He was making me laugh.

I said, "OK. Just a quick feel, though."

He said, "Bend your leg up, like you are a horsie standing on one leg."

I said, "They told you, didn't they?"

He said, "Who? What? Oh yeah, go on then, they did tell me. They're over by the bus stop wagging about. Show us your horse costume."

"No."

"Well, describe Sugar Plum Bikey to me then."

I was outraged.

"They have broken the rule of-"

Charlie said, "The Tree Sisters?"

"Yes, yes, the Tree Sisters' rule."

Charlie reached down and touched my knee.

I said, "Ouch."

He said, "Whoaaa, that's better. I can feel myself full of a strange energy. I normally only get it when the headmaster sees me win the six-mile run and he knows that I haven't been in it."

I suddenly felt a bit shy. I don't know why. I mean, Charlie and I were friends, he'd made that clear, hadn't he? So I should just be friendly.

But I've never had a boy who was a friend before. What is friendly? Oh, I know.

"Do you want to see some owl eggs?"

He looked at me.

"Do I want to see some owl eggs?? Do I want to see some owl eggs?"

I was looking at him.

He was going on. "Who wouldn't want to see some owl eggs?"

I said, "Come on then, they are down here."

He said, "Tallulah, the answer to who wouldn't want to see some owl eggs is...me!!!!"

I said, "Really?"

And he looked at me.

"You're serious, aren't you, you are genuinely thrilled that you have found some owl eggs?"

I nodded. I felt really stupid now.

And he smiled.

"Come on then, you crazy-kneed girl."

And we set off down the track to find the eggs.

When we went into the barn, the door creaked back. And in the gloom we could see a glow of whiteness. The eggs were lying there, all white and weird. They looked like they were a bit cracked. I hope Connie hadn't sat on them too hard. I also hoped she wasn't around anywhere. It is quite spooky in the barn and a whistling wind blew up from nowhere. Whining in the beams.

Charlie said, "Yes, they are definitely eggs."

I could hardly see his face in the dark of the barn.

What a night I had had: Mummers play, corker rubbing, and now Charlie turning up and me bringing him to look at eggs.

I said, "It's a bit odd, isn't it? Me and the knees, and showing you the eggs. I'm sorry I'm so odd and...odd."

Charlie said, "You're not odd...you're great, I think."

And he sounded like he meant it.

I could hardly believe it.

I've never had anyone, well, a boy person, say that to me before.

I felt like singing my little song. But I know now to resist the call of 'Hiddly diddly diddle'.

Charlie came nearer to me.

"Lullah, things can be quite, erm...complicated in life, can't they? You know, it's not just you."

Was now the time for the Irish dancing?

Just then there was the most horrible screech, and something swooped low and brushed against my face. I was so shocked, I actually grabbed Charlie. Like in a really crap film.

Oh, it was so scary. In fact, it was Connie. Come to check on her eggs. I could hear her chuntering and screeching up in the eaves of the barn.

And suddenly I burst into tears.

Everything in my body seemed to just dissolve into tears.

Charlie said, "It's alright, Lullah, it's not going to hurt you. It's just checking on the eggs. Come on." And he got hold of my hand and took me outside.

He looked so kind and caring in the moonlight, and sort of handsome and brave.

Like Mr Darcy.

Maybe he would pick me up and carry me home. In his breeches.

And for a second, he just looked at me. Then he put his hand under my chin. And stroked my cheek with his other hand.

Cheek stroking! Did that come before snogging? Oh my God. Was this my second kiss???

But he didn't kiss me, he said, "If I'd known that you were going to the cinema, I might have come. And that would have been stupid."

What did that mean?

And then he looked at his watch and said, "Come on, otherwise I get the usual thrashing from the headmaster, if I'm late."

As we walked along, I felt shaky and strange.

To fill in the gaps I said, "I don't think you are allowed to beat school kids any more, it's against the Geneva Convention and European Euro thing."

He laughed and said, "Lullah, you've not seen our headmaster. I am taller than he is. And I've got more legs."

More legs?

When we got to the Dobbins' gate, he gave my arm a little squeeze and said, "See you soon." And he went off into the night.

I was just going through the gate when he came back again.

"Lullah, I..."

I didn't know what to say. I said, "Oh."

He said, "Yep."

I said, "OK, well, good."

And we looked at each other, and then he said, "Night, night."

What did that mean?

I woke up dreaming about Mrs Rochester cantering around my bedroom and then realised that the horsie legs were draped over the end of my squirrel bed.

I had my breakfast and sat on the wall, waiting for Ruby to come out of The Blind Pig. I am not keen to go in there after last night and the Mummers play. Already, one of the regular lads in the darts team has passed me by, neighing. Uh-oh, Mr Barraclough has seen me, he will have a field day. He did.

He said, "Ay up, I'll just go get thee an apple, my beauty. Now don't you poo on my front path."

Oh, this is appalling.

Ruby came skipping out like a whirlwind with Matilda. When she saw me, she started jumping up and down.

"They're here, they're here! The owlets. Hooray! Hooray! Say 'hooray', Matilda. Say 'hooray', like I taught thee at obedience class."

Matilda lay on her back and looked up at me with her lovely buggy eyes. She put her legs in the air.

I said, "Is that hooray?"

Ruby said, "Aye, she's so excited, she's had to have a bit of a lie down."

I gave Matilda a big scratch on her tummy and she quivered like a jelly dog.

Ruby was chatting on. "I've called them Ruby and Lullah. Do you like the names? One of them is bigger than the other and it's got reet long gangly legs, so I thought that one should be thee."

I laughed at her, but I'm secretly loving it that she called the owlets after me and her.

We went down the back way to the barn and opened the door really carefully, shielding ourselves from Connie, if we needed to.

Ruby said, "We'll just peep in and scarper. That was what I did this morning."

I yelled, "Yarrooooo!" But nothing happened. So we went over to the corner where the eggs were, but they weren't eggs any more, they were living, breathing owlets!!!!

Oh, I love them.

Ruby picked one of them up gently and said, "Do you see what I mean about Lullah's legs?"

I said, "Yes."

I felt a big surge of love for little Lullah. She was cheeping and blind and had gangly legs. I said to Ruby, "I am going to become like a big sister to them and always look out for them, and defend them against..."

Ruby said, "Right big mice?"

She was grinning through her gap teeth. Then she held little Ruby down for Matilda to sniff. Little Ruby cheeped and Matilda nearly fell over backwards, and raced for the door.

I started laughing, but then I said, "Maybe Matilda has used her dog hearing, and knows that Connie is coming back."

Ruby started to say, "Dog hearing? I got in her dog basket once when she was snoozing and she didn't even-" Then something creaked, and we shoved the owlets back in the nest and legged it for the door.

As we jogged away from the barn, Ruby said, "Any more lad stuff? Did the lasses track down the Woolfe lads?"

I said, "Yes, but something funny happened to me when I went home. I was-"

And I was just about to tell her about the Charlie incident when Ruben came strolling by with his pigs. Matilda ran away from Smoky and Streaky.

Ruben winked and said, "Ay up, Rube."

And she said, "Ay up, Rube."

And we both laughed.

It was water off a duck's back to Ruben. He said, "Either of you fancy a snog, as I'm doing nowt?"

Ruby said, "Yeah, that would be great, wouldn't it, Tallulah?"

Pardon?