“Science. Is. Cool,” said the robot-person in a mechanical, monotone voice as it handed out flyers to the gaggle of excited kids.
“What’s this?” Elizabella said, approaching Minnie.
“The Bilby Creek Science Spectacular Shop is opening today,” Minnie said.
“Oh wow,” Elizabella replied. “I’d love to check it out but I should really get home to write this play . . . and hang out with my cousin.”
“Yeah, true,” said Minnie. “Plus I have banned having fun until I move to New York . . .”
Elizabella and Minnie looked at each other.
“But . . .” said Minnie, “Maybe I can make an exception for one afternoon?” And she marched over to the robot, grabbed a flyer and started to run.
“Come on, Elizabella!” she cried out.
Elizabella felt torn. She had promised to go straight home to hang out with Isabeth. But how could she refuse Minnie when she finally wanted to have some fun?
“Minnie,” she said after a moment’s pause. “You know I can’t run as fast as you!” She laughed, trying to catch up to her friend.
“Your legs are as long as house ladders!”
Minnie sprinted all the way into the Bilby Creek village with Elizabella trailing behind her. Past the GoodTime Supermarket and L’Escargot Bilby, the offices of the Bilby Creek Gazette and the Shelter for Citizens of Bilby Creek in Need. Eventually they arrived at the brand-new Bilby Creek Science Spectacular Shop. It was teeming with kids from school. On either side of the doorway two clowns stood on stilts, towering over everybody in their sparkly garb, blowing bubbles down onto the throng of people that had gathered there.
“Come on!” Minnie cried, weaving her way inside.
The shop was bursting with chemistry kits and working model trains, plants that changed colour when watered, magic eggs to hatch and electrical circuits to build. All the kids were trying everything out, with great excitement.
“This is like prank heaven,” said Elizabella, taking it all in. Minnie turned around holding a handful of anatomically correct fake spiders.
“Imagine what we could do with this stuff?”
“I know!” said Elizabella, who had just discovered a slime-making kit.
“We’re going to have the best summer!”
“You are,” said Minnie. They both let out a little sigh.
“Well, you haven’t left yet!” said Elizabella. She fished through her bag to find some money. After digging through every pocket, past every old tissue and unwrapped throat lozenge, she eventually found six dollars.
“Look, we can afford half of one of these anatomically correct funnel-web spiders.”
Minnie was exploring her own bag. She had her tongue poked out as she dug around hunting for cash.
“Ooh,” she said. “There’s a hole in the lining.” She slipped her hand deep inside. “That’s one of the places where money loves to hide. In the lining of bags and down the sides of couches in the cracks between the cushions.” She fumbled around then her eyes went wide as her hand clasped something.
“It’s a money note!” she said.
“What kind?” Elizabella asked.
Minnie pulled a clenched fist out of the bag.
“What is it? What is it?” And slowly Minnie unfurled her hand to reveal a crumpled yellowy-green bank note.
Elizabella drew a great big breath.
“That’s . . . one hundred dollars!” she exhaled, staring at it.
“Where did it come from?” Elizabella asked.
“I don’t know!” Minnie replied. “Mum bought this bag for me at the op-shop. Maybe the last owner left it there?”
“Well . . . what are we going to do?” Elizabella asked. There was a pause.
“You want that spider?” Minnie asked.
“Yes,” Elizabella replied tentatively.
“Let’s get three!” Minnie exclaimed. Elizabella grabbed two more of them and threw them into a shopping basket.
“And this!” Minnie picked up a tube of “World’s Strongest Glue” and chucked it in with the spiders. Elizabella let out a little squeal of excitement. Then the girls darted round the shop grabbing things. A volcano-making kit, a robotic chicken, a box containing minerals found all over the solar system, triple-extra-bouncy bouncy balls, a packet of optical illusion cards, a hypnotist’s watch and a flickering rainbow light experiment. Once their basket was overflowing, they took it to the counter. They watched with delight as a teenage girl in a silver shirt who had put her hair in a high ponytail using a slinky for a hair tie, scanned the items.
“That comes to $97.95,” the girl said.
“There you go,” said Minnie, handing over the note.
“That’s the most money I’ve ever had! And ever spent!” said Minnie as she and Elizabella ran out of the shop with glee, their heads spinning wildly with pranks.
By the time Elizabella got home, Toddberry, Isabeth and Martin were already sitting in the dining room eating dinner. She and Minnie had got so caught up in planning schemes with all the items they’d bought that Elizabella had completely lost track of time. Not only was this against her dad’s rules, but she’d also neglected Isabeth. Again.
“Elizabella, you should count yourself very lucky,” her father said sternly. “If Isabeth wasn’t here, we’d be having a big to-do right now. But I will not have another moment of Isabeth’s stay ruined, so we’re going to have a nice dinner.”
Elizabella let out a sigh of relief.
“Seems pretty unfair,” Toddberry said from under his hair curtains. “I’ll remind you to get Elizabella in trouble when Isabeth is gone.”
“I’m really sorry, Dad,” said Elizabella. “I went to the Science Spectacular Shop. It’s so cool.”
“Sounds fun,” said Isabeth.
“I owe you an apology, Isabeth.” Elizabella was hit with a big load of guilt. “I should have invited you. I was just so excited I . . .”
“That’s okay,” Isabeth replied, but Elizabella could tell she was disappointed. She sat down at the table in front of a plate of pie and peas that had been waiting for her.
“Todd, your girlfriend seems nice,” Isabeth said out of nowhere.
“What?” said Todd, Elizabella and Martin at the same time. Elizabella had been avoiding that topic since she was busted spying in the park. And it was the first Martin had heard anything of a girlfriend.
“And what makes you think I have a girlfriend?” Toddberry asked.
“Well, I saw you kissing a girl in the park. And then later when I went to the Bilby Creek GoodTime Supermarket to get a snack – having committed the breakfast map to memory – I saw her there, so I introduced myself. She was so nice.”
“No, she’s not. She’s mean!” Elizabella said.
“You know about this too, Elizabella?” Martin asked, trying to catch up.
“Angeliki is lovely, Uncle Martin,” said Isabeth. “Definitely a great match for Todd. You should have her around for dinner!” Everyone was now staring at Isabeth, utterly baffled.
“Let’s rewind,” said Martin. “Toddberry – sorry, I mean Todd – are you dating Angeliki from the GoodTime Supermarket?”
Todd groaned. “No one calls it ‘dating’, Dad. It’s called ‘going out’. And so what if we are? You’re not the only person who can have a girlfriend. And at least I don’t throw it in everyone’s faces like you do. In fact, this was supposed to be private, but these two are nosy spies.”
“I’m sorry,” said Isabeth. “I didn’t know it was a secret. I just thought she was cool. She gave me a free jelly snake.”
“Angeliki did?” Elizabella was amazed. “But she’s awful!”
“She is NOT!” Toddberry and Isabeth chorused.
“Well,” said Martin, “maybe we should have her around for dinner. Great idea, Isabeth.”
“Ugh. Fine. Maybe. I don’t know. Who cares,” said Toddberry, standing up from the table.
“I’ll be in the lounge room. There’
s a documentary revealing where Elvis is hiding and I don’t want to be interrupted – for once!” He grabbed the chunk of pie left on his plate, shoved it in his mouth and stormed off.
“I feel so bad about letting out his secret,” said Isabeth.
“Don’t worry,” said Elizabella. “I already knew. And besides, Toddberry is the grumpiest person in the world. With or without his secrets spilled.” With a sigh she added, “I feel so bad I didn’t come home earlier. Tomorrow I’ll come straight back after school and we can hang out all afternoon. We can even go to the science shop and see if we can find something to scare Toddberry with!”
“Awesome,” said Isabeth with a smile.
The next morning Elizabella was getting ready for school.
“All right,” she said, cramming in a mouthful of cereal at the dining table opposite Isabeth. “See you after school! We can go to the park, and I’ll take you on a big tour of Bilby Creek! You can come with me to spy on couples on first dates at L’Escargot Bilby!”
“Cool!” said Isabeth.
“That was your mum,” said Martin, coming into the dining room holding the phone. “She’ll be here to get you at lunchtime.”
“What?” exclaimed Elizabella. “I thought she was staying all week?”
Martin shrugged. “Seems Anna’s work trip got cut short.”
Elizabella was crestfallen.
“We didn’t even get to go to the science shop! You must hate me, Isabeth!”
“Nah, you’re alright,” said Isabeth with a smile. Then she got up and gave Elizabella a big hug.
“I wish I could stay. I’d love to see how your play turns out.”
“I wish you could move here and go to Bilby Creek Primary and co-write the play with me!”
“We can still be friends even though I’ll be back in Melbourne,” Isabeth said. “Maybe we can even write something together long-distance?”
“But it won’t be the same!” said Elizabella.
“All right, Elizabella,” said Martin, “say your goodbyes, then it’s off to school.”
Elizabella gave Isabeth another hug. Then she let out a long sigh. “Why does everyone have to leave?”
Elizabella kicked the dirt as she trudged along with her head down on her way to school.
“Mum bought me a DIY slime kit from the Science Spectacular Shop,” Huck said, walking beside her.
“Uh-huh.” Elizabella was barely listening.
“But it turned out I botched up the recipe. It was so wet and gooey and I spilled it all over my bed,” said Huck.
Elizabella was deep in sad thoughts. Everything was moving and shifting in ways she hated and couldn’t prevent. It was an awful feeling.
“And I was too scared to tell Mum because she made me promise not to take it into bed, so I slept in a pile of slime! And now I’ve hidden my sheets at the bottom of my wardrobe. Hopefully she never looks in there or I’ll be grounded for a decade.” Huck stopped walking for a minute. “Are you okay, Elizabella? You’ve barely said anything all the way to school. Normally by now we’ve discussed at least twelve topics.”
“Everyone is leaving, Huck,” Elizabella said. “Minnie is going, and now my cousin Isabeth who just arrived is going as well.”
“I’m sorry,” said Huck. “But I’m not going anywhere.”
Elizabella smiled. Good old reliable Huck. They’d been Bilby Creek buddies since preschool.
“I guess that’s one good thing about our parents dating,” Elizabella said. “So long as it keeps happening, at least we won’t get split up.”
Huck smiled, then said, “Nope! You’re stuck with me for a while.”
They weren’t sure why, but they both began to blush.
That day, Elizabella didn’t play handball. She didn’t make any jokes in class, and she didn’t even think about a prank. At lunchtime she walked right into Daphne and Anaya’s game of elastics without realising it.
“Watch where you’re going!” Daphne snarled at her. She mumbled an apology and kept walking aimlessly around the playground.
Eventually, she found herself heading towards the tuckshop. Miss Duck was busy serving lunch, including lots of insect treats which she now sold every day to spread the word about sustainable eating. That was another cool thing Elizabella had done in real life this year. She’d put the idea in Miss Duck’s head in order to help her win her way back to the tuckshop in term two.
Elizabella looked at the daily specials while she waited for a lull in customers. Today Miss Duck was serving sour cream and chive roasted cicadas, and honey-baked ants.
“Elizabella,” Miss Duck said warmly, spotting her as the last of the customers left with their orders. “I hear you’ve been put in charge of writing the school play – that’s exciting!” Then her face turned; she could see that Elizabella was upset. “What’s the matter, dear?”
“I can’t write, Miss Duck,” said Elizabella. “I’m too miserable! Everything that can go wrong is going wrong and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Oh no!” said Miss Duck, holding out a handful of honey-baked ants which Elizabella ate as she cried and told Miss Duck about Minnie leaving and Isabeth too.
“I feel like all the important things in my life are disappearing and I can’t do a thing about it,” she said. “And I can always fix things!”
“Oh, that’s horrible,” Miss Duck said, shovelling more candied insects into Elizabella’s hands, as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“It’s awful to lose the people you love,” Miss Duck said, passing Elizabella a tissue.
Elizabella wiped her eyes and as she did a brilliant thought popped into her head.
“Thanks, Miss Duck.”
That night at home, Elizabella began to write her play. She ate her dinner at the desk in her room and after her dad had come in much later than her regular bedtime to turn off the light and make sure she was going to sleep, she hid under the covers with her nightlight and wrote some more.
Speaking to Miss Duck, Elizabella had suddenly realised what Mr Gobblefrump was talking about when it came to her main characters losing something. Elizabella did actually know a thing or two about losing something important. Losing a friend! She wrote and wrote. She realised that the more she let her real emotions out of her brain and onto the page, the easier the words came. She thought about all the things that had happened throughout the year – all the pranks she had played with Minnie, and all the things they’d achieved and she let the real events inspire the story of Coco and Ralph. Sooner or later, unfolding before her was a fully formed play with a big beating heart. There was just one thing to solve. She had become quite attached to the idea of a talking bucket, but how could she include it in this story about two dogs who are best friends?
“I know!” she said out loud. “The talking bucket can be the narrator!”
“Elizabella, go to sleep!” her dad yelled from his own bedroom down the corridor.
“I am asleep!” she lied, “practically!” and she kept writing and writing.
Larry the Lizard sat with her all night watching the play be created before his eyes.
I WILL find a way to see this play! he thought to himself.
Then, as if no time had passed at all, light was flooding in the window. There was a knock at her bedroom door. It was her dad.
“Elizabella?” Martin said, lifting the covers, to discover his daughter curled up like a cat with a notebook for a pillow and blue pen lines all over her face.
“Dear me!” he said. Elizabella woke with a start.
“Did you stay up all night writing?” he asked.
“No!” Elizabella lied, groggily rubbing her eyes.
Even though she’d hardly slept, she got ready in a flash and headed off to school, eating a banana for breakfast as she ran. She’d left the house in such a rush, she’d completely forgotten to clean the pen marks off her face.
Twenty minutes later Huck was knocking on her front door.
“Come on, Elizabella, we’re going to be late!” he yelled to the closed door. Martin answered it.
“Morning, Huck. Elizabella has actually gone to school already.”
Huck was stunned. “Early? Elizabella is never ever early!”
“I know,” said Martin, “I’m worried too.”
When Elizabella burst through the Bilby Creek Primary School gates there was no one around. Well almost no one. The formidable shape of Mr Gobblefrump cast a long shadow in the morning sun as he strode up and down the playground, waiting for children to arrive. Elizabella marched straight up to him.
Thrusting the script in his hands, she said, “Here it is. Here is the play.”
“Elizabella, you have, um . . .” Mr Gobblefrump started making circles around his own face.
“What? My face?”
Mr Gobblefrump nodded.
Elizabella suddenly remembered the pen marks she’d forgotten to scrub off.
“Did you stay up all night writing?” he asked.
“Um . . . not exactly all night because I did wake up, so I must have fallen asleep at some point.”
Mr Gobblefrump thought of telling her that he didn’t approve of such behaviour, especially not on a school night. But he too had spent many a night awake in creative pursuits and he understood how it could happen.
“All right,” Mr Gobblefrump said with a smile, “I’ll read it at the first opportunity.”
“Thanks.” Elizabella wandered off. She found an old tennis ball and started playing handball by herself while she waited for her friends.
“Elizabella,” said Minnie, running over. “What are you doing?”
By the time Minnie arrived at school Elizabella had been playing solo handball for fifteen minutes, and she was getting quite good at it. Though she did look a bit bizarre running from square to square, bouncing the ball away from herself and then chasing it and bouncing it away from herself again with her eyes twitching from lack of sleep and blue pen all over her face.
“Minnie!” she said. “I’ve finished the play.”
Elizabella Breaks a Leg Page 6