Mo
Mum made us sit around the big table at dinner, which was annoying. When it was just me and her, we used to sit on the sofa with trays while Schrodinger stole food off our plates. I didn’t know why we had to act all fancy just because of the new people.
Nobody spoke.
‘Is the dinner OK?’ Mum looked worried. ‘I tried to make something everyone would like…’
‘What do you call it?’ Lottie said.
‘Cottage pie.’
‘And the green stuff is?’ Lottie scooped some up on her fork and let it drop back onto the plate.
‘Broccoli.’
‘Really? I’ve never had broccoli like this before. How … interesting.’
‘Sssss prowt,’ Sadie said.
‘Don’t be so rude, girls!’ Spencer gave them a very cross look.
‘Grouw hsssss.’
‘That language is unacceptable, Sadie.’ Spencer’s voice was loud and a bit shouty. ‘Last warning.’
Mum looked like she might cry.
‘It’s lovely, Mum,’ I said. ‘You’re the best at cooking, ever.’
‘Thanks Mo-Bear.’ Mum smiled at me.
Lottie sniggered.
Sadie hissed.
Spencer tutted and slammed his fork down on the plate.
‘Ice cream van!’ Lottie shouted, running to the front window with Sadie behind her.
Then I heard the tinkly music coming from the street.
Mum looked a bit sad, I think because of all the arguing at dinner. I felt really bad for her. ‘We haven’t had an ice cream van down here for years,’ she said.
‘Can we get one, Dad?’ Lottie was jumping up and down, and Sadie held out her hand for some money.
‘I don’t think you’ve been good enough, do you?’ Spencer said.
‘Oh, let them get one, Spencer. It sounds like it’s been a tough day for all of them. I’m sure Mo would like one, too.’
Spencer put his arm around Mum. ‘You’re too lovely for your own good, you know. What did I do to deserve you?’
Mum looked a bit happier after that.
Spencer gave us some money and we legged it to the ice cream van, which was parked right outside our house.
A couple of small kids and their mums got there before us, so we had to queue. Lottie and Sadie were arguing about what ice creams to get. Apparently, they wanted to get the same, but not the same, whatever that means. I looked over at my lovely old house across the road. The curtains were shut, as usual, so I couldn’t see in. It was probably a good thing because it would have made me sad.
‘Mo!’ Lottie shouted at me, making me jump. ‘It’s our turn.’
We were at the front, looking up at the ice cream man through the hatch.
‘Good afternoon, sir,’ Lottie said. ‘What do you recommend?’
The ice cream man just stared at her. He was probably the biggest person I’d ever seen in my life – not fat, just really wide and tall, like a wrestler. He couldn’t even stand up straight in the van; he had to lean forward out of the hatch, which made him loom over us. He filled the space so I couldn’t see around him.
He gave Lottie a look that suggested he didn’t care what ice cream she got and he wasn’t going to waste his time helping her choose.
Typically, Lottie didn’t notice, though, or maybe she did but she didn’t care. That’s a thing I’d learnt about Lottie – she wasn’t very tactful.
‘Is your name Mr Gideon, or is that the name of your van?’ She pointed at the sign above the hatch: Mr Gideon’s Delicious Ices.
He leant further out of the hatch and spat on the road beside us.
‘That’s not terribly hygienic,’ Lottie said.
He made a sound in the back of his throat that was a bit like a growl.
I looked down at the pool of spit and then up at Mr Gideon. He was wearing a black top with the sleeves rolled up a bit, his arms resting on the counter. The tops of his arms had bulging muscles and the lower part of his left arm was as thick as my leg. His right arm looked weird, though – it was thinner, and the hand was smaller, with longer fingers. Even the skin was a different colour – paler than the rest of him. I could see the black lines of a tattoo creeping out from under his sleeve.
Lottie nudged me, suddenly, and I looked up to see Mr Gideon staring at me in a really unfriendly way.
‘Just tell him what you want,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t talk, apparently.’
Lottie and Sadie were both licking swirly rainbow lollies.
‘A cone, please, with two flakes and strawberry sauce,’ I said, trying not to sound scared.
‘I bet you get the same thing every time, don’t you?’ Lottie said, as Mr Gideon turned around to get my ice cream.
‘I know what I like. There’s nothing wrong with that.’
He shoved the cone towards me.
‘Thank you,’ I said, giving him the money.
‘This is the most delicious lolly in the history of the universe,’ said Lottie.
‘Prrrrr,’ Sadie said through a mouthful. It sounded like she agreed.
I looked at mine, tried not to think about the spit on the floor and gave it a careful lick. It was really, REALLY good.
‘I’m definitely getting ice cream from Mr Gideon again,’ Lottie said.
Sadie nodded.
I didn’t say anything because I was too busy eating.
The tinkly music started to play as Mr Gideon climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled away from the kerb. I recognised the tune – it was ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?’ – a song which I’d always thought was strange because it sounded jolly but was actually about getting eaten, which wasn’t really a happy thought. The music grew quieter as the van drove off down the road.
There was change from the ice creams, which Mum said I could keep in case we needed supplies for our Discovery invention. When I put the coins in the pocket of my school trousers, I noticed there was something already inside. It was a folded-up piece of paper.
I opened it and read it, thinking it must be a list I’d made and forgotten about. I got quite a shock. You’ll understand why if you turn to Exhibit D.
BEWARE!
DANGER LURKS AROUND EVERY CORNER! PEOPLE ARE LYING TO YOU! FrIENDS CAN BE ENEMIES! IF YOU DON’T WANT TO END UP IN THE JUNKYARD, TRUST NOBODY!!!
My first question was: how did the note get in my pocket? My second question was: who would use so many exclamation marks in such an alarming way? My third question was: what the heck was The Junkyard? My fourth was: what was the crazy note on about?
Lottie
Lorelai came over before we’d even finished our ice creams, so Sadie and I sat in our room, watching TV to keep out of her way. And then Mo thumped in.
‘What have you done with Schrodinger?’ he shouted.
‘Chill out, Mo. I haven’t done anything with Tiger,’ I said.
‘She has, then,’ he pointed at Sadie.
‘Eow,’ Sadie shook her head.
‘What’s happened to him?’ I said.
‘He always waits on my bed for me to come home from school. He wasn’t there when I got back and I can’t find him anywhere.’
Sadie and I looked at each other. We really liked that fat, ginger cat.
‘We’ll help you look.’
We searched the house but there was no sign of him.
‘He must have gone out and not come back,’ Mo said, trying not to cry.
‘Do you think he got lost?’ I asked.
‘He’s lived on this road all of his life – he knows it really well. I don’t think he could have got lost.’
‘Prewow,’ Sadie said, stroking Mo’s arm.
‘Do you think maybe he got homesick for your old house?’ I said.
Mo sniffed. ‘That’s possible, I suppose. He could have gone there.’
‘It’s only over the road – we could go and take a peek.’
‘I don’t want to ask Mum while that lady is here.’
‘Exactly: Lorelai is here, so we don’t even have to ask her permission. And we’ll be home with Schrody before Emma even notices.’
‘Well, there is a back way we could go so nobody would see us from the street…’ Mo said.
‘I like the way you’re thinking, partner,’ I said. ‘Sadie, would you please stay here to provide distraction and cover, if necessary?’
Sadie saluted.
I turned to Mo and smiled. ‘Let’s go.’
