CHAPTER ONE She darted along the shadowy trail adrenalin sparking through her limbs Her eyes scanned for the snatches of white shirt flickering through the trees of the forest ahead her nostrils twitched for shifting scents her ears strained for every snap every cry every rustle every Let’s go back now The voice was like a frypan clanging on the head of Pollo di Nozi Youth Reporter for the Coast newspaper She leapt around to face its owner You can’t be serious Will Pollo hissed We’re chasing the first case we’ve had in weeks and you want to go back The first case you’ve had in weeks said Will I thought you wanted to help All I know is it’s stinking hot and there are bull 5
ants everywhere and you won’t let me wear these Will pointed at the rubber thongs sprouting from his hip pockets I do want to help but ouch He slapped a fat red ant off his foot You were going to give us away in those things Flap-flap flap-flap Why aren’t you wearing runners Hang on said Will One minute we’re washing windows in the main street of town Next thing we’re tailing someone on Diamond Jack’s Trail How did I know to wear runners I’ve told you a million times Will Hopkins a good investigator is always ready for action You’re the investigator not me muttered Will Pollo squinted through the haze of dust motes and tiny bugs the sun bouncing off the eucalypt leaves The flashes of white were getting harder to spot Okay she whispered put your thongs back on But for goodness sake try to be quiet Ash Swift is in some kind of trouble We don’t want to spook her into running away 6
CHAPTER TWO It had been Will’s idea three hours earlier to wash windows and earn a bit of cash Somehow he’d got through the pocket money meant to last to the end of January Mr Squeaky the window cleaner was holidaying at the coast and Will saw an opening Their first stop was the Riddle Gully Second-Hand Emporium where the owner Sherri was an old friend of Pollo and her family It was only when Will broke the second item in the window that Sherri seemed to get tetchy She waved them out the door with the dustpan brush Okay here’s five bucks each It’s time you skedaddled I’ve got a mountain of work to do Thanks for all your help But we’re only half-finished said Will 7
Really Sherri looked along the glass shopfront with its smears and swirls Looks great to me She shut the shop door firmly its bell tinkling I reckon Sherri wanted to get rid of us said Will flopping down on a low wall where the Rotary Gardens met the footpath She was worried there’d be nothing left to sell if we stayed said Pollo sitting beside him Put it this way I think Mr Squeaky’s business is safe She swatted a fly Anyway I should be out finding news stories not washing windows But it’s summer holidays said Will Not for much longer My first column of the year is due next week My editor emailed me yesterday just in case I’d forgotten Next week Will And I’ve got zip Since New Year there’s been an outbreak of goodwill and happiness She pointed to a large black sedan parked in the shade nearby Even Mayor Bullock’s been behaving himself Just cos nothing bad has happened said Will doesn’t mean nothing newsworthy has happened What about the home you and your dad found for those ducklings There’s such a thing as good news right Good news is strictly a last resort Maybe you could write about Shorn Connery and 8
