On their last night in Warsaw, Esther was in a very good mood. After all, it was not a bad trip altogether. The performance went very well: she started to feel like a real adult dancer. After that, they had two days of sightseeing and excursions. Miss Timi took them to a dance house where there were a lot of young people: many dancers were Polish, but there were also Hungarians, as well as Czechs and Germans. Here she could finally dance freely, just for fun. They even made Miss Timi dance a few times, it was fun to watch. Esther had just been asked to dance by a Polish boy maybe three or four years older than her, he was a very good dancer. Neither of them minded that they didn’t understand each other’s language: they understood the language of dance, and if there was a misunderstanding, it made them both laugh. And oh, the big square dance! There must have been at least 60 of them. Esther had never experienced anything like it before. How nice it would be to tell Mum and Lucy all about it the next day. She planned to invite Chrissy over too and brag about the Polish boy. “They didn’t stay late at the dance house because they were leaving for home at six the next morning. In the afternoon, Esther packed everything she could, and when they got back to the hotel, she took a quick shower and went to bed.
The next morning at dawn, they all wandered sleepily down to the bus stop. It was a beautiful morning, a little chilly but bright and sunny, and Esther was looking forward to the journey. Finally, everyone got on the bus and they were on their way. Fortunately, she managed to get a window seat. She was not afraid now, the bad feeling that used to plague her at such times was gone. She couldn’t get enough of the view, the trees passing by, the fields. Everything was lit up in sunshine. She had mixed feelings: she could see herself staying a little longer. She had experienced a lot on this trip to Warsaw and was not keen to return to the things she had to do at home. But of course, she was also happy she would see Mum and Lucy again, who she had missed so much.” “A few hours and hundreds of kilometres later, they arrived, got off the bus and finally sorted out their suitcases. There were many people at the bus stop, but Esther spotted Mum straight away. She ran to her and jumped into her arms.
“My darling!” Said Mum, pressing her close to her heart, “so good to see you again!”
Esther stepped back and smiled happily at Mum.
“I have so much to tell you! Where’s Lucy?” she suddenly asked.
Mum’s eyes changed to a sad and worried glance.
“Lucy is unfortunately not very well. She fell ill by the morning. Chrissy came over to look after her while I came to get you”.
Esther’s heart was filled with sadness. Poor Lucy! She would have loved to come and greet her for sure. But no worries, she’ll give her a big kiss at home, she and Mum will make her a big pot of her favourite tea, then tell her about her adventures in Poland, and she’ll be as good as new by tomorrow. Lucy would surely have a story to tell too: Esther could already see her little sister proudly boasting about how well she has looked after her necklace.” “Finally, they made it home. Esther stormed into Lucy’s room. Her little sister was in bed, while Chrissy was sitting on the edge. Esther nodded at her with a grateful smile. Poor Lucy really did look quite exhausted. Esther hugged her fiercely. When they finally let go of each other, Esther noticed something very strange in her sister: it was as if she was very happy and very sad at the same time.
“Whatever’s wrong, my dear Lucy?”
“The dragonfly…” Lucy sobbed, “the dragonfly is gone!”
Esther couldn’t move. It hadn’t occurred to her that Lucy might lose the necklace, and now a sudden sense of loss swept over her, but she asked Lucy kindly, stroking her shoulder:
“But what happened to it? Did someone at school take it?”
Lucy shook her head.
“It was in my pocket. And then suddenly… it wasn’t there”. And she burst into violent sobs.
Chrissy suddenly jumped up. The two sisters did not understand what she was doing. She ran to the desk, grabbed Lucy’s chair and took it to the wardrobe next to the bed. She jumped on top of it, stood on tiptoe, and began to feel the top of the wardrobe with one hand.” “She found what she was looking for on top of the wardrobe. Holding it in her hand, Chrissy jumped off the chair and sat back on the bed. Then she placed the dragonfly necklace between the two sisters, hanging her head in shame.
“Please forgive me,” she said quietly, then turned to Lucy, “I was so envious of the honest relationship between you two, because my sibling never tells me the truth. I made a bet with Esther that you would lie to her”.
Lucy was stunned. She looked at Chrissy, then at the necklace. But Esther was furious. How could Chrissy have put that poor girl through all that! She was about to unleash her wrath on her when Chrissy burst into tears. Lucy took her hand and cuddled up to her. Chrissy put her arm around her.
“I’m sorry that I was always so mean to you!” She said to Lucy.
Lucy shook her head and snuggled up to her even closer. This brought tears to Esther’s eyes as well. She put her arms around the two girls.
Mum opened the door quietly. All she saw was the three girls embracing each other, with the golden dragonfly between them. She smiled.
“Lunch is ready,” she said kindly, “come and get it”.
It was ten minutes, maybe a quarter of an hour, before they were ready; they went into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Mum noticed the dragonfly necklace hanging around Lucy’s neck.
“Esther gave it to me,” said Lucy, smiling at her sister.”