Leave it to Eva by Judi Curtin Page B

but Ruby stoodon her own looking pale and worried. Two girls in front of her waved up to their parents in the gallery, like this was just any old swim on any old day.
    Ruby saw me and came over.
    ‘I feel sick,’ she said.
    I leaned over the barrier and gave her a hug. ‘That’s just nerves,’ I said. ‘You’ll be fine once you get into the water.’
    Before she could answer, the side door opened again, and a hush spread across the room.
    There were so many people milling around, at first I couldn’t see who had come through the door. Ruby had a better view though.
    ‘It’s Mrs Armitage,’ she said, with a note of fear in her voice.
    I took a little step backwards. If this woman was half as scary as Ruby said, there was no way I wanted to meet her.
    ‘She’s coming this way,’ said Ruby, looking even more nervous than before.
    Then the crowds parted, and for the first time I could see the great Mrs Armitage.
    I gasped. ‘But that’s …’
    ‘You know her?’ asked Ruby.
    But before I could answer, the woman was standing in front of me.
    Ruby now looked scared and embarrassed, and for a minute no one said anything. Then Ruby found her voice – or a frightened squeaky version of her voice.
    ‘Er, Eva, this is Mrs Armitage,’ she said.
    Mrs Armitage looked at me with piercing eyes, and I figured this wasn’t a good time to say –
but we know each other. Just a few minutes ago I rescued you from a vicious mouse
.
    ‘Oh … mice … I mean nice to meet you,’ I said.
    Mrs Armitage gave me a funny look, and then she smiled, ‘Mice … I mean nice to meet you too.’
    Then she walked quickly to the top of the room.
    ‘What was that all about?’ asked Ruby. ‘Did you notice that Mrs Armitage actually smiled at you? I didn’t know she even knew how to smile.’
    I grinned. ‘I guess she just likes me,’ I said. ‘Some people do, you know.’
    Ruby rolled her eyes, and then jumped to attention as Mrs Armitage blew a whistle. We had another quick hug.
    ‘Good luck,’ I said and then Ruby hurried to the edge of the pool with the other swimmers.
    Mrs Armitage spoke into a microphone, explaining what was going to happen next.
    ‘Swimmers will be put into groups of six,’ she said. ‘When your turn comes, you must swim four lengths – one each of front crawl, back crawl, breast stroke and butterfly.
    Remember these aren’t races. You’re all different ages, and have different experience. We’ll mostly be watching out for technique and potential. Now, first group to the blocks, and let’s get started.’
    The first group lined up and bent forwards, ready to dive. Behind each swimmer stood a person holding a pen and a clipboard.
    At the whistle, the first six swimmers dived into the pool, and the clipboard people stepped forwards and began furiously taking notes. By the time the swimmers were hauling themselves out of the water it seemed like their whole life stories had been written down.
    Ruby was in the second group. She stepped forward reluctantly, like she was facing a firing squad. Then she slowly climbed onto the starting block, like she was climbing Mount Everest. Even under her swimming goggles, her eyes looked huge and terrified.
    ‘You can do it, Ruby,’ I screamed.
    Everyone around me laughed, but Ruby didn’t even glance in my direction. She was only a few metres away from me, but I had a feeling she hadn’t even heard my words. It was like she’d escaped to another world thatdidn’t include me.
    The whistle blew and the six swimmers dived into the water. I got totally caught up in the excitement, and jumped up and down, like I was watching the Olympic final. I’d been to one of Ruby’s galas before and had watched her winning a gazillion medals. I was sure that once she got into the water, her nerves would vanish and she’d be amazing.
    The swimmers swam to the surface and began to swim the front crawl. I’m no swimming expert, but by Ruby’s third stroke, I knew that