Swap Over

by Margaret Pearce

  Swapover

  by Margaret Pearce

  Published by Astraea Press

  www.astreaeapress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  SWAPOVER

  Copyright © 2012 MARGARET PEARCE

  ISBN 978-1-62135-042-2

  Cover Art Designed by GINNY GLASS

  Edited by B.G. Lashbrooks

  Chapter One

  Maddy knotted the rope firmly above the tree house ladder. The tree house was in Jennifer’s front yard, and Jennifer was Maddy’s very best friend.

  “We can slide down fast if we are in a hurry,” Jennifer explained.

  “Cool,” agreed Maddy.

  She sneaked a look at Jennifer and her glowing, excited face. She loved playing with Jennifer. Jennifer was nice but she was also so lucky! It was like a good fairy had given her every blessing that she ever needed.

  She was an only child without any pesky sisters or brothers. Everyone liked her; all the neighbours and every boy and girl in the district. On top of that, she had parents who gave her everything she asked for.

  Maddy sighed. She wasn’t jealous, because Jennifer was her best friend, but it must be easy to be happy and always popular when life was so wonderful and you had everything you wanted.

  “Here come Milly and Merry,” Jennifer said.

  Maddy scowled down at her two younger sisters. Trust them to hang around where they weren’t wanted! Why didn’t they find some friends of their own to play with instead of bugging her and her friends?

  “What are you both doing here?” she yelled down. “Clear off.”

  “Mum says you’ve got to come home,” Milly called. “It’s your turn to clean out the rabbit hutch.”

  “They’re not my rabbits. Do it yourself.”

  “It is so your turn, Maddy Matson. It’s on the job roster.”

  Maddy scowled again. The job roster had seemed such a good idea when her mother started it. It was neatly printed, kept on the fridge, and the chores were initialled when finished. Now Maddy hated it. It was a nasty, sneaky, unnecessarily truthful record.

  Only once had she put her initials beside her undone chore. Her mother had marched her all the way down to the garage and watched her until she had swept out and cleaned up. After that she had to be very careful to only initial chores she had finished.

  “I'll do it tomorrow.”

  “Mum says you have to come right now,” Milly yelled up at her. “We’re visiting Grandma first thing tomorrow.”

  “And if you don’t come, she’s coming to collect you and you’ll be sorry,” piped up little Merry.

  “I’m coming,” Maddy snarled.

  “See you when you finish,” Jennifer said. “Try out our new rope to get down.”

  Maddy slid down the rope, scowling. Jennifer was so lucky. With no little sisters, her bedroom, garden, and garage never got mucked up, and she didn’t have any stupid, smelly, babyish pets to clean up after. She never had any chores at all. Her time was always free to do exactly what she wanted. She didn’t have little kids around her neck embarrassing her when she was visiting friends.

  Although Jennifer was always nice, even to the pests of little sisters. Maddy scowled even harder. If it weren’t for the fact that Jennifer was her best friend, she would hate her.

  “Come on up and check out the new lookout?” Jennifer called down to Milly.

  “It’s too high for Merry,” Milly called back.

  “We can help her up and she can stay in the playhouse while you come up,” Jennifer said as she slid down to help Merry up the ladder.

  “Why can’t some of Jennifer Walton’s nice nature rub off on you?” her mother often nagged. “You don’t hear Jennifer arguing and yelling at her mother or slamming doors.”

  “She doesn’t have to,” Maddy had yelled. “Her mother’s nice all the time, and doesn’t nag nag nag like you.”

  This retort had earned Maddy an extra evening of doing dishes. Jennifer had a dishwasher in her kitchen. She loved helping Jennifer stack the dirty dishes into it and then turn it on.

  “And about time, Madison,” her mother said when she walked into the house. “You know the rules. No going off to play until your chores are finished.”

  “I forgot, didn’t I?” Maddy retorted, as she headed down the yard to the rabbit hutch.

  That was another humiliation. Fancy having a family of three girls and calling them Madison, Millicent and Meredith. They must have known that their names would be shortened to the comic but not really funny Maddy, Milly and Merry, so they were the laughingstock of the school and the district!

  Maddy got out the spare cage and started catching small, furry bodies to swap into it while she cleaned the big hutch and its run. She hated rabbits and guinea pigs. Why had she ever thought the stupid things were cute? All they did was run around squeaking, eating, messing up their hutches, and fouling up their run and boy could they mess and foul!

  The last rabbit, a new white one, gave her a frantic look out of its pink eyes and scuttled farther into the corner. Maddy reached in to grab it.

  “Come on,” she coaxed.

  She had to rake and clean out the hutch and yard and put in the fresh straw and fresh food pellets. How she hated this chore!

  She stood holding the new white rabbit, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her back and the warmth of its body. Where had it come from? Her father had said that two rabbits and four guinea pigs were the limit for the Matson family.

  “Are you finished out there, Madison?” Her mother called. “It’s your turn to set the table.”

  “Nearly,” Maddy called back.

  The trouble with life in her family was there was never any space or time to pause and think, she thought resentfully. It was always chore after chore waiting to be done.

  Jennifer Walton never had to do chores. Jennifer never had to do anything she didn’t want to. No wonder she was always happy and contented!

  “I wish I could change places with Jennifer,” Maddy said, giving the rabbit a hard squeeze with the intensity of her wish as she dropped it in the cage with the others.

  As she bent down, she suddenly felt icy cold and very giddy. She shut her eyes and clutched at the lawn as everything spun around.

  The dizzy, sick feeling went. She opened her eyes. She was crouched under the big tree in Jennifer’s front yard, still holding the rope she had slid down on. How had she gotten from beside the pet hutch to here? She had felt giddy and closed her eyes and...

  “In you come, Maddy. Dinner’s ready,” Mrs. Walton called cheerfully.

  Maddy opened her eyes and stared at her.

  “Stop daydreaming, Maddy Walton,” Mrs. Walton said again. “Dinner’s ready.”

  It was true! Somehow what Maddy had wished for so hard had really come true! She had changed places with Jennifer!

  Chapter Two

  Maddy sniffed the appetizing smells of roast lamb. No more stew and mashed potatoes, curried sausages, and mash or cottage pie, eaten in the chaos and noise of the Matson kitchen. From now on, she would be eating carefully prepared food in the peace and quiet of an orderly dining room, with no aggravating little sisters grabbing at food, yelling, and telling tales.

  She followed Mrs. Walton into the house. Her legs were aching and so was her head. May
be this swap took lots of energy, because she suddenly felt awfully tired, and not at all like her real self. She paused to inspect her reflection in the hall mirror.

  She still looked like Maddy Matson, except her jeans were really top quality. She stroked the tie-dyed tee shirt from Fiji and grinned at her reflection. From now on, life was going to be just plain wonderful.

  Mrs. Walton had called her Maddy Walton. This proved the exchange was for real. After dinner she would nick back home and check out how Jennifer liked living in a small, crowded house with two bratty sisters.

  It was easy for Jennifer to have a nice nature with plenty of money, everything she wanted, and two nice parents. Would she end up getting soured on life when she had to put up with what Maddy had to put up with day after day?

  “Feeling all right, my darling?” Mrs. Walton asked.

  “Absolutely fab,” Maddy assured her.

  Mrs. Walton patted her on the shoulder and smiled again. Mr. Walton came in, put a plate of roast lamb, roast potatoes, green peas, and plenty of gravy in front of Maddy, pulled a funny face that had Maddy giggling, and sat down opposite her. Mrs. Walton brought in the other two plates and they sat down and ate in comfortable silence.

  Dinner was wonderful with a lemon pudding for dessert. It was just a pity that the weird tiredness and slight nausea meant that Maddy couldn’t enjoy it as much as she had hoped. She had to reluctantly leave most of it.

  “A bit tired are we?” Mr. Walton looked concerned. “It’s early to bed for you, my girl. We can’t have those roses fading from those pretty cheeks.”

  “I’m all right,” Maddy said. “I’m going to just go around and see Jennifer for a little while. We had some homework to discuss.”

  “Not tonight,” Mr. Walton said firmly. “Take the phone into bed with you, and ring her if you want to, but you are going straight to bed after dinner.”

  “That won’t be the same,” Maddy said. “I want to go and see her.”

  “Bed,” Mr. Walton said quietly. He didn’t yell like Maddy’s father, but he sounded more determined.

  “Bed,” Maddy agreed meekly.

  She didn’t usually back down from an argument, but this was her first night of being Maddy Walton, and she didn’t want to arouse any suspicions by behaving like a Maddy Matson.

  She wasn’t even expected to load the dishwasher or carry out the dirty dishes! Being Jennifer Walton was like living like a princess!

  Mrs. Walton escorted her to the bathroom off her bedroom. It was lovely and clean with not a single soggy towel in sight. She folded the nice, satin pyjamas over the towel rail and made sure the scented soap and the fluffy towel were within reach.

  Soon Maddy was showered and changed into the lovely satin pyjamas and tucked into the beautiful four poster bed with the white drapes that she had so envied. Mrs. Walton came in and handed the cordless phone to her to make her phone call to Jennifer. She settled back into the luxury of the big fat pillows on the bed and dialed the Matson household.

  Jennifer sounded just the same, happy and cheerful despite the din in the background of Matson sisters squabbling over which television show they were going to watch. They talked for a while and Maddy promised to come around and visit Jennifer after school the next afternoon.

  Maddy put the phone down thoughtfully. Jennifer didn’t even seem aware that she had swapped families. Maybe, she Maddy Matson, was the only one who knew what had really happened, and Jennifer and both the families were somehow blinded to the swap over?

  She looked around at her beautiful new room, with the desk tucked neatly into one corner, the laptop on the side desk, the two bookcases, and the wall of wardrobe full of trendy clothes. This spacious, clean, well-organized room was all hers! No squabbling messy sisters to poke and pry and spy on her, or touch her belongings. It was all hers!

  Hanging behind the door was another reminder of her wonderful new life. It was the school uniform, blazer and hat. Jennifer Walton went to the most exclusive private school in the district, the one with the swimming pool in its sporting complex and its own private bus for sports days. Maddy sighed blissfully. Life just couldn’t get any better!

  Mr. and Mrs. Walton came in, tucked her in, kissed her goodnight, and turned off the light.

  Although it was a lot earlier than she usually went to bed, Maddy felt awfully tired and really glad to get to bed. She tried to remember whether Jennifer usually went to bed this early, but couldn’t.

  Sometimes Jennifer came around after dinner, but she had always taken it for granted that Jennifer was stuck doing homework the nights she wasn’t around playing. Maddy scowled at the school uniform. The extra workload at the private school might be the one fly in the ointment in her beautiful new life.

  During the night, she had the most dreadful nightmare. She was sweating and her whole body glowed like a furnace. All her joints seemed to have red-hot needles sticking into them. She opened her eyes. It wasn’t a nightmare! The small bedside lamp was on, and Mr. and Mrs. Walton hovered over her. She whimpered with the pain.

  Mr. Walton was holding her upright in bed, while Mrs. Walton held the glass of water to her mouth. Her hands had stopped working and couldn’t hold the glass, although from somewhere down at the bottom of her mind, she knew how necessary it was to drink the water. Also she couldn’t concentrate enough to frame the question of what bad thing had happened to her.

  “Flush the pills down with some more water, my darling,” Mrs. Walton said.

  Maddy gulped down the water and the pills. Mr. Walton left the room. Mrs. Walton sat on the edge of the bed cuddling her. The pain and the nastiness faded into sleepiness. Mrs. Walton lowered her gently back on the pillows, pulled up the doona, patted her cheek, turned off the light, and left the room.

  In the morning, Maddy felt perfectly all right and healthy. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Walton mentioned anything about the dreadful, painful nightmare of what had happened during the night. And if something that nasty had happened when they both had to get up to help her, they surely would have said something? She had just had a weird and particularly horrid nightmare that was all! She dismissed it from her mind.

  This was the first day of her new, perfect life, and she was determined to enjoy every second of it.

  Chapter Three

  Mr. Walton finished his coffee. Maddy waited expectantly. Which one of the Waltons was going to run her to school?

  “I'll drop Maddy off,” Mr. Walton said.

  Maddy felt stiff, awkward, and uncomfortable in the good uniform. Mrs. Walton had plaited her hair back so tightly that her ears felt funny with the strain. It was all going to be worth it though. She would wave graciously to the poor suckers waiting for the bus as they drove past in Mr. Walton’s big, gray car.

  “You’ll have to go to the after school program this afternoon, my pet,” Mrs. Walton said as she handed over the lunch box to be put in the heavy, good quality school bag. “I’ve got meetings this afternoon.”

  After school program! Since when did Jennifer go to after school programs? “I can catch the bus home, and play with the Matson’s until you get back.”

  “You’re not the Matson’s responsibility,” Mr. Walton said.

  “I bet they wouldn’t mind,” Maddy countered.

  This was true. The Matson’s mother never seemed to notice the stray friends, relatives, or others who lined up to be fed with the rest of them. The Matson place was always crowded with relatives who visited and then stayed over, sleeping on the shabby couch in the lounge room, or in sleeping bags on the worn carpet.

  “Besides the extra math coaching is really helping your marks,” Mrs. Walton said, as she kissed Maddy and Mr. Walton and walked to the front door with them.

  “Extra math coaching,” Maddy repeated.

  “You have to be grateful for the school organizing it whenever you use the after school program,” Mr. Walton said.

  “Yeah,” Maddy grouched.

  “I'll collect you about five,” M
rs. Walton promised. “Have a nice day.”

  Maddy waved without enthusiasm to all her friends at the bus stop as they drove past. It was awful to think that school was lasting until five in the afternoon, ending with a math session.

  She cheered up when she was dropped off at the pedestrian crossing and met up with Jennifer’s friends, Rowena and Katrina. Today, they had swimming, so she was going to be able to use the school swimming pool at last. Maddy was relieved to learn that her swimming gear was already in Jennifer’s locker.

  “And God help the rest of us if we forget to bring our gear in every Monday morning,” Rowena said. “That Ms. Matthews yells like a sergeant major if we forget.”

  “And even looks like one,” cheeky little Katrina giggled. “Although you’re lucky. She never yells at you, Maddy.”

  Rowena nudged Katrina hard. Katrina sneaked another look at Maddy and went bright red.

  “So Maddy never forgets her gear like the rest of us,” Katrina almost gabbled. “There goes the bell for Assembly.”

  The school day started. Maddy put in such a hard-working morning that the puzzle of why Rowena had nudged Katrina, and why Katrina had turned so bright red was forgotten. The classes were smaller than at her school. The teachers cruised like sharks around the room, checking that the work was understood and that everyone worked and kept on working.

  She had lunch with Rowena and Katrina. Maddy’s lunch was not as delicious as she had hoped. There were fresh brown bread, salad sandwiches and a smaller plastic box of chopped celery, cheese and dried fruit, a fresh apple –no cakes, or biscuits. It was disappointing, remembering what magnificent biscuits and cakes Mrs. Walton baked.

  It was after lunch that the blow fell. Everyone was lining up to walk across to the swimming pool, swimming bags slung over their shoulders, when Ms. Matthews suddenly noticed Maddy.

  “Maddy,” she trumpeted. “I almost forgot! Your mother rang to say that you are excused swimming this afternoon. Miss Dewitt has offered to take you into her social studies class.”