The Mysteries Of Corkuparipple Creek: Corkuparipple Creek Worlds Apart

by Susan Pease

  Dinner was very quiet; Geoffrey had talked his mum into letting him go to his friend’s place for a sleepover, so it was just the two sisters and of course, Jo. Bandaid raced after the cat and Jo yelled at him to behave. It was all too boring for Jo to bear but the thought of more adventures with her kooky aunt brought a smile to her face.

  Mum just doesn’t have a clue, she thought.

  When her aunt tucked her into her bed, Jo asked her if Eiki had arrived home safely. The last time she’d seen her was in the hospital but as usual Eiki just disappeared. Aunt Pepper smiled and they talked about the village and how lucky Jo was to have little Eiki as a friend.

  ‘Somebody to grow up with I think,’ said Aunt Pepper.

  Aunt Pepper had the most wonderful voice and sang Jo to sleep. The song went like this. ‘Sleep little Jo, close your eyes very tight, the creatures in the bush will look after you tonight. Do not fret about small stuff and wish on a star, your problems will disappear and you will go far. The gum trees swayed in the moon’s silver light, and love and kindness will surround you, all through the night.’

  The song was so beautiful and Jo did not take long to fall fast asleep. In the blink of an eye Aunt Pepper travelled herself back to the village. She knew that she would have to return to collect her niece. Nevertheless, there was so much work to be done.

  LAVENDER JOE

  The holidays usually involved Jo sitting in her beloved Charity dreaming the days away. Of course it had all started badly and Jo was starting to get a little cranky. Next door was a very old house; in fact it was where Simon lived. The house had been built over one hundred years ago and had stood up to floods, fire and those pesky termites. It had all the traits of an old settler’s cottage with an old-fashioned outdoor dunny. Yes, the dunny house seemed to amuse Jo.

  I can’t imagine how cold it would be to go outside to the toilet! In winter it must be very breezy around your knees.

  The dunny had a huge passion fruit vine growing all over the outside. When the fruit was ripe, the neighbours in the street were invited to help pick them all. It was the same with the apricot trees in the garden. A big barbeque would be put on and everybody would come along and pick, eat and drink their way through the day. It was all in the name of preparing to make jam and yummy pies for the church fete.

  It was Saturday morning, not a very remarkable day and Jo’s mother announced that they were all going next door for the annual picking.

  ‘Oh great! Just what I wanted – to pick stupid fruit, talk to boring neighbours and yet again, waste another day,’ mumbled Jo miserably.

  ‘Don’t be grumpy. Simon will probably be there and you haven’t seen him for ages.’

  ‘Well, that’s because his parents put him in a private school in Brisbane. Can’t think what was wrong with our school. Wondered why I hadn’t seen him around, but of course Melissa knew all about it. Typical, she seems to get all the gossip and to think that I live next door to him and I didn’t know,’ huffed Jo.

  The fact that Simon had tried to tell her the day he helped save Charity from the middle of the creek didn’t even penetrate her brain. Just as Jo was starting to get upset with the thought of another day away from the bush, Geoffrey walked in.

  ‘Hi everyone, what’s this about going next door?’

  ‘Mum wants us to pick fruit, can you believe it! Even when it’s one hundred degrees in the shade,’ scowled Jo.

  ‘What if I take the blow-up pool? You can splash away all you want and cool down.’

  Jo was horrified and stared at her mother in disbelief. What was her mother thinking?

  ‘Mum, I’m nearly ten and the pool is for babies, how embarrassing!’

  ‘I don’t care Mum; it would be okay splashing about. That means I don’t have to do any picking,’ laughed Geoffrey.

  ‘You’re a big lazy poop Geoff, don’t you care that your feet would hang out and it would only fit your big fat bum?’

  ‘I’m not the one with the fat bum and I don’t care if it gets me out of work,’ chuckled Geoff.

  With that, Geoffrey turned away from Jo and showed his bare bottom.

  ‘Oh, put that away you feral rat bag!’ yelled Jo.

  ‘Geoffrey, stop that for heaven’s sake and try to behave,’ scolded his mum.

  ‘I’m not going, you can’t make me. It’s not fair; I would rather go to Melissa’s house. They never go. Melissa doesn’t have to suffer the street party.’

  ‘Well, for peace and quiet I suppose it will be okay as long as Melissa’s mum doesn’t mind. Doreen can get overstressed with juggling work and everything and you know Melissa has had a bad case of chickenpox. I think she’s nearly over it though. Remember her mother has nerves you know.’

  ‘I don’t really care about Melissa’s mother’s nerves. I just don’t want to go next door. Anyhow, Simon is a big pain in the butt for not keeping in touch.’

  Jo was starting to act like a Slurp-it-Downs with a terrifying grumpy attitude. She went to the kitchen to call Melissa but unfortunately the phone just kept on ringing.

  ‘Damn and blast it, looks like I’ll have to go next door after all.’

  When they went next door, most of the neighbours were busy picking the fruit. They had large bagsful and Jo noticed how most ate more than they were putting into the bags.

  Hope they all get bellyache, she thought peevishly.

  With that she heard a voice.

  ‘Smelly girl in a very bad mood I think. Better not wish bellyache on everybody, may end up with one herself.’

  Eiki was hiding behind the outside toilet.

  ‘Eiki, what are you doing here? It’s bad enough I have to waste my time. You could be in the bush having fun!’

  ‘Just wait Jo, have something to show you soon; a little comedy to brighten up your day.’

  Jo was not sure what Eiki was thinking, it sounded mischievous. Sure enough within minutes the toilet pan collector arrived to collect the full pan. He opened the door and reached in and put the toilet pan on top of his head to carry it to the truck. All of a sudden there was a loud crash as the bottom fell out of the pan. Poop covered the poor man and he stood shaking and stinking. Everybody turned and laughed at such a sight. Simon’s dad ran and grabbed the hose to clean him off.

  ‘Yes, now we can call him Lavender Joe,’ laughed Eiki.

  ‘Oh gosh, he stinks and it’s definitely not lavender,’ said Jo with her hand over her nose and mouth.

  Eiki rolled on the ground with tears running down her face.

  ‘Eiki, did you do that?’ shrieked Jo splitting her sides with laughter.

  ‘Maybe, sort of, could have,’ said Eiki cheekily.

  This of course stopped the whole day in its tracks. Everybody deserted the fruit-picking holding his or her noses. Simon’s parrot was hanging on the clothesline and in a loud voice squawked, ‘God bless you all’.

  That completely totalled Jo and Eiki out and together they rolled on the grass laughing hysterically; of course out of everybody’s view. The day would be one to remember. What a very naughty Eiki Slurp-it-Downs. Jo didn’t care, it was so funny. When Jo got home her mother was still shaking her head at the incident.

  ‘Don’t make toilet pans like they used to. Goodness knows how that poor man’s wife will get the stink out of his clothes!’

  ‘Mum, it’s just as well he had his mouth closed ,’ laughed Jo.

  ‘Don’t be disgusting,’ said Geoff running out of the room with his hand over his mouth.

  ‘Mum, didn’t see Simon anywhere today, do you know where he is?’

  ‘Don’t know, maybe he was lucky enough to go to his grandparents.’

  That would be right, thought Jo.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Double Figures

  Jo knew that soon, her mother would be asking her what she would like to do for her birthday. With previous birthdays, Jo would announce “nothing” but this year it was different. Ten seemed to be so grown up; in fact, Jo felt it was the key
to being accepted. Most times her opinion was ignored but now she assumed that her ideas about “stuff” would be taken seriously. Her birthday was always in the school holidays and that made it difficult for most of the kids in her class to attend any party. Every year it seemed that most of the kids’ parents had arranged great and exciting holidays away. Jo would feel grumpy because they couldn’t go away. Her mum had to work or look after Melissa, it didn’t seem fair. Nevertheless, Jo always sucked it in and didn’t let her mum know how she felt. It wouldn’t be right and after all, they had Christmas together. Jo’s intuition was spot on as the next morning her mother asked her the question.

  ‘Jo, what would you like to do this year for your birthday and don’t say “nothing”. Why don’t you have a sleepover? Melissa is well over her chickenpox I think and I’m sure not everybody in your class has gone away. In fact, there would be some of the girls left to celebrate your tenth birthday.’

  Jo looked at her mum with bright eyes and thought about a sleepover. She had never had one of those before.

  ‘Could you put up with a few girls overnight, I mean, you usually worry about getting enough sleep?’

  ‘Well, if it’s on a Friday or Saturday I don’t have to work the next day. Now that you will soon be double figures, you’re almost grown up.’

  Did she say what I thought she just said, I’m almost grown up? Goodness what a difference a year makes.

  ‘Okay Mum that sounds great, I’ll figure out who to invite and get back to you.’

  Jo’s mum laughed and continued with making breakfast. Geoffrey, on the other hand, was gleeful at thinking what kind of mischief he could inflict on all the girls. Teasing girls was his specialty, especially his big sister. Yes, this would be a night to remember.

  After breakfast Jo wandered down to Charity. This was the best place to think about her party.

  A sleepover, that’s great, never would have thought about one of those, pondered the thrilled girl. Sitting in the old boat, Jo started to write down a party list. First the guests and then everything she needed to get to make it fantastic.

  ‘Let’s see, I’ll invite Melissa, Sky, Olivia and Kara and of course, there’s me. That’s enough; I’m not inviting Zoe, she always picks on me. I need balloons and heaps of things to eat and paper plates then there’s no washing up.’

  ‘You need stuff for Eiki,’ announced a little voice coming from the creek bank.

  ‘Eiki hi, I’m making a list for my birthday party, some of my school friends will be invited.’

  ‘Eiki Slurp-it-Downs too?’

  ‘Oh gosh, I can’t invite you; nobody is allowed to see you.’

  ‘Don’t care, I’m your best friend and I am going, so there.’

  She stamped her feet and jumped up and down, and then she took off.

  ‘Great, now I’m in trouble with a very cranky Slurp-it-Downs, just what I needed. Goodness, what’s going to happen now? Hopefully nobody will notice her. You have to be open to see the creatures and I don’t think my friends are up to that stage yet. At least I hope not, otherwise I’ll have a lot of explaining to do,’ she mumbled.

  Jo continued writing her invitations on trendy red and blue paper.

  ‘I feel a little guilty for using all this paper. It’s my tenth birthday and it’s not like I’m using heaps. There will still be lots of trees after I’ve used only a few pieces.’

  Still, in the back of her mind, she worried about Eiki causing a riot and her friends discovering her secret. She wasn’t ready to tell everybody about something not yet discovered.

  Eiki, on the other hand, was cranky and full of rage She arrived back in the village with steam coming out of her ears.

  ‘Not fair at all, smelly girl doesn’t want me at her party. I’m her very best friend, I’m still going and that’s that. Nobody will see me and all her school friends are stupid.’

  ‘Eiki, what are you carrying on about?’ asked her confused mother.

  ‘Jo is going to have a birthday party and she said I can’t go.’

  ‘Well, you have to respect her wishes; maybe it’s only for human friends. You can celebrate here with all the creatures later on.’

  Eiki was definitely not happy with her mother’s remarks and stormed into her room, slamming the door.

  ‘That went well,’ said her mother, and kept on cooking not worrying about Eiki’s behaviour.

  After all, Eiki was always in a Slurp-it-Downs rage.

  Jo walked along the road, invitations in her red-hot hands. She was so excited at the thought of having all her friends stay over, especially as it was the first time. She would deliver them personally so there was no problem. Lots of the mailboxes had been burnt in the fire so it was one way to make sure all her friends actually got the mail.

  Everybody has a week to reply, so no excuses not to get back to me, she thought.

  Everything was in order and Jo soon forgot about Eiki. After a few days some replies came in. Melissa was to come; Beth was away and so were Kara and Sky, but Olivia could come.

  ‘Damn, that means only two plus me. It’s not fair! I hate having my birthday in the holidays,’ moaned Jo.

  ‘Don’t worry Sis, I’ll be there and that’s all you need,’ announced Geoff teasingly.

  ‘Oh no you’re not! It’s girls only. No smarty-pants brothers causing trouble.’

  Geoff laughed; this was going to be a hoot. Didn’t matter how many girls were coming he was going to have a great time. He ran next door to see if his friend Ted had any ideas on how to tease the girls. Together the boys would have a whale of a time; they just had to work out the details of their teasing. The thought of upsetting a group of girls was all their dreams coming true at once.

  Jo’s mother explained that it didn’t matter how many were coming.

  ‘You’ll still have a great time, how about pizza and chips, lemonade and an ice-cream birthday cake? We can have a video or two and you can all sleep in the lounge downstairs. I promise to keep Geoffrey away. In fact I’ll arrange for him to stay at Ted’s for the night.’

  Jo was so relieved as she had forgotten about Geoffrey. He could cause heaps of trouble.

  The day finally arrived and Jo dashed down the stairs falling over Tim Tam at the bottom. Crash, she went over and bumped her eye on the stair balustrade.

  ‘Stupid fat cat; why did you have to be at the bottom of the stairs sitting right in my way? Haven’t you got anywhere better to go!’ yelled Jo. Her mum came running out of the kitchen.

  ‘Oh no – not today! Jo, you’re always getting into trouble. Let’s get some ice on your eye.’

  She picked up the miserable girl and went back into the kitchen shaking her head. Jo sat at the table and started to cry.

  ‘It’s not fair. It’s my birthday and I’m ten years old but I still feel like a little kid. I thought I would be sort of grown up.’

  ‘It’s okay Jo; you’re sort of grown up, even grown-ups have oops.’

  Her eye was as big as a balloon, red and yucky.

  ‘Great work, how am I going to see the videos now?’ she sobbed.

  ‘By the time the girls get here your eye will have gone down. Don’t panic. Go and open your present, it’s right in front of you.’

  Jo opened her gift. Inside the leather box was a beautiful watch. It was silver with some charms dangling from the band; very grown-up.

  ‘You always get confused with the time Jo, so now you can have the time with you. No need to panic every day about what time it is,’ said her mum gently.

  Geoffrey came in and cracked up laughing at the sight of his sister’s eye.

  ‘I noticed you took some paint off the stair rail. That’s because you have a fat head. By the way, happy double figures,’ said Geoff smiling.

  ‘Mum, can I have some toast with ice on the side?’ laughed her annoying brother.

  Jo sat there looking with one good eye, holding an icepack on the damaged one. Not impressed at all with the little brat. She loved th
e new watch though and giggled, her mum thinks the time confused her. It’s really the time warp that keeps on happening in her life that’s the trouble. The watch will be useful; at least she doesn’t have to run down the stairs to check the time on the kitchen clock every time she just happens to pop in and out.

  The rest of the day ran smoothly and everything was set up in the lounge. Sleeping bags, pillows, plates of chips were put in place and of course, the videos. The room was decorated perfectly for a ten-yearold’s sleepover party. At four o’clock the girls started to arrive. Melissa came first; she still had a few spots from the chickenpox.

  ‘Hi Jo, what happened to your eye?’

  ‘Just had an oops on the stairs, it’s okay now, just a bit sore. Geoffrey thought it hilarious; I don’t think it’s funny at all.’

  ‘Brothers are like that, don’t worry we’ll keep him away from you tonight. After all, it’s your special birthday.’

  ‘Mum’s making him go next door, can’t trust the rat bag, and she wants no trouble.’

  ‘That’s a good idea, don’t want him putting frogs in our sleeping bags do we,’ laughed Melissa.

  ‘More like cane toads, he loves to catch them,’ said Jo.

  Olivia arrived with a huge pressie.

  ‘Hi Jo, can’t wait till you open this beauty.’

  ‘What on earth is in that?’ asked Jo in wonder.

  ‘Open it up, it’s fantastic,’ said Olivia excitedly.

  Jo pulled the blue-coloured paper off the box and inside was an amazing pressie. It was a huge salt crystal lamp sitting on a wooden stand.

  ‘Oh wow, it’s one of those lights that glow pink and changes the energy in a room. It’s all natural, not plastic at all. It will make my bedroom clean and calm, thank you heaps,’ said Jo gratefully.

  ‘Yes, Mum has a few at home and she says they are fantastic to have when you are meditating. Melissa told me you go into the bush to meditate; now you can meditate in peace in your room.’