Maggie met us at the front door. ‘I prepared some food,’ she said. ‘I had to try out my new barbecue. Now why don’t you all come in?’ Aretta and her brother and dad were in the kitchen with Dad’s friend Derek, and a few of Mum’s friends from the gardening club. Everyone was staring at me, and smiling like crazy. ‘What’s going on?’ I asked Ella. ‘Have I got blue paint on my face or something?’ But she just smiled too. ‘Let’s go outside,’ said Maggie. ‘I’ll lead the way – now that I can.’ We all followed her outside. Now that everything had been swept and tidied, the garden looked totally amazing. Maggie wheeled her chair up and down the new wide paths. She showed us how she could pull weeds out of the raised beds, and how she could use the special pulley-things Aretta’s dad had made, so she could lower and raise the hanging baskets whenever she needed to plant or water them. ‘It’s perfect,’ said my mum.
