by M. C. Badger
Lucy put Turtle down and folded her arms across her chest. ‘You said you would buy me EVERYTHING I need,’ she said. ‘I need those shoes and I’m not going anywhere until I get them.’
Mila sighed. ‘Well, OK,’ she said. ‘I have some pocket money with me. I guess I can buy you the shoes if you really need them.’
‘I do,’ said Lucy.
Lucy went into the shop with Mila. When they came out a few minutes later, Lucy was wearing new shoes. She looked happy. Mila did not look so happy.
‘OK, Pickles,’ Mila said. ‘You have the shoes now. Can we finally go to the park?’
‘Of course!’ said Lucy. ‘There’s just one tiny problem.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Mila.
‘I don’t have a hat,’ said Lucy.
‘A hat?’ said Mila.
‘It’s very warm today,’ said Lucy. ‘I could get sunburnt.’
‘It’s terrible when pets get sunburnt,’ said Turtle.
‘Well, where am I going to get a hat from?’ asked Mila.
Lucy pointed to a different shop. ‘They have hats,’ she said. ‘They also have sunglasses.’
‘Sunglasses?’ repeated Mila. ‘But you didn’t say anything about sunglasses before.’
‘Well, I’m saying it now,’ said Lucy.
So Mila went into the shop and bought a hat and some sunglasses. She came back and gave them to Lucy.
‘I hope that’s everything you need,’ she said.
Lucy put the hat and the sunglasses on. ‘Oh yes, that’s everything I need,’ she said happily. ‘For now, at any rate.’
THE PARK was full of people and pets. There were dogs everywhere, running and jumping and barking.
There was a family in one of the paddleboats on the pond with their dog sitting up in the back. There was an old lady sitting on a bench in the sun with a cat asleep on her lap. Two little girls were hopping around after two pet rabbits.
Marcus even saw a boy with a rat on his shoulder.
Mila grabbed hold of Lucy’s hand. ‘Come on, Pickles,’ she said. ‘Let’s walk around the pond together. I want everyone to see you.’
The Tinklers and Lucy walked all the way around the pond. Then they walked around it again. When they had gone around the pond three times, Lucy stopped.
‘I’m tired of walking,’ she said.
‘Don’t stop!’ begged Mila. ‘No-one has told me what a great pet you are.’
But Lucy wouldn’t walk anymore. She sat down on a rock. ‘I need a drink,’ she said. ‘And an ice-cream.’
‘I need a drink and an ice-cream too,’ said Turtle quickly.
‘Me too!’ said Marcus.
‘But the kiosk queue is really long,’ Mila complained.
‘Well, you should join it now,’ said Lucy, ‘before it gets any longer.’
Mila sighed and joined the queue. She stood there for a very long time, but she finally came back with ice-creams and drinks for everyone. She looked very glum and Marcus could guess why. Mila had spent a lot of their pocket money. She didn’t like doing that at all.
‘What are you lot doing here?’ said a nasty voice.
Marcus turned around to see the three Splatley children.
Sarah, Simon and Susie Splatley lived at thirty-three Rushby Road too. Their flat was on the thirty-first floor.
The Tinklers and the Splatleys were not friends. They were not even close to being friends.
I’ll tell you why: The Splatleys are the meanest kids around. Their fingers are always ready to PINCH people and their mouths are always ready to say something NASTY.
Sarah Splatley was holding a leash. And on the other end of it was a dog.
‘Whose dog is that?’ asked Marcus. He thought it looked like a nice dog.
‘He’s ours,’ said Sarah. ‘We just got him.’
‘You’re lucky,’ said Marcus. ‘He looks like he’d be lots of fun to play with.’
Simon pulled a face. ‘We don’t play with him,’ he said. ‘We’re too busy teaching him tricks. Fuzzby is extremely intelligent. He is probably the most intelligent pet in this whole park.’
‘What tricks can he do?’ asked Mila.
‘He can catch a ball in his mouth,’ said Simon proudly. ‘Watch.’
Simon Splatley threw a tennis ball to the dog. The dog jumped up and caught the ball in his mouth.
‘That’s not such a big deal,’ said Mila. ‘Our pet can catch a ball in her hands.’
‘You don’t have a pet,’ said Sarah.
‘Yes, we do,’ said Mila. ‘We just got one today.’
‘Where is it then?’ asked Simon.
Mila pointed at Lucy.
Lucy waved at the Splatleys and smiled.
‘Her name is Pickles,’ said Mila.
‘That’s not a pet,’ said Sarah. ‘That’s a teenager.’
‘She’s a pet teenager,’ said Mila. ‘And she’s way smarter than your dog. She can CATCH a ball and then juggle it.’
‘I can’t actually juggle,’ said Lucy.
‘Oh,’ said Mila, disappointed. ‘But you can catch a ball, right?’
Lucy looked a little offended. ‘Of course I can!’
Mila took the tennis ball from Fuzzby. Then she threw it to Lucy.
Lucy caught it and threw it back.
Mila threw the ball again. This time she threw it over Lucy’s head and Lucy had to run to catch it.
This time when Lucy threw it back, she threw it very HARD.
Lucy looks a bit annoyed, thought Marcus.
But Mila didn’t seem to notice. She threw the tennis ball again, as hard as she could.
‘Run, Pickles, run!’ she called.
But Lucy didn’t run. Instead, she walked off very slowly after the ball. And when Lucy reached the ball, she didn’t stop and pick it up. She walked straight past it!
‘Pickles!’ yelled Mila. ‘The ball is RIGHT THERE!
But Lucy didn’t hear Mila. Or maybe she didn’t want to hear her. She walked over to a group of teenage girls nearby. She sat down next to them. And soon, they were all laughing and chatting together.
‘Ha ha,’ said Simon Splatley. ‘Your pet has run away.’
The Splatleys started to walk off, but Fuzzby ran back to the Tinklers. He licked Marcus’s hand.
Marcus bent down and patted Fuzzby. ‘You can come and visit us any time,’ he said to the dog. ‘We live on the thirty-third floor.’
‘You Tinklers are crazy,’ jeered Sarah. ‘Everyone knows animals can’t understand humans.’
‘Maybe they can’t,’ shrugged Marcus. ‘But then again, maybe they can.’
AFTER THE Splatleys had gone, Marcus looked at Mila. He was waiting for her to get really mad. Mila didn’t like it when her plans went wrong. She especially didn’t like looking silly in front of the Splatleys. She had a very thoughtful look on her face.
‘What are you thinking about?’ asked Marcus.
‘I’m thinking that Pickles isn’t the right pet for us, after all,’ said Mila. ‘She’s a lot of work and costs too much money.’ Mila coughed and rubbed her eyes. ‘Plus, I think I’m a bit allergic to her.’
Marcus didn’t think Mila was really allergic to Lucy. But he did think Lucy wasn’t the right pet for them.
‘So, what should we do with her?’ he asked.
‘Well, I guess we should take her back to the pet shop.’
Marcus didn’t want to leave the park just yet. It was nice and sunny. There were kids playing football. Marcus felt like playing football too. Marcus also wanted to hire a paddleboat and go for a ride on the pond.
Marcus looked over at Lucy. She was still chatting with her friends. She didn’t look like she wanted to leave, either.
‘How about we just let her go free?’ Marcus suggested.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Mila.
‘We don’t have to take her back to the pet shop,’ explained Marcus. ‘We can just set her free, right here in the park.’
‘It is a bad idea to let pets loose in the wild,’ said Turtle. ‘There was a boy who let his goldfish loose in a lake once. The goldfish grew really huge and ate all the food in the lake. There was nothing left for any of the other fish.’
‘You’re right, Turtle,’ said Mila. ‘If we let Pickles loose in the park she would eat all the ice-cream. There would be none left for anyone else.’
‘That won’t happen,’ said Marcus. ‘She’d need lots of money to do that. She’ll probably just go home when she’s hungry.’
Mila thought about this for a while. Then she nodded and said, ‘You’re right, Marcus. I’ll go and tell her she’s free.’
Mila ran over to where Lucy was sitting. Marcus saw her say something to Lucy. Lucy listened and nodded. Then she and Mila shook hands.
After a few moments, Mila came back looking happy.
‘It feels so good, setting things free,’ she said. ‘I want to buy another pet just so I can let it go too. Maybe a baby tiger.’
‘Hmm. How much money do you have?’ asked Marcus.
Mila pulled out her purse. ‘I have five dollars.’
‘That’s not enough to buy a baby tiger,’ said Marcus. ‘But it is enough to hire a paddleboat.’
Marcus was fairly sure Mila would say no to that. But, to his surprise, she nodded.
‘OK,’ she said. ‘Why not? I will save lots of money now I don’t have to buy things for Pickles anymore.’
‘That’s true,’ said Marcus.
The Tinklers spent the rest of the day in the park.
They rode around in the paddleboat.
They climbed trees.
They played football.
They stayed there until the sun began to set.
‘Where is Turtle?’ Mila asked.
Marcus looked around. Near a bench he saw Turtle’s shell. Her legs were sticking up over the edge.
Marcus walked over and looked in. Turtle was fast asleep.
‘We’d better take her home,’ he said to Mila. ‘You grab one end of the box and I’ll grab the other.’
It was hard work, carrying Turtle home in her shell. But Marcus was glad that at least Mila hadn’t tried to make him carry her on his own.
‘Having Turtle is a bit like having a pet, don’t you think?’ said Mila.
‘A little bit,’ said Marcus. ‘But don’t ever tell Turtle that!’
TURTLE WOKE UP just as Marcus and Mila arrived back at thirty-three Rushby Road. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in her shell. ‘I’m HUNGRY, ’ she said.
Marcus and Mila were hungry too. Luckily, there was a bakery on the ground floor of their building.
The bakers who worked there were called Barry and Betty. They loved giving tasty treats to the Tinklers.
‘Did someone say they were hungry?’ said Betty, popping out of the shop with a bag of goodies.
The Tinklers thanked Betty and took the bag upstairs. They ate the bakery treats for dinner. For dessert they had chocolate ice-cream.
The Tinklers always had chocolate ice-cream for dessert, except when they had chocolate ice-cream for their main course. On those days they had strawberry ice-cream for dessert instead.
‘I’ve been thinking about what pet we should try next,’ said Mila, as they cleared everything away. ‘We want a pet that doesn’t need any looking after at all.’
‘All pets need a little looking after,’ said Marcus.
‘Are you sure?’ said Mila. ‘There must be at least one that doesn’t need to be looked after.’
‘You’re right, there is!’ said Marcus. He ran to the hallway and picked up a rock from the Tinklers’ rock collection. He quickly drew a face on it, then hurried back and gave it to Mila. ‘Here you go,’ he said.
‘What’s this?’ asked Mila.
‘It’s a pet rock,’ said Marcus. ‘It’s the perfect pet for you because it looks after itself. And you won’t ever need to buy it anything.’
Mila put the rock down. ‘Very funny, Marcus,’ she said. ‘But a rock is not the sort of pet I want at all.’
Later that evening, the Tinklers were in the lounge room together. Turtle was making a new shell. Marcus was reading a book about inventions. Mila was writing a list of animals that made good pets.
‘What about a bat?’ she said. ‘They are pretty cute.’
But before Marcus could answer her, there came a noise. The Tinklers looked at each other.
‘What was that?’ said Mila.
‘I think it was someone at the door,’ said Marcus.
The Tinklers all went to the front door and opened it. Standing on the mat was the Splatley’s dog. He looked up at the Tinklers and wagged his tail.
‘Hi Fuzzby!’ Marcus said. ‘What are you doing here?’
The dog lifted up a paw.
‘Look!’ said Mila. ‘He’s got something balanced on his paw.’
It was a round bit of plastic, like a coin, but blue. Marcus picked it up.
‘That’s a Ludo token,’ said Mila.
Marcus had a feeling he knew what was going on. ‘Are the Splatleys trying to teach you Ludo?’ he asked.
Fuzzby flopped down on the mat and put his paws over his eyes. He made a sound that was a lot like a groan.
Mila bent down and gave Fuzzby a pat. ‘I know exactly how you feel. Ludo is the most boring game in the world, isn’t it?’
Marcus bent down beside the dog too. ‘Don’t worry, Fuzzby,’ he said. ‘They always stop playing at eight o’clock. You can stay here until it’s safe for you to go back down.’
Fuzzby stood up immediately and trotted happily into the Tinklers’ flat. He sniffed around for a moment, then lay down on the floor.
Mila scratched his belly. Then Fuzzby jumped up and licked Mila’s face.
‘Sit,’ said Marcus.
Fuzzby sat and wagged his tail.
‘Good dog,’ said Marcus, giving him a scratch between the ears.
Turtle found a tennis ball, and Fuzzby had great fun chasing it all around the Tinklers’ flat.
A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. It wasn’t a polite knock. It was more of a rude BANGING. There were only three people in the world who banged on a door like that: THE SPLATLEY THREE.
‘What have you done with our dog?’ said Sarah Splatley as soon as Marcus opened the door.
‘We haven’t done anything with your dog,’ said Mila. This was true. Fuzzby was asleep.
‘You told him to come and visit you,’ said Simon.
‘But Simon,’ said Mila, ‘everyone knows that animals can’t understand humans.’
Simon pulled a face but didn’t say anything.
‘Let us in!’ demanded Sarah. ‘We want to check if he’s in there.’
And then Mila SNEEZED.
She always did this when she had an idea. Sometimes Mila’s ideas were good, but sometimes they weren’t. Marcus hoped that this was a very good one.
‘Of course! Come in!’ said Mila.
Oh no! thought Marcus. This was not one of Mila’s good ideas.
‘But we should warn you that we have a new pet,’ Mila went on. ‘In fact, we have lots of new pets.’
The Splatleys looked at the Tinklers suspiciously. ‘What kind of pets?’ asked Sarah.
‘Spiders!’ said Mila with a big grin. ‘Oh, they are so cute. They’re huge and hairy, and they love jumping onto your head. Come in and meet them. They don’t bite. Well, only a little bit.’
Sarah Spatley went very pale. Simon Splatley took a step back from the door. Little Susie Splatley started to blubber.
‘We’ve changed our minds. We don’t want to come in after all,’ said Sarah quickly. ‘We have to keep looking for our dog.’
‘Good luck!’ said Mila.
Marcus had to try very hard not to laugh as the Splatleys jumped into the lift and the doors closed.
Fuzzby stayed at the Tinklers’ place until the clock chimed eight. Then he jumped down off the couch and licked each of the Tinklers’ hands.
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‘I think he’s saying thanks,’ said Marcus.
‘Of course he’s saying that,’ said Mila. She gave the dog a pat. ‘You are welcome here any time,’ she told Fuzzby.
The dog wagged his tail.
The Tinklers watched him trot off down the stairs.
‘I think I have found my perfect pet,’ said Mila.
‘You mean Fuzzby?’ said Marcus. ‘But he belongs to the Splatleys.’
‘That’s why he’s so perfect,’ said Mila. ‘The Splatleys have to do all the hard work of looking after him. We get to play with him in the evenings! That is JUST the kind of pet we need.’
The Perfect Pet
published in 2014 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.
eISBN 9781743582305
Text copyright © 2014 MC Badger
Illustration copyright © 2014 Jon Davis
Series design copyright © 2013 Hardie Grant Egmont
Design by Elissa Webb
Illustrations by Jon Davis
based on original characters by Leigh Brown
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