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Chapter 13

At the allotment, Kirsty sat on an old sack in front of the shed and told Dawn the whole problem. Ben listened too. ‘Grandad asked me to look after the allotment for him, so I promised I would. But then I came here and Mr Thomas from the council said I couldn’t. I was too young and I wasn’t on the waiting list. Mum agrees with him. I don’t know what Dad thinks, cos he hasn’t been around to ask. Mr Thomas said on Monday that it takes two weeks to find new owners. That means we’ve only got a week left to change everyone’s minds.’

‘What have you done so far?’ Dawn asked.

‘I spoke to Mr Thomas, but it didn’t go very well. I followed him into the museum, see, and I don’t think he liked that. So that didn’t work. And then we did a demonstration, but the fire brigade came.’

‘What?’ Dawn yelped.

‘It’s OK. The police haven’t come after us,’ Kirsty said.

‘What!’

‘Nothing,’ Ben said quickly. ‘Then there was Mum’s media campaign that you got us out of.’

Dawn shook her head. ‘So you whined at the man from the council, you bothered the emergency services and then you didn’t get in the paper. Not much of a campaign, is it?’

Kirsty shuffled uncomfortably on the sack. Why was Dawn always so irritating? ‘Well, what would you have done?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. You’ve started right, I guess. You just have to think a bit bigger now.’

‘That’s just what Mum said about the media campaign,’ Ben mumbled.

‘I’m not talking bigger like that. I meant more sophisticated, more devious.’

‘What kind of devious?’ Kirsty grinned; it sounded like Dawn had an idea!

‘It’s time to start getting creative.’ Dawn said firmly. ‘This allotment is going to the next person on the waiting list, isn’t it? Well then, it’s easy. All we have to do is make you the next person on the list.’

‘But how can we do that?’ Ben asked.

‘What am I, Cunning Plans R Us? I said I’d help, not do everything. You two need to think here too.’

They sat in silence for a while. The cold was beginning to spread through Kirsty, even though she was wrapped up from head to toe. Her nose felt wet, like a Labrador’s; any minute it would start to drip into her lap. She rubbed her nose on her sleeve and thought about what Dawn had said.

‘The waiting list would be in Mr Thomas’s office, wouldn’t it? On his computer?’ Kirsty asked.

‘Yes,’ Ben said. ‘He wouldn’t take any work home with him, I don’t think. He likes to forget about his job as soon as he leaves his office.’

‘So,’ Kirsty grinned. ‘All we need to do is get into his office and change the name at the top of the list.’

‘How can we get in without him seeing us?’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ Dawn smiled. ‘There’s always a way.’

‘Wait though.’ Kirsty stopped grinning. ‘We can’t put my name at the top of the list – he’ll recognise it. And he’ll recognise me when he comes to tell me that I’ve got an allotment.’

Ben shook his head. ‘There is no way that Mr Thomas tells people in person when he gives them an allotment. He wouldn’t make a big fuss. He just sends them a letter, I bet. So all we need to do is change your name a bit and he’ll send you a letter.’

‘What if he’s already sent a letter to the new owners?’ Dawn asked.

Kirsty shook her head. ‘No, he hasn’t. He told me at the museum that he was going to write his report this week and get new tenants next week.’

‘So we still have time!’ Ben said. ‘It’s brilliant. So simple, so . . . devious.’ He smiled at Dawn.

Kirsty felt her heart swell with excitement. It was a great idea, but would it work? ‘How can we get into his office when he isn’t there?’ she asked.

Dawn grinned. ‘I go and see him, and cause a diversion. You change the list. Easy. Like stealing sweets from a baby.’

‘Stealing sweets from a baby is hard,’ Ben said. ‘They cry and throw tantrums.’

‘Shut up,’ Dawn said. ‘It’s easy. I’ll make an appointment.’ She pulled out her mobile phone. She sounded confident, but Kirsty noticed that her hands were shaking; she had to dial directory enquiries twice before she got the number right.

Kirsty and Ben stayed absolutely quiet while Dawn called the council.

‘Hello, er, Mr Thomas? Hi. I’m Dawn, er, Jennings. I’m calling because I’m doing a project at school. On, er, green cities. I was hoping I could come and interview you. It would really help. Please, just five minutes.’ There was a long pause. ‘That would be perfect!’ Dawn said. ‘Thank you.’ She hung up the phone.

‘Well?’ Ben asked.

‘I’m meeting him tomorrow after school. In his office at 3.40.’

Kirsty shivered with excitement. They were getting close.