Lucy the Lie Detector

by Marianne Musgrove

  The ride to the beach took longer than normal, or so it felt to Lucy. Although she’d decided not to tell Harriet about how she’d blamed Calvin, she couldn’t help thinking about it.

  As it turned out, Harriet never asked about the scratch anyway. She had other things on her mind.

  ‘Mum,’ said Harriet, ‘you’re going at fifty-three kilometres an hour. That’s three kilometres over the speed limit.’

  ‘Thank you, Harriet,’ said Mrs Spiegel, slowing down. ‘What would I do without you?’

  ‘We’re coming up to a T-junction,’ added Harriet. ‘That means you have to give way.’

  ‘Thank you again, Harriet.’

  Lucy wondered why Mrs Spiegel sounded so tired. Dad sounded that way sometimes, whenever Lucy asked a lot of questions that began with, ‘But why?’

  By the time they arrived at the beach, Harriet had alerted her mother to twelve possible traffic violations, including crossing over double lines and not slowing down before a speed hump. When Mrs Spiegel found a park, she got out of the car very quickly.

  ‘Girls,’ she said, ‘I need a coffee. I give you permission to wait on the beach by the camels as long as you don’t go any further, promise?’

  Lucy grabbed Harriet’s arm and dragged her towards the beach.

  ‘We promise!’ they chorused.

  Chapter Six

  Lucy skipped down to the sand. A little thrill zoomed around her chest like a balloon with the air let out. Five camels were sitting down with their legs bent underneath them. Each one had a long rope attached to its harness, which was then tied around a pole.

  ‘Next ride’s in ten minutes,’ said the guide. He was sitting in a deck chair with a newspaper on his knee. ‘Prices are on the board.’

  ‘Jacinta will be so jealous when I tell her about this trip!’ said Lucy. ‘Camels are so much better than her silly old unicorns.’ She got Nathan out of her bag. ‘Come and meet your friends,’ she said.

  While Lucy held up Nathan so he could see the camels, a man and his two children came over.

  ‘Are you kidding me?’ said the man. ‘I’m not paying that much just so my kids can go for a ride. I’ll offer you half.’

  The guide pointed at the sign without looking up. ‘Prices are on the board.’

  The man turned to his son and daughter in amazement. ‘Can you believe how much they’re charging?’

  ‘He should pay what the man says,’ whispered Harriet to Lucy. ‘You can’t make different rules for different people.’

  Lucy only half heard. ‘I’m going to pat one,’ she said, and she walked over to a pale brown camel with long eyelashes and nostrils shaped like tadpoles.

  ‘Lucy!’ hissed Harriet, staying at a safe distance. ‘You’ll get in trouble.’

  Lucy glanced over at the guide. He was insistently pointing at the sign while the other man’s face turned redder and redder. ‘He’s busy. And anyway, I’m not doing anything wrong.’

  Harriet popped her plait into her mouth and sucked on it.

  Lucy was already imagining herself as a famous camel trainer. People would call her the Camel Whisperer. She could deal with moody camels, lazy camels, camels that couldn’t sleep. She’d stroke the camel’s neck and whisper in its ear. Within moments, the animal would be cured.

  Lucy got Mum’s hairbrush out of her bag. ‘There you go, Prince,’ she said, smoothing down his hair. In her imagination, Prince’s owner had called her up because of his camel’s habit of kicking people. ‘You’re really a good boy, aren’t you?’ she soothed. ‘You won’t kick me.’

  Prince snorted, as if to say, ‘I’d never hurt you, Lucy.’

  ‘Who said you could touch the camels?’

  Lucy spun around. It was the daughter of the man arguing with the guide.

  ‘Yeah,’ said her brother, ‘you’re busted.’

  A hot feeling stirred in Lucy’s tummy as if someone were stoking a fire in there.

  ‘I’m allowed,’ she replied.

  ‘Are not,’ said the boy. His face was as red as his father’s.

  Who did this boy think he was? thought Lucy. ‘I have special permission,’ she declared.

  ‘Yeah, right,’ said the girl, and she and her brother laughed nastily.

  The fire in Lucy’s belly crackled, the way fires do when you throw in a pine cone.

  ‘Actually,’ she said, ‘I groom them all the time. I teach them tricks and everything.’

  Harriet caught Lucy’s eye and gave her a look that meant, ‘What are you getting yourself into?’ Lucy didn’t have time to worry about that.

  ‘Prove it,’ said the girl.

  ‘Yeah,’ said the boy. ‘Prove you’re not a total liar.’

  Liar? How dare they! thought Lucy. And because she’d just been playing Lucy the Camel Whisperer, part of her truly believed she could teach the camels tricks. And if you believed what you were saying, it wasn’t a lie, was it?

  ‘We’re waiting,’ said the girl, smirking.

  Lucy knew from experience that if she didn’t act quickly, the fire in her tummy would shoot up her throat and out of her mouth like a firework scream. She squared her shoulders and wiped her palms on her shorts. ‘Just watch me.’

  Chapter Seven

  ‘Prince,’ said Lucy, looking the camel in the eye, ‘I command you to roll over.’ ‘Prince,’ Instead, Prince tossed his head as if shaking off a fly. He seemed to be saying, ‘Rolling over is the last thing in the world I want to do.’

  Lucy raised her hands in the air like a magician and repeated her instruction, ‘Prince, I command you to roll over.’

  ‘See?’ said the girl to her brother. ‘She’s no camel trainer.’

  The fire in Lucy’s tummy sparked once more. Dad would have wanted her to count to ten or tear up old phone books to help her calm down. But Dad wasn’t there.

  ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire,’ crowed the siblings.

  Harriet took her plait out of her mouth, her eyes flashing. ‘Be quiet,’ she said in her best police officer voice. ‘Lucy’s concentrating. Go on, Lucy, show them!’

  Lucy took strength from her friend and turned back to Prince. Obviously, rolling over was too complicated. She needed to try something simpler. Looking him in the eye, Lucy concentrated harder than she’d ever concentrated before. ‘I really need you to stand up. Nothing else. Just stand up.’

  The rope that tied Prince to the pole was getting in the way. Lucy went over and loosened it. ‘Go on,’ she said. ‘Stand.’

  Seconds passed. Lucy used her most powerful thought waves ever, but after a full minute, Prince still hadn’t moved. Lucy’s shoulders slumped and she turned slowly back to the others, dreading the looks on their faces. ‘He –’

  ‘Lucy!’ cried Harriet. ‘Look!’

  Lucy turned just in time to see Prince unfold his legs and awkwardly stand up. The boy and girl’s mouths hung open. The fire in Lucy’s tummy was put out. She’d done it! She, Lucy the Camel Whisperer, had talked to an animal and, what’s more, the animal had listened. She ran over to Harriet and they jumped up and down, squealing with joy.

  Perhaps it was those squeals that did it. All Lucy knew was that Prince had decided to do more than stand up. He wanted to gallop down the beach, and since Lucy had loosened his rope, there was nothing to stop him.

  ‘Wait!’ called Lucy. ‘Stop!’

  The guide heard her cries and looked around. ‘Oh, no!’

  He climbed on one of the other camels and gave chase.

  ‘This is a waste of time,’ said the red-faced father. ‘Come on, kids. Let’s go.’

  ‘We should go too,’ said Lucy urgently, ‘before he comes back.’

  But Mrs Spiegel appeared at that moment and Lucy and Harriet had no choice but to wait for the very annoyed-looking guide to return with his runaway camel.

>   Chapter Eight

  ‘Excuse me, little girl,’ said the guide, tying the camels’ ropes to the pole. ‘I’d ‘Excuse like a word.’

  On the off-chance Lucy had powers of invisibility, she willed herself to disappear. Unfortunately, she had no such powers. Harriet linked arms with her and gave her a supportive smile.

  ‘I wanted to say thanks,’ he went on, ‘for letting me know my camel had got loose.’

  ‘Oh!’ said Lucy. ‘I, um, you’re welcome.’

  ‘Would you and your friend like a free ride?’ he said. ‘As a thank you?’

  Lucy and Harriet exchanged looks.

  ‘That’s very kind of you,’ said Mrs Spiegel. ‘What do you say, girls?’

  ‘Yes, please!’ said Lucy.

  When the man turned away to check the saddles, Harriet cupped her hand to Lucy’s ear. ‘It’s not very honest, getting a free ride for something we never did.’ She popped her plait in her mouth and sucked worriedly.

  Lucy paused to think about this. She was becoming quite an expert on honesty and lying. She even fancied herself as a bit of a lie detective or perhaps a lie detector. Her neighbour, Paolo, had told her about a machine that could tell whether or not a person was lying. She could be like that machine. She’d be Lucy the Lie Detector!

  Let’s see, she thought. The man was giving them a free ride because she let him know his camel had escaped. That part was true – she did let him know his camel had escaped. Sure, she was the reason the camel had run off in the first place, but did the man need to know that? Was it really a lie if you didn’t tell the whole story?

  ‘I’ve figured it out,’ she whispered to Harriet. ‘We haven’t told a lie out loud and that’s what counts. That means we don’t need to tell anyone about, you know, the rest of it.’

  Harriet frowned uncomfortably.

  ‘Trust me,’ said Lucy. ‘I’m a lie detector.’

  Even so, Harriet’s frown made the camel ride that little bit less enjoyable.

  A very different kind of lie preoccupied Lucy on the drive back to Berry Street: the way she had blamed Calvin. Dad once told her lies were bad because they hurt people. Since Lucy was planning on taking back her lie, Calvin would still get to go to the amusement park. That meant he wouldn’t get hurt, which, she told herself, meant she hadn’t done anything that terrible.

  She imagined how her confession would go: Mum and Dad would be a little disappointed at first, but then they’d see what a good person she was for telling the truth. Dad would ruffle her hair and congratulate her for being such an honest daughter. Mum would give her a hug and she might even suggest they have vla with hageltjes for tea. Vla was a special Dutch custard and hageltjes were hundreds and thousands. Lucy liked to stir in the sprinkles and watch the colours run, making rainbows in her custard.

  As for Calvin, he’d be so pleased he could still go out with Herc, he’d forget all about what she’d done. Everyone would be happy and her guilt would be gone. Lucy smiled. She could taste the vla already.

  Chapter Nine

  Much to Lucy’s surprise, Dad didn’t ruffle her hair and congratulate her for being so honest. Nor did Mum say, ‘What a good daughter we have, owning up to what she did.’ And there certainly wasn’t any vla.

  Dad paced the floor. Every now and then, he stopped to say something, but nothing came out. Mum bobbed down and took hold of Lucy’s hands. ‘I’m very disappointed in you, young lady.’

  There was that word: disappointed. Lucy dropped her eyes.

  ‘We’ll talk punishment later,’ continued Mum. ‘But first, there’s someone you need to speak to.’

  ‘Who?’ asked Lucy, looking up in alarm. ‘Not the police?’

  ‘No, Lucy, not the police. Your brother.’

  Lucy wondered if telling the police might be the better option. ‘Couldn’t you tell him?’

  ‘No, but I’ll come with you,’ said Dad.

  Lucy walked heel to toe towards the door to delay getting there for as long as possible. When they finally got to Calvin’s bedroom, Calvin was making a tower out of Lego blocks. He glared at Dad, his eyes red.

  ‘Cal,’ said Dad, ‘I owe you an apology. I know you didn’t scratch the car and I’m very sorry. I should have believed you.’

  Calvin raised his eyebrows. ‘Can I go with Herc?’

  ‘’Course you can,’ said Dad.

  Calvin’s face lit up and he punched the air with his fist, whooping.

  Wow, thought Lucy. He forgave Dad pretty quickly. Maybe he’ll forgive me too. Even so, she had to get the words out. She laced and unlaced her fingers. She shuffled her shoes. She bit her lip.

  Calvin watched expectantly.

  She took a deep breath and, with her eyes cast down, she blurted out, ‘I told Dad you scratched the car, when really I did it.’

  When Calvin didn’t reply, she sneaked a peek. The pink in his cheeks had drained away like a raspberry ice-block after the colour’s been sucked out of it.

  ‘Why?’ he said at last.

  ‘I didn’t want to get into trouble and I ...’ Lucy stopped, realising how bad it sounded.

  ‘Go on,’ said Dad.

  ‘I didn’t want to miss out on my camel ride.’

  Calvin’s eyes brimmed with tears. Lucy felt as if someone was poking her heart with a fork, the way Dad poked the potatoes before he microwaved them. Poke, poke, poke. Stab, stab, stab.

  ‘Keep going,’ said Dad.

  She knew she was supposed to say sorry, but the word wanted to stay in her mouth where it was nice and warm. At last, the guilt got too much for her. ‘Sorry,’ she said softly.

  Her brother wiped his eyes and jumped up.

  ‘I’m going to the loo!’ he announced, and ran out of the room.

  Lucy knew it would be a while before he forgave her.

  Chapter Ten

  It was the next morning and Lucy had already cleaned the bathroom, the toilet and the kitchen floor. She grimaced. There weren’t many days left of the school holidays and she was stuck doing jobs. She put the mop and bucket away and checked to see what else was on Mum and Dad’s list of punishments. Clean out pantry, it said.

  Lucy imagined she was a servant in a big mansion. The mean old housekeeper was making her work from dawn till midnight. She had just been ordered to clean out a cupboard that hadn’t been opened for years. Who knew what was inside it? Jewels? Money? Secret treasure?

  Lucy pulled out a jar and held it up to the light. ‘And the servant girl found a magic potion,’ she said softly. ‘A potion that would turn her into a princess.’ She smiled. How surprised the housekeeper would be when Lucy, the servant girl, turned up in velvet robes and a crown.

  The sound of footsteps interrupted her daydream. It was Calvin coming into the kitchen.

  ‘Look!’ she said. ‘I found a magic potion!’

  Calvin stared at the jar in her hand. ‘That’s marmalade.’

  ‘No, it’s not,’ said Lucy. ‘It’s magic. If you rub some behind your ears, you turn into a prince.’

  Calvin clenched his fists. ‘Dad! Lucy’s telling lies again!’

  Lucy put the jar down. ‘I’m not lying, only pretending.’

  ‘You’re a liar and I hate you!’ shouted Calvin, and he ran out of the room.

  Lucy went into the laundry where Dad was piling towels into the washing machine. She flung her arms around his middle and buried her face in his T-shirt.

  Dad held her close and gave her a pat. ‘Calvin still won’t play with you, hey?’

  She shook her head. What if he never talked to her again? She didn’t want to play by herself for the rest of her life. There were the chooks, of course, who were good and everything, but not the same as a brother.

  ‘He said I was a liar but I was only pretending.’ Her voice was muffled against his T-shirt. ‘That’s di
fferent. I wasn’t trying to trick him.’

  ‘I know, love, but I don’t think that’s what he’s really angry about.’

  ‘I said I was sorry.’

  Dad smoothed her fringe out of her eyes. ‘Do you understand why he’s so upset?’

  ‘Because I got him in trouble.’

  ‘Yes, but it’s more than that. Your brother looks up to you and you let him down.’

  Lucy lifted her face. ‘What should I do?’

  ‘You’re going to have to earn back his trust.’

  ‘But how?’

  ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to work that one out yourself, love,’ said Dad. He ruffled her hair then turned on the washing machine. ‘You’ll think of something. Now, come on. We’ve got to be out of here in twenty minutes.’

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘I’m not going,’ said Calvin. He lay on the floor of his bedroom, his arms locked around the leg of his bed.

  ‘I thought you wanted to play with Herc,’ said Dad.

  ‘Want binockalers,’ insisted Calvin.

  Dad rubbed his bald patch. ‘Couldn’t you leave them behind, just this once?’

  ‘Binockalers,’ he repeated.

  Dad looked at Lucy. ‘Have you seen them? I’ve turned the place upside-down.’

  Lucy shook her head.

  Dad checked his watch. ‘If we’re late to Herc’s, I’ll be late for the school fundraising committee meeting.’