Northern Girl by Fadette Marie Marcelle Cripps Page A

change their minds. Once out of sight of the house, she breathed a sigh of relief. She’d run a little way ahead of the other two, but now she slowed down to allow her sisters to catch up.
    ‘For goodness’ sake, Madeleine! What’s the rush?’ Simone demanded.
    And with a breathless Martine following close behindthey stopped for a moment. Martine warned, ‘If you two are going to get ahead of me like this once we’re in there, you can forget the whole thing. We’ve made a promise to stick together. Remember?’
    Madeleine was only half listening. She flapped her hand and said, ‘Shush! Can you hear it?’ The atmospheric, slightly muffled sounds coming from two streets away were already making Madeleine’s heart beat faster. The sound of stallholders shouting, the music of the rides, and the hustle and bustle of the crowds filled her with such excitement that she grabbed her sisters’ hands. They all ran to the fair together.
    At the entrance Madeleine glanced at her sisters and saw even they were looking round in awe. There were so many people! ‘See, aren’t you glad you came now?’ she said. Without waiting for an answer she let go of their hands and dodged through the crowds, coming to a sudden halt in front of the carousel. ‘Come on, let’s go on this.’
    Martine, feeling reluctant, glanced round for Simone, hoping to persuade her to go on with Madeleine, only to see that she’d wandered on ahead and started chatting and laughing with a boy selling balloons.
    Frustrated, she turned back to Madeleine. ‘Look,’ she said. ‘You go on it. I’ll get Simone, and we’ll meet you back here in five minutes.’ Madeleine didn’t have to be told twice.
    Everyone was scrambling on to the ride, and not wanting to be left behind, she hurriedly reached for the supporting pole of one of the vacant wooden horses.But as soon as she touched it, a hand slapped on top of hers. Both she and someone else had grabbed for the same pole. She turned around indignantly, ready to argue, and found herself greeted by the most disarming smile.
    ‘So sorry, please , you take the horse,’ the stranger offered apologetically, in English. Madeleine was so disconcerted by dazzling good looks, dark hair, and the dimples in his cheeks, that for once she was lost for words. Assuming she hadn’t understood him, he backed away and half bowed, stretching his hand out towards the horse in a chivalrous gesture that could have come from a fairy tale.
    At this, she managed to muster a crooked smile, and, with a slight nod of her head, climbed on the waiting wooden horse. The ride started, and she loved every second, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the charming English stranger, who was very obviously a soldier.
    The carousel ended too soon for Madeleine, and as it slowed she looked around for her sisters, who were nowhere in sight. What she could see, though, was the stranger, gazing in her direction. Oh, mon Dieu ! she wondered. Was he watching her, or just waiting to get on the ride?
    When the carousel finally came to a standstill he stepped up and offered to help her down. Madeleine’s stomach fluttered, and she knew that it was nothing to do with the ride. She took his hand and jumped down, then smiled and thanked him. ‘ Merci , monsieur!’ Shestraightened her dress, and glanced at him, noticing that he seemed to be feeling equally awkward.
    Laughing nervously, he said something she couldn’t understand, and then he added, ‘Tom Dawson,’ which was obviously his name. He was introducing himself. His eyes twinkled as he offered his hand.
    ‘Monsieur Dawson,’ she said, shaking it. She tried to conceal her amusement at this very English custom by quickly saying, ‘ Je m’appelle Madeleine.’ She pressed a finger to her chest for emphasis, furious with herself for not having paid more attention to Sister Bee’s English classes.
    Tom looked at her blankly. His French was worse than Madeleine’s English, and he was