, fizzing with excitement.

As Flora adjusts the volume, Davida’s voice rings out. “This is Davida Walsh, reporting from Little Bird Island, where the local community are campaigning to save their only cafe. Alanna D’Arcy, you own and run the Songbird Cafe, is that correct?”

As the camera swings over to Alanna we all cheer.

“Yes,” we hear Alanna say. “I took a loan out with the bank to pay for some building work and, to cut a long story short, they want their money back, pronto. They’re putting pressure on me to sell to a developer. If I just had a bit more time, I’d happily pay it back. I’m not looking for charity.”

“And the developers intend to demolish the cafe and build a large hotel in its place?”

Alanna nods. “Sadly, yes.”

Then I see my own face on screen. My big white face, framed by wild red curls, whipping around like kite tails in the wind.

Everyone in the room cheers again.

“Go, Mollie!” Landy calls.

“Shush,” Nan says. “I want to hear this.”

It’s unreal listening to myself answer all Davida’s questions and explain about Red Moll’s castle. When I’ve finished speaking, they show a short montage of film clips set to music – birds swooping in the sky, Click jumping out of the waves, and a girl in a red cloak set against Red Moll’s castle – and suddenly I realize why it all looks so familiar.

“It’s your footage, Mollie!” Flora squeals. “Your work is on national television.”

“And that’s me,” Alanna says. “In the red cloak.”

“It’s amazing, Mollie,” Nan says proudly. “My girls have such talent.”

I feel dizzy with relief. They played it. Our campaign was on the news!

“Oh, Mollie, Alanna, what can I say?” Nan says. “You were both wonderful. I think I speak for everyone when I say well done. And to Sunny, Landy and all of you behind the scenes. And to clever old Flora for getting it on the news. Whatever happens now, you’ve all done Little Bird proud.”

“Nan’s right,” Alanna says. “Thank you everyone for fighting for the cafe.”

“So what now?” I ask.

“We wait,” Flora says. “Any reaction on the Facebook page yet, Landy?”

He shakes his head. “Not yet. Oh, hang on. We have three new likes. And a new comment. It says, ‘I’ve signed your petition and I’ve made an online donation. Good luck with your campaign. Little Bird is a very special place.’”

“There’ll be more,” Flora says. “Wait and see.”

Flora’s right. An hour later, the Facebook likes are still coming in. We’re at over three hundred now. And the donations are up to four hundred euros. Everyone has gone home, but Flora, Nan and I are still in the living room, celebrating the success of the news piece and Nan’s return. Flora has taken over from Landy on laptop duty.

“There’s a private message here for Alanna from a Cathy Mullins, CEO of Haven Foods,” she says. “Her son Teddy visited the cafe recently with his grandparents and hasn’t stopped going on about it since. She’s interested in talking to her about a possible sponsorship deal.”

“Sounds promising,” Nan says. Then she gives a huge yawn. “Too much excitement for one day, I’m afraid. I’m off to bed now.”

“Of course, Nan,” Flora says. “You must be exhausted. The doctor did tell you to take it easy. You tired, Mopsy? It’s been quite a day.”

“A little,” I admit. And then I realize we’ve been so caught up in the cafe and the news that we haven’t talked about the other thing that’s on my mind – staying here or going home with Flora. I know I have to tell them my decision. “Flora, have you talked to Nan about the extra filming?” I ask.

“She has,” Nan says. “And you’re welcome to stay for as long as you want, Mollie. I adore having you here − you know that. If you’d like to stay, then we can work out all the details later. But the important thing is I love you and I want to be part of your life and spend as much time with you as I can. It’s as simple as that. We have a lot of classic movies to watch.”

Flora laughs. “Not you too. I guess that’s where Mum got her movie-star obsession.”

“I take it you’re not a fan of old films?” Nan says.

“No, but a girl can change.”

“Indeed she can.”

Flora looks at me now, her face getting serious. “What would you like to do, Mopsy? Stay here with Nan or go back to Dublin with me? It’s completely up to you, darling. Have you thought about it?”

I nod. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. But in the end it all came down to one thing – Flora. You see, I know how much she loves her job. Being a television presenter is all she’s ever wanted to do. Offering to leave her dream job was the most amazingly kind thing ever. It would be like me offering never to watch another movie again in my whole entire life (which I honestly think would kill me).

I know if I asked her to leave
Travelling Light
, she would. But I can’t do it. Because she’s my mum and I love her and I want her to be happy. I know she said she was sick of travelling, but once she’s filming again she’ll forget about all that. And this time she’ll have Lucas to look after her.

Besides, I’m starting to feel like I belong here. I never, ever in a million years thought I’d say it, but it’s true. I like Little Bird! Yes, it’s quiet and small and there are no shops. But it’s beautiful, and there’s a very special cafe, and amazing people that I’d like to get to know better, like Landy and Sunny. And Alanna. Most of all, Alanna. I want to spend more time with Nan too and be a proper great-granddaughter.

And there’s one final reason.

I dreamed about Granny Ellen last night. We were standing in front of Red Moll’s castle and she was telling me a Red Moll story, about how when she was only nine Red Moll saved one of her sisters from drowning. She jumped into the sea after her and dragged her to shore. We were holding hands and the wind was blowing our red hair behind us as we stared out to sea.

“We’re islanders,” Granny Ellen said. “No matter how far away we are, Little Bird will always be our home.”

I wish Granny Ellen was still alive. I miss her every single day. I think she would want me to stay and keep an eye on Nan. I think she’s somewhere up there, looking out for us both, our very own red-haired angel.

So I nod and say, “Yes. I’ve made a decision.”

On Mother’s Day I’m in the kitchen of the Songbird Cafe with Alanna, stirring the chocolate fudge cake mix. I sent Flora a Mother’s Day e-card this morning. When you open it, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” plays and bluebirds and butterflies flutter across the screen. I hope she likes it.

I made a real card for Nan. I took a photo of some daffodils in her garden. Then I printed it and stuck it on card and decorated the edges. Sunny helped me with the calligraphy inside. You should have seen the one Sunny made. She’d copied a picture of her mum from a photograph and it was amazing. She’s so talented. I’m lucky to have her as a friend.

Cathy from Haven Foods was as good as her word. She came to see the cafe and to talk to Alanna. Her company agreed to sponsor the Songbird and she offered to help Alanna get back on her feet by mentoring her, so the cafe’s future is safe. There’s now a large plaque that reads “Sponsored by Haven Foods” by the cafe door and Alanna has dedicated a new cupcake to Cathy’s son Teddy – the Teddy Treat. It’s a vanilla cupcake decorated with sprinkles, Smarties and jelly dolphins.

I work for Alanna every weekend and on Wednesday afternoons when there’s no school. I thought going back to Bethlehem Heights would be difficult, but, in fact, as long as I avoid Lauren, it’s actually not that bad. Bonny’s really kind and Landy’s great fun to hang out with.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, sparrow,” Alanna says, after tasting the cake mix. “The day you came to the island I saw you make a wish on a straw doll. Did it ever come true?”

So much has happened since then, but I can still remember my wish.
Take me home
.

“Yes, I guess it did.” For the moment, Little Bird is my home and, as Dorothy says in
The Wizard of Oz
, there’s no place like it.

“Magic,” she says, smiling, and leaves it at that. But from the twinkle in her eyes, I’m sure she’s reading my mind again.

by Mollie Cinnamon

1. My favourite movie is
The Wizard of Oz
.

2. I have not one but two favourite colours – black
and
white. Stripes. I love zebra stripes.

3. I can touch my nose with my tongue and curl it. Those are pretty special talents!

4. I love the smell of baking, especially cupcakes.

5. If I could have any super power, it would be flight. Or invisibility. Or both!