Jigsaw

by Lynne Roberts

  Chapter Seven

  Rachel was keen to see if the jigsaw would change, as she placed the last piece into it. The picture still showed shops, but by the toyshop a smiling shopkeeper was handing a model sailing ship to a young boy. Further down the street, a postman rode his bicycle past three little girls pushing a pram, while the butcher was opening the door of his shop to an elderly lady.

  ‘Those are all the people we saw,’ said Rachel delightedly. ‘And look, you can even see the smoke of the train in the background behind the shops.’

  ‘I wonder where Billy and Sam are?’ commented Toby, then spotted them playing in an alleyway beside the drapers shop.

  ‘Look, they’ve got the Frisbee,’ exclaimed Rachel. ‘They are all playing with it, all that group of boys. Billy looks happy, see how he’s grinning.’

  ‘At least we did something good for someone,’ said Toby thoughtfully. ‘It makes up for taking the dragon and pinching those sausages.’

  ‘Wasn’t that old lady’s face funny?’ laughed Rachel, as she and Toby chuckled together at the memory.

  After lunch that day, Aunt Phoebe insisted that Rachel help her with the shopping, leaving Toby to rest. Toby didn’t even object. He was exhausted after his strenuous morning and even fell asleep for half an hour. He wandered into the sunroom when he woke up and admired the two finished jigsaws. He was tempted to start on the third but discovered that most of the pieces left in the pile were blue. He gave up and played an energetic game of Hunt the Slipper with Spike instead. After this he fed Spike the remaining cat food and tried to teach him to beg for biscuits. Spike was very enthusiastic about the biscuit part of this but not so keen to beg. Toby ended up with dragon drool smeared down his shirt and narrowly avoided having his fingers nibbled. He looked at Spike as he ate and muttered to himself, ‘I’m sure that dragon has grown since this morning.’

  When Rachel arrived back she proudly showed Toby a whole carton of cat food, explaining that she had told her somewhat reluctant mother that it would be cheaper if they bought it in bulk.

  ‘I even put it away in a cupboard in the laundry so Mum won’t be able to tell how much we are using.’

  The weather had warmed up and it looked as if summer was going to come at last, so Rachel decided that Spike had better sleep in the shed that night.

  ‘We can do what they do for puppies,’ suggested Toby. Well give him an alarm clock. That way hell think it’s his mother’s heartbeat and won’t be unhappy.’ He sounded more confident than he felt. When they went out to the shed after tea, claiming to be playing escaped prisoners again, Rachel brought a small mirror from her bedroom.

  ‘I thought if he looked in this he could see another dragon so he wouldn’t feel so lonely,’ she explained. The mirror turned out to be a brilliant idea. No sooner did Spike see his reflection than he started crooning softly deep in his throat as he gazed in the mirror. They left him still humming contentedly with a saucer of water in case he became thirsty in the night.

  The next day the rain started again as they were having breakfast. Aunt Phoebe was distressed.

  ‘I can’t believe it’s raining again. If it had been sunny, I was going to make a picnic for us all at the beach.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Aunt Phoebe,’ Toby comforted her. ‘I really don’t mind. Rachel and I still have some jigsaw puzzles we want to do.’

  ‘Well, if you’re sure. Otherwise I could take you to the movies in the next town if you wanted to?’

  ‘No Mum, we don’t want to sit in a stuffy movie theatre,’ said Rachel virtuously, thinking that actually they’d rather sit in a stuffy garden shed and play with the dragon.

  ‘Now this time well get properly prepared,’ she insisted as she and Toby washed the breakfast dishes. She made a pile of sandwiches and wrapped them in plastic and grabbed a couple of apples as well. At the last minute she took a tin of corned beef from the pantry. ‘It’s for Spike,’ she whispered to Toby. ‘It’s got its own tin opener stuck to the bottom and so it will be easy to open.’

  Toby found an empty bottle in the cupboard under the sink and filled it with cold water. They packed everything into Rachel’s school backpack.

  ‘This will make it easier to carry Spike,’ said Rachel. ‘He seems to be growing. I hope he doesn’t rip this bag though, or Mum will go berserk.’

  Spike was definitely growing. He was now double the size he had been two days before and Toby was anxiously trying to calculate how much bigger he would grow. He tried to remember a Maths lesson he had been given at school, where the area of a pond doubled each day. After a few calculations he gave up in disgust. His brain would simply not function when it came to doing Maths in the holidays, but whatever the answer was, it looked as if Spike had a lot of growing still to do. They propped the backpack on the mower where Spike couldn’t reach it and gave him two tins of cat food. He was still singing happily to his reflection as they went back inside to the sunroom to start another puzzle.

  ‘Bother,’ declared Rachel a while later, ‘there is masses of blue and it all looks the same. This picture must be mainly sky.’

  ‘Could be sea,’ replied Toby doubtfully. ‘There’s a bit that looks like waves here.’

  They worked on, determined to finish the puzzle. Gradually it took shape and turned out to be a lighthouse perched on a rock in the middle of a blue ocean. As Toby held the last piece the sun came out.

  ‘The rainbow is back in the garden. Quick, let’s get Spike.’ Rachel called.

  They ran to the shed and collected the backpack, with Spike tucked safely inside. Toby led the way over the little bridge across the fishpond and Rachel giggled as she saw Toby turn different colours as he passed through it. She stopped laughing as they crossed the bridge to the other side.

  ‘It didn’t work,’ said Toby blankly.

  ‘But it should. It did the other times. Let’s go back and start again. ‘

  The children crossed the bridge backwards and forwards four times but still nothing happened.

  ‘What are we doing wrong?’ asked Rachel.

  Perhaps it’s something we’re not doing,’ frowned Toby. ‘Wait a minute, the first time I had a piece of the castle jigsaw puzzle in my pocket.’

  ‘I had a piece of the shop one the second time,’ agreed Rachel excitedly. ‘Wait and I’ll fetch a piece of this one.’ She ran inside and picked up a piece of the lighthouse jigsaw, and then together she and Toby crossed the bridge.

  Splash. A wave crashed against the rocks by their feet and a shower of spray was flung up into their faces.

  ‘It worked,’ said Toby in delight.

  ‘It’s very wet,’ said Rachel, backing away from the spray as another wave thundered onto the rocks.

  ‘Come on,’ grinned Toby. ‘Let’s find the lighthouse.’

  They only had to turn around to do this, as the lighthouse rose straight and tall only metres from the rocks. They crunched over a sandy path and began walking around the base.

  ‘Here’s the door,’ called Toby. He climbed a set of iron steps, clinging to the railing as a strong wind blew hard against him. Rachel followed closely behind as he reached the top of the steps and opened a narrow door set in the side of the lighthouse. Inside was a rack of oilskin coats and hats, and beneath it lay a large pair of black rubber boots. A large pile of cartons and crates were stacked untidily beside the coat rack. Some of the boxes looked new while others were old and empty. A steep and narrow spiral staircase filled most of the centre space.

  ‘More steps,’ said Rachel.

  ‘Of course there are steps. Lighthouses are tall and thin,’ replied Toby cheerfully. ‘There must be a lighthouse keeper here somewhere. There has to be someone to switch on the lights at night and sound the foghorn if its misty.’

  The children began climbing, Rachel complaining from time to time as Spike dug his claws into her back. He popped his head out of the backpack and looked around with interest. A small landing showed an open doorway leading to a compac
t kitchen.

  ‘Yuck,’ said Rachel in disgust. ‘It smells!’ The kitchen looked as if a bomb had hit it. Empty packets and tins littered the bench and the floor, while the table was overflowing with dirty plates and cups. A mouldy crust of bread lay on the floor next to a spilt carton of milk, which had gone sour some time ago. Even Spike wasn’t interested in the food remains, most of which were growing unpleasant furry patches. Toby hastily shut the door and the children climbed higher up the stairs. The next landing opened onto a room that was a complete contrast to the kitchen below. The walls were painted a pale blue with gold stars scattered over it at random. A neat bed with a soft blue cover stood under the narrow window and next to it was a beautifully carved wooden chest for storing clothes. A wooden rocking chair stood invitingly on the other side of the bed while a deep blue velvet couch, scattered with blue and gold cushions, sat firmly on a richly embroidered carpet.

  ‘Wow! This is gorgeous!’ breathed Rachel. ‘It’s a room fit for a princess.’

  ‘It’s not bad,’ conceded Toby. ‘At least it’s clean compared to that kitchen.’

  ‘I wonder who lives here,’ mused Rachel.

  ‘Someone who likes a tidy bedroom but hates cooking,’ suggested Toby. ‘Come on, keep climbing. We’re not nearly at the top yet.’

  Rachel groaned but hitched the backpack into a more comfortable position and followed Toby up the stairs. The door was open at the next landing. Rachel took one look through it and recoiled.