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
Ear wrecking your back fence and having to be sent off to your cousin’s farm while your dad fixes it You could turn it into some kind of pets and the funny stuff they do story Sheep push down fences all the time said Pollo It’s not enough She tossed a woodchip from the garden high in the air and batted it with her palm It hit Mayor Bullock’s car with a soft thud There’s a thought said Will He slid off the wall and picked up an old ballpoint pen from the dirt He pulled out the inner tube and turned to Pollo a glint in his eye Got any paper Pollo drew her notepad from under her T-shirt where it hung with her pencil on a leather thong She ripped off a page Here you go I sure don’t need it to take notes on any news Will began tearing the paper into pieces and popping them into his mouth What are you doing said Pollo Will his cheeks puffed out grinned He waved for more paper and then more After serious mashing he took the gooey greyish-white gob from his mouth and divided it into twelve greyish-white gobettes These he rolled into balls and lined up on the wall He fed one into the barrel of the empty pen 9
narrowed his eyes and brought the loaded pen to his lips Rear-view mirror he said He blew hard and fast Thew The paper dob hit the mayor’s car window where it clung like a bird dropping Pollo swung around to see if anyone had noticed But the few people on the street all had their heads lowered against the sun barely looking beyond their feet Here give me a go She grabbed the pen barrel loaded it and took aim Thew Her spitball hit the back passenger door They giggled Will’s next one hit the front wheel then Pollo scored the rear-view mirror at last Soon they weren’t aiming at any part of the mayor’s sedan in particular They were ripping out the pages of Pollo’s notebook and chewing them into gobs as fast as they could muster spit Will was taking aim for the twentieth time when Pollo grabbed his arm and pulled it down She pointed to the Federal Hotel across the street Three people were shaking hands on the top step the familiar flaxen toupée of one of them gleaming Mayor Bullock Pollo squinted His companions Pollo guessed were both in their late twenties The man was as broad as Mayor Bullock but far more muscly His watch looked big enough to direct a NASA space probe 10
