by Ryan Casey
She leaned against the side of the door like a cat rubbing up to a person’s leg. ‘So, Mr. O’Donnell, have you got any mysteries for me to solve today?’
‘At 7 in the morning? Only mystery is how you manage to pull yourself out of bed at that time.’
She giggled before giving me a playful tap on my side. Quite a good line for me. I was glad she approved. I nodded my head and laughed back.
Emily always seemed to be playful. A strand of her light brown hair dangled in front of her eyes as the tip of her tongue poked through the little gap in her front teeth. She was quite tall for her age and skinny, like me. I guess we were a good match in that sense.
‘And where’s your cousin today? Not still sleeping, surely?’ Emily asked.
‘Yeah, he—’
I was interrupted by the sight of my cousin, still half-naked, behind Emily. He was preparing to make her jump. He tickled her sides and let out the roar of a monster.
‘Agh! Adam, you absolute idiot! One day I’m gonna get you back, I promise.’ She tickled him back with that grin plastered across her face.
Sneaking up on her through the back door. Great. I was nothing but Emily’s distraction now that she had Adam to focus on. I wish I could get away with being mean to girls. Whenever I was mean to girls, I got my name on the board and two ticks next to it. I sat up on my knees in front of Heather Grimshaw once in Year 3, just to see what happened. The class was not comfortable with a rebellious Liam O’Donnell. I got shouted at and ended up running across the playground into my mum’s arms in tears. I couldn’t cope with that sort of guilt. I remember being so disappointed in front of my mum and dad. They taught me to be good and friendly.
We invited Emily in for breakfast. After some debating with Adam, I decided on Coco Pops. He won the only pack of Coco Pops Crunchers through a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Maybe I’ll get to try them next time. Still, breakfast was a bit of a disaster anyway. I remembered the milk from last night and decided to eat my cereal dry, which Adam did regardless. While we ate, we talked about mysteries we’d encountered. Adam said he’d seen a boy with a chainsaw the other day, convincing him that there was some sort of planned murder on the horizon. Emily said she’d seen the same boy cutting trees and suggested that Martin, the campsite owner, had hired him to do some work. I still thought it might all be a cover for his murderous ways.
‘Morning, boys, and oh—you okay, Emily?’ asked Gran. She appeared around the corner with rollers curling through her hair. Her sticky slippers clicked against the padded floor, emitting a satisfying pop, like bubble-gum.
‘I’m good, thanks, Mrs. O’Donnell,’ Emily said.
‘Well it’s lovely to have you for breakfa—aga-eurgh! Who on Earth left this milk in this fridge in this state?’ The milk slurped over Gran’s Weetabix like the nasty thick custard they gave us with our school dinners. ‘I tell you, boys, your granddad is in big trouble when he gets home. Bloody wind-up merchant, that man.’
Granddad’s car did arrive, and he was in trouble, but he gave Adam and me a chocolate bar anyway, which was always a nice treat. I handed mine to Emily in a moment of genius.
‘Aw, thanks, you absolute cutie!’
Adam’s face sunk towards his cereal, his eyes twitching between the two of us. I winked over at him. Maybe being mean wasn’t always the way, after all. Carla sniffed at the slush of the smelly Weetabix before turning away. It must have been bad if even Carla ignored it.
‘So, what’s the plan for today?’ Adam asked, turning to look at me.
‘Well, I figure we could go down to the beach for a bit,’ I said. ‘See if Mr Rogers is still collecting those fossils.’
Emily leaned in to stare into my eyes. ‘Oh yeah, what do you reckon that’s all about?’
I cleared my throat and turned my eyes back towards the table.
‘How cool would it be if he’s trying to reincarnate a dinosaur and build his own Jurassic Park or something?’ Adam asked.
I sniggered. ‘Come on, Adam, how old are you?’
Adam curled his eyebrows upwards. ‘Old enough not to be wearing baby PJs. I thought you were twelve?’
Emily covered her mouth with her hand and looked back at the table.
I smiled and tried to brush his comments away. ‘You little fool. What are you like? Anyway, we’ve got to ask Donald about the caves later.’
Adam’s eyes widened. ‘Oh yeah! Do you reckon he’ll take us, Liam? Like, last time we went, it was so good. Bit too scary for girls, though.’ Adam crept his hand across the table towards Emily like a spider. She brushed his hand away and grinned at me.
‘Do, um, you reckon you’ll be able to come?’ I asked. I knew it was a long shot.
Emily scratched at the side of her head and played with her hair, diverting her eyes. ‘Well, I—I’ll have to ask my parents. But they’re out right now.’
Adam rolled his eyes upwards. ‘When are your parents ever in?’
‘They just like to go shopping a lot,’ she said. She looked back up at me and smiled. ‘Boring adult stuff.’
Adam jumped up and wandered towards the bedroom to put some clothes on. ‘I bet they’re always shopping,’ he shouted. ‘Gran says they’re probably rich.’
Emily frowned and turned back to me as Adam disappeared into the bedroom. It was a good thing that Gran and Granddad had left the room, or Adam would be in trouble for being rude.
‘Surprised you haven’t got out of those PJs yet,’ Emily said.
I blushed. It sounded like something someone on a Bond film would say, although I don’t think she meant it that way. ‘Yeah, I… they are a bit daft aren’t they?’
Emily giggled. ‘They’re cute. Ignore your cuz, he’s only messing around.’
We stared at each other for a moment. My stomach jittered.
‘Liam, have you put some of your ballstranglers in my drawer?’ Adam shouted.
Emily and I laughed before I headed into my room to get changed.
*
We headed to the den after we’d put the finishing touches on our action plan. The walk down through the caravan site always seemed to be a little weird. The old couple at the top of our road always sat in the window, looking down and smiling at us.
‘What d’you think they’re looking at, Liam?’ Adam asked.
I shrugged and rolled my eyes. ‘They’re always looking. They’re being friendly. No point bothering with them.’
‘Weird how they gave me that Easter egg though,’ Adam said. ‘I mean, it’s not even Easter.’
We went through the gate and down across the wasteground. Adam jolted towards the middle like a cheetah closing in on his prey. He picked up the biggest rock he could carry and flung it at the piece of congregated steel.
The rock collided with the middle of the steel. Another day that he’d managed to hit the bull’s-eye. Adam pointed his thumbs at his back, jumping around like a football player celebrating a winning finish.
‘You’re such an idiot sometimes, Adam,’ Emily said.
‘You’re just jealous of my stone throwing skills. Betcha couldn’t hit the same spot I’ve hit every day.’
Emily sniggered. ‘Rubbish, there’s marks all over that thing.’
Adam looked towards me with those piercing eyes and that mischievous smile. I begged him in my head. Don’t make me throw. Not in front of her.
‘That’s not me. Those marks are all of Lanky’s shots.’ Adam pointed over at me.
My stomach sank. I tried to smile, but only managed to clench my teeth together. ‘That’s not true,’ I said.
Adam’s grin extended. ‘Then prove it.’
What an idiot. I couldn’t back out now. It would make me look even more of a fool. I’d probably miss, but if I gave up, I’d get teased for it even more. If I tried, at least I had a chance. Fumbling around for a stone, I pretended I knew what I was doing. How much skill did it really take to throw a rock at a piece of junk?
Adam hopped on top of a rock an
d held his hands in front of his mouth like he was speaking into a microphone. ‘Okay, ladies and gentleman, prepare to see the champion of the losers of stone throwing beat his all-time record of missing the steel completely.’ Adam pretended to broadcast in a bad American accent.
Prepare to see a rock slip out of my hand and right into your face.
I lined myself up, and Adam hopped down with a commentator’s swagger and pointed to the spot I had to hit.
‘One rock, one chance. Win, and I’ll do a forfeit for the day. Lose, and I’ll make sure Gran gives you extra sprouts when we get in later,’ Adam said.
How hard could it be? Emily watched on, fingers in her mouth.
I arched my back and felt the weight of the rock leave my body. It chimed as it crashed against the surface, hitting just left of centre.
Adam looked surprised and struggled for words as Emily clapped and cheered. I found an extra spring in my step as I walked towards the steel, but tried to keep my face straight, as if hitting shots this well were a normality for me.
‘Not bad for a loser… but, you snooze, you lose,’ Adam said, before jumping towards me and boxing me like a punch bag.
‘Actually, I didn’t think it was such a bad throw myself.’
None of us had noticed Donald in the background, approaching from the grey steps.
Adam jolted round. ‘You scared me then, Donald!’
He’d make a really good spy, infiltrating army bases and discovering secrets about alien technology of the future. If he sneaked up on us this well, he’d have no problems with bigger missions. Maybe he could teach us to do the same and be as good as he was. He was a great teacher, and Adam, Emily and I could be his three agents.
‘You shouldn’t throw stones at someone else’s property, kids. You know this,’ he said.
My stomach tingled. ‘Sorry, Donald. I didn’t realise it belonged to anybody.’ I didn’t like upsetting Donald. His face looked serious.
‘We are really, really sorry,’ Adam said, glancing at me. I hoped I hadn’t blown it. Typical for an adult to catch me throwing a rock the one time I had given it a shot.
Donald shook his head. ‘That’s quite okay, Liam. I’m not going to make a fuss. We were all kids once upon a time, as much as us oldies hate to admit it. Just be glad it’s me who caught you and nobody else. Some people have a funny way of sticking their nose where it isn’t wanted, eh?’
We nodded. Thank God he’s not annoyed with us. We couldn’t lose him. He was vital to solving our mysteries, and he told exciting stories.
‘Nice den you’ve made, by the way.’
Adam and I turned to each other, eyes wide. How did he know about our den?
‘Don’t look so scared now, kids. I know about it. I’ve seen you going in and out of it, and I think you’ve done a fine job. But don’t fret. Your secret’s safe with me.’
He tapped the side of his nose. I didn’t know what nose tapping meant last week, but he told me this was how to keep secrets. Mark it with a tap. At first I thought he had a really itchy nose.
‘I have a little something for you three, anyway. Just something I found in my garage when I nipped back home. I suppose you could use it more than me these days. If you’re down at the den around three o’clock, I’ll bring it up to you. That’s if you’re okay with an old biddy like me entering, of course.’
I smiled back at him. ‘Nah—that’d be good, Donald. Thanks.’
‘Good to hear it. I’ll see you later in that case. Ah, I see your granddad on the horizon.’
Donald waved goodbye to us and walked away up the hill where my granddad headed down. Carla ran up to him, and Donald fussed over her as she licked his hand. Donald and Granddad patted each other on the back and separated. Strange. Granddad didn’t usually act like that with people. He headed toward us. Emily sat perched on the large rock, throwing smaller stones at a bigger one, like a caveman’s version of tiddlywinks.
‘Hope you kids are keeping yourselves out of trouble,’ Granddad said.
Why did he act that way with Donald? He didn’t know we were friends with him, just that he helped us out with our mysteries sometimes. Donald had an old log cabin that he tended to, which must’ve been full of gardening equipment. He didn’t let us inside, but was keen to make sure we always had somewhere to go.
‘I hope you’re keeping yourself out of trouble, Granddad,’ Adam replied.
Granddad rustled Adam’s hair. ‘I’m off to the beach. Taking Carla for a walk. Your gran wants you back for tea at five. Sprouts tonight, Liam.’ He winked at me.
As he walked off into the distance, Adam nudged me. ‘Told you you’d get sprouts if you hit such a lame shot.’
We walked up the steps and towards Emily’s road. The den sat at the bottom of the road, near the entrance of the woods. It was probably quite easy for a small person to get inside. Luckily, everyone round here either had a bad back or was really tall. Adam led the way and took a glance from side to side as we reached the lower entrance, close to Emily’s caravan. Then, he lifted the door we’d created out of old leaves tied around string. We had fiddled with that for days until we finally broke down and asked Donald for help. He provided us with the string, but we wouldn’t tell him what it was for. Inside, there wasn’t much room to manoeuvre and it was rather cosy—we had a log which we used as a seat, an area in the middle where we could have picnics and work things out, and a small area covered in leaves where Adam kept a bucket for us to piss in.
I looked at my watch: 3:00 pm.
‘Donald should be here soon, Ad,’ I said.
Adam grinned. ‘He’s great isn’t he? Like, he gets stuff that the other adults don’t get. It’s like he’s a big kid, too, really.’
‘I suppose he is pretty great. Anyway, we should keep on lookout. We don’t want Mrs. Barnes asking us why we’re hanging around again.’
‘I wish she’d just let it go, the stupid old hag,’ Adam said, bashing a stick against the tree branch in the middle of the den. ‘Not like it’s her property. It’s our property. What’s her big problem? Just cause we don’t have money to pay doesn’t mean it’s not ours.’
I thought about what Adam said. We didn’t have much money so we’d have to pay for the land our den was on with the mysteries we’d collected. Perhaps we could offer the caravan site a load of unsolved mysteries in return for their services and the den. Maybe they’d upgrade us to a real office, which would really help matters. The den was good, but we never brought our best mystery record books out because we didn’t want to spill mud on them. Or wee from the toilet, in the form of the Thomas the Tank Engine bucket Adam had snatched from the hands of a toddler a few days ago.
Adam sat writing on an old junk pad in pencil, while Emily perched logs against the little tree.
‘It’s way too cramped in here,’ I said. ‘Why don’t we clean the buckets out and use those as seats?’
Adam frowned and curled his face together. ‘And where will we pee if we get rid of our toilet, genius?’
Emily cringed.
‘Um, in a toilet, like normal people,’ I said.
Adam shook his head. ‘Look, I stole it, so I’ll decide what to do with it. If you want one to sit on, go steal one for yourself.’
Emily carried on cringing and squeezed her nostrils between her fingers. ‘It smells gross,’ she said, sticking her tongue out.
The smell reminded me of bedwetting. I’d smelt that bedwetting smell the other night. Gran said it was because Adam was stressed because of what had happened to his parents, and that it was a phase. I’d told Emily about it one day, when he was winding me up, but he’d gotten really upset. He punched me and ran home. I felt guilty at once, but I hated it when he showed me up in front of Emily. He got what he deserved, sometimes.
I heard a rustling in the bush behind us—someone was watching us. We edged ourselves towards the top of the den, ready to cover our evidence no matter what it took.
‘I hope I’m not interr
upting anything, kids.’
It was Donald. He crouched as he poked his head through the hedge. The twig and leaf door could still use some work. He had something under his arm, like a large log with a monster’s teethmarks in it.
Adam’s eyes widened. ‘Is that a piece of evidence, Donald? One of the ones you told us about? Is it something from the cave? Something…’
Donald held his hand up and shook his head, a smile invading his face as Adam’s imagination rattled. His crooked nose held his glasses to his head like a magnet. ‘I wish, my boy, it was. But I hope you’ll settle for something I made for you. I couldn’t help but notice that chair you have over there, and, with all due respect, I thought real mystery solvers like yourselves would benefit from a real clue-cracking chair.’
The new chair really was brilliant. It even had a table-like contraption on the front of it, where Donald said we could rest our work so it wouldn’t get covered in mud. I thanked him.
Adam tested it out, and Emily stood with her arms folded.
Donald looked over at Emily. ‘How you doing, Emily? Keeping the boys in check?’
Emily smiled, turning away from Donald. She kept her arms wrapped round her body. She didn’t really reply to Donald but nodded back at him.
Donald shuffled his feet. ‘I’m off anyway, you lot. I hope you’re happy with that. I’ll be seeing you around.’
He pulled his head out of the doorway, before poking it back in a few seconds later. ‘By the way, no self-respecting mystery cracker has a toilet in their office.’ He smiled at us again, before disappearing out the exit for the last time.
Soon after, Emily’s dad showed up to take Emily home. He didn’t spend much time with us. He grunted at us and grabbed Emily’s arm.
‘I’ll see you,’ she said, smiling at us as she left. She always seemed shyer in front of her dad.
He held her arm and walked her away. Maybe she felt embarrassed. I remember before my mum and dad started arguing, I’d act a bit different in front of them. I thought so anyway. I spotted a bruise on her arm above where her dad grabbed her. I guess it’s not uncommon for kids our age to get bruises. Adam’s knees were covered in them, like puddles on a field after a rainy evening. I was a bit cleaner in my appearance and didn’t bruise all that easily. Emily walked off past Valerie’s caravan, and rounded the corner past the mouth of the woods before vanishing out of sight.
