Leave it to Eva by Judi Curtin Page A

and a whisper. ‘Don’t help me down. I’m afraid of …’ Instead of finishing the sentence, she pointed to the floor on the other side of the desk. ‘It’s down there,’ she said. ‘It’s watching me, and it won’t go away.’
    I looked over towards the door, checking that I’d left it open. I wanted to be sure that I could make a quick escape if necessary. Then, not sure if I was being very brave or very stupid, I tiptoed ever so slowly around the desk.
    As I got closer I saw that the woman was shaking. ‘Don’t make any sudden moves,’ she said.
    I could feel my heart thumping madly as I took the last step around the desk, ready to turn and run if necessary.
    Then I stopped.
    And I laughed.
    I was getting ready to laugh for a very long time, when I realised I was being a bit mean. The woman really was terrified.
    ‘It’s a mouse,’ I said. ‘It’s only a tiny little mouse.’
    I’m not an expert on mice, but by the looks of things the poor creature was probably a baby. He was totally cute with a smooth grey coat, and bright black eyes. He’d backed himself into a corner, and was crouched there, looking just about as scared as the quivering woman on the desk.
    Now the woman pointed to a brush in the corner of the room. ‘Get rid of him,’ she said. ‘Please.’
    I knew she meant me to kill the mouse, but Icouldn’t do it. For one thing, he was totally cute – and for another, my summer with Kate had made the idea of killing a wild animal a very bad thing.
    ‘Just hang on there,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back in a sec.’
    I raced around the nearby rooms and soon came back with a small wooden box, and a piece of cardboard. After a few scary minutes, I managed to get the mouse into the box, and fastened the lid shut.
    The woman looked at the box like it contained a wild tiger who could escape any second, and eat her in two quick bites.
    I put the box out in the corridor and went back into the room.
    ‘You’re safe now,’ I said.
    The woman relaxed slightly, and climbed down from the desk. She fixed her hair and stood as tall as her tiny body would let her.
    ‘You must think I’m very foolish,’ she said.
    ‘Not at all,’ I said.
    She stared at me with piercing eyes, and I knew that she knew I was lying.
    ‘It’s an irrational fear,’ she said. ‘My brain tells me the mouse can’t hurt me, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling absolutely terrified.’
    Suddenly I felt sorry for her. Now that she wasn’t a helpless, shaking wreck any more, she looked like a woman who wasn’t scared of much. I realised she was embarrassed about me seeing her like that.
    Luckily I knew exactly how to make her feel better.
    ‘My mum’s totally afraid of earwigs,’ I said. ‘She goes completely crazy when she sees one.’
    The woman smiled gratefully, like I’d given her a present. ‘The mind is a funny place. I’d face a million earwigs before I could stand up to a single small mouse.’
    I tried to block out a sudden picture of my mum in a room full of earwigs, as the womanwalked towards the door.
    ‘Thank you for rescuing me from the monster,’ she said. ‘Now I need to go. I have a job to do.’
    I followed her to the door, and watched as she gingerly edged past the wooden box. As soon as she was gone, I picked up the box, and went to find a safe place to release the monster.
    It was still only ten o’clock, and already it had been a very long day.

Chapter Thirteen
    I made my way to the viewing gallery and found a single empty seat in the front row. All around me were doting parents and grandparents, there to support their little darlings. There was an excited, nervous buzz in the air.
    At last the swimmers came out through a side door. There were boys and girls of all ages from about ten up to sixteen. Ruby looked young and lost, kind of like she had wandered into the area by mistake, and didn’t really understand what was going on. Most of the swimmers were chatting and laughing together,