For my Uncle Malcolm who was taken from us too early
Chapter One Pop’s Water Truck I wake with a fright to the sound of Patches barking madly outside my window I pull the curtains back open the window and look outside Sure enough Patches is right under my window looking up at me I smile down at him and say Okay okay I will take you for a walk He wags his tail at me as if to say Hurry up Annie I have been waiting forever I live with my parents in a caravan in a place called Useless Loop and
I just love it My grandparents and their youngest children my aunt and uncles live next to us on the bottom terrace It may seem a bit strange to some people but my aunty and two of my uncles are only a couple of years older than me I don’t know how this has worked out but I am really happy that it has because they are not only my relatives but they are great friends and fun to be around There are only about ten other kids my age in Useless Loop and we are all friends During the holidays we do everything together We go swimming at the beach We go fishing off the jetty and collecting shells We do lots of things But today I have a plan Today I am going to visit my grandad who is
in charge of carting the water that we all use for drinking and cooking It is a lovely warm sunny day and best of all it is school holidays so I can do what I want Come on boy let’s go see Pop Woof replies Patches We walk up the caravan park terraces looking at everything that is going on Seagulls swoop in searching for scraps of food Lizards scurry here and there on lizard business Patches tries to chase a few but they always get away by running under rocks In the distance I can see dust on the road out of town That means Pop is on his way back with a load of water You can always tell when Pop is coming because of the cloud of dust stirred up by his truck We wait as Pop pulls in and swings
