‘Thank you,’ I replied, rather pleased with myself. As a slightly awkward thirteen-year-old, I took compliments wherever I could get them. ‘What do you mean, the real Daisy Darker?’
‘Well, I work with your nana. Her book Daisy Darker’s Little Secret was the first book we worked on together a few years ago, and it sold all over the world. Which means there are copies of a book with your name on it in bookshops in America, and Spain, Australia, Poland . . . even as far away as China. It’s quite a thrill to finally meet your nana’s muse.’ I didn’t know what a muse was, but didn’t want the nice man to think that I was stupid, so I nodded. I might be misremembering things – it was a long time ago now. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke, and I wondered if the nice man was secretly made of stars. His chair was covered in them after all, and Nana was right about most things.
Every family is a fortress that few outsiders get to see inside. Especially ours. Sometimes people are invited in for a period of time, but they only ever get the public tour, they never really see behind the scene. ‘Access All Areas’ is a myth when it comes to human relationships; we can never really know another person because we rarely know ourselves. Knowing that Nana’s agent was one of the very few people on the planet who she trusted, I always wondered and wanted to know why. But whenever I asked her, she could never explain. Maybe she didn’t really understand it herself.
‘You do know that my nana’s stories aren’t real, don’t you?’ I asked him. ‘What she writes is called fiction.’
The agent smiled. ‘Yes, I am aware of the term.’
‘Then you should really understand that I am not the Daisy Darker in the books. Nana just borrowed my name, that’s all. A book about the real me would be far more interesting.’
He laughed at that, and it made me cross because I thought it meant he didn’t think that I was. Interesting. But then Nana’s agent gave me something wonderful, which made me like him again. He reached into the top pocket of his jacket and took out a silver pen. Then he took out a business card and wrote on the back of it:
Looking forward to reading about the real Daisy Darker.
What was most remarkable was that, with a simple click, the pen could write in different colours: red, green, blue and black. I’d never seen anything like it. He gave me the business card, and when he saw me staring at the pen, he gave me that too.
‘Here you go. Write your own story with this if you like, and I’ll read it if you do.’
Then Nana tapped her champagne glass to get everyone’s attention, and our conversation was over almost as soon as it had begun. I put the pen and the card in the top pocket of my dress. I see on the video that it was a dress of my own – rather than a hand-me-down – a denim dungaree dress, not unlike the ones I still like to wear today. I also had my first shoes that had only been worn by my feet: a pair of white trainers that Nana had painted with daisies.
‘Now then, I know it’s Halloween, and some people have a party to go to,’ Nana said, looking at Rose and Lily. ‘But I’m glad we could be together for a little while. It means a lot to have my family in one place all at the same time for my birthday. Cheers to all of you, and special congratulations to Rose for getting into Cambridge University. We’re so proud of you.’
I was only thirteen, but even I was allowed a glass of champagne. I liked it, and tried to sip it as slowly as possible to make it last.
‘Shall we do presents before dinner?’ Nana asked, and everyone looked uncomfortable. It had always been her rule that nobody was allowed to buy proper presents on her birthday, only sweets, with it being Halloween. I’d already given her a Cadbury’s Dairy Milk miniatures dispenser, which she had seemed thrilled with, and Rose gave her chocolate frogs. Dad brought an expensive box of chocolates all the way from Switzerland, where he’d spent the summer with his orchestra. Lily forgot as usual, so Nancy pretended her gift of Milk Tray was from both of them. ‘Don’t panic, I’m only teasing. You all being present is present enough,’ Nana said.
Her agent cleared his throat. ‘I didn’t know about the “no big gifts” rule, so I’m afraid I did get you something, I hope you’ll forgive me.’ He reached beneath the table, and put a large, beautifully wrapped gift box on it.
‘Oh my goodness!’ said Nana, beaming like a child. ‘What is it?’
‘Open it and see.’
Nana lifted the lid, revealing the hand-carved wooden Scrabble set that Trixie and I were playing with earlier this evening. Her agent even had some of the small square letters made with real sea glass on the bottom and driftwood on top, with a letter and value carved into each one – I thought they were beautiful. ‘It’s hard to know what to get someone who loves words but already has all the books they want in their own little library. You always say it’s important to use your words, and I know you like the game,’ he said, sounding more like Nana than himself. His eyes seemed to twinkle again, and I noticed how very blue they were, just like hers. They wore similar smiles on their faces too. They looked like a mother and her son celebrating a special moment together.