Calvin ran inside to get Mum and Lucy sat on the crate. Dad fetched the cage and when Mum came out, she, Dad and Calvin crouched around the trap in a circle, their hands held out like catchers in a softball game.
Lucy took hold of the crate. ‘Ready?’
‘Ready,’ said Mum, Dad and Calvin.
Lucy crossed her fingers and lifted up one corner. Miss P. froze for a second then made a dash for freedom. Everyone screamed. Miss P. ran left then right then left again.
‘Catch her!’ cried Lucy.
‘Behind you!’ cried Mum.
Dad made a dive for her and missed. Calvin ran behind the chook shed, howling like a Wild Thing. Mum got down on her hands and looked under the bathtub. Lucy checked under the bushes.
By the time they stood up, Calvin had reappeared on the other side of the shed. ‘Got her!’ he cried, holding up Miss P.
Lucy flung open the lid of the cage, Calvin lowered the guinea pig inside and Lucy latched the lid shut.
‘We did it!’ she exclaimed, giving her brother a big kiss on the cheek.
‘Get off,’ he said, wiping off her kiss, but he couldn’t help smiling. He ran around in a circle, whooping for joy.
Lucy flopped down on the cool morning grass and Dad picked up Mum and spun her around.
‘That,’ said Dad, ‘was the most exciting thing since the World Cup soccer final.’
‘Looks like Team van Loon came through,’ said Mum. ‘We’re the best! Forget the rest!’
A loud squeal came from Miss P.’s cage.
‘I don’t think Miss P. agrees,’ said Lucy.
Chapter Twenty-two
Once the family had showered, dressed and eaten, they gathered in the driveway. It was time for Dad and Lucy to go to Jacinta’s.
‘No need to burden the Prestons with the story of Miss. P’s escape,’ said Dad, getting his keys out of his pocket. ‘What say we just put her back the way we found her?’
Mum lifted the cage into the back seat of the car and frowned. ‘That’s not terribly honest, Arjo.’
‘We’re not lying to them,’ said Dad. ‘Just leaving out certain parts.’
‘There’s no difference,’ replied Mum. ‘And anyway,’ she nodded at Lucy and Calvin, ‘it’s not exactly setting a good example for the kids.’ She leant over to buckle up Miss P.’s cage. As she did so, a chocolate wrapper fell out of her pocket. All four van Loons stared at it.
‘Mum!’ said Calvin.
‘Hanneke!’ said Dad. ‘What about our pact?’
Mum’s face reddened. ‘I couldn’t help it! I went to the shops and that chocolate was calling my name. “Buy me, Hanneke,” it was saying. “I’m so delicious.”’
Dad shook his head. ‘And to think you were giving me a lecture about telling the truth.’
‘Ahem, ahem,’ said Lucy, raising an eyebrow at Dad.
‘All right, all right,’ said Dad. ‘I’ll come clean. I ate a small slice of cake at Judy Preston’s house.’
‘Small?’ said Lucy.
‘Big. I ate a big slice of cake at Judy Preston’s. Well, two big slices, actually.’
Calvin’s eyes bugged open as he drank in the idea of Mum and Dad being naughty.
‘You knew about this, Lucy?’ said Mum.
‘Dad made me promise not to tell.’
‘Arjo!’ cried Mum.
Calvin giggled.
‘And you made me promise not to tell him about the Tim Tams, Mum!’ said Lucy.
‘Tim Tams?’ said Dad.
Mum shook her head. ‘I think your father and I have been well and truly caught out. We told you to tell the truth and then we went ahead and did the opposite and we asked you to fib for us.’
Dad nodded. ‘Why don’t we all try to give the truth a shot from now on.’
Lucy looked at Miss P. bouncing around her cage as if on an invisible trampoline. ‘Does that mean telling Jacinta about Miss P.?’
‘I guess it does,’ said Dad.
‘Anyway,’ said Mum, ‘that animal has had a taste of freedom. Look at her. That is not normal guinea pig behaviour. I’m afraid the perfect Miss P. has gone feral and Jacinta is sure to notice.’
Lucy sighed heavily. She was not looking forward to telling Jacinta the truth, but the thought of telling even more lies to cover up what she’d done seemed equally as bad. In fact, it seemed worse. Lucy had never got herself in such a muddle as she had these past few days. Something was troubling her, however, and she hadn’t quite given up her job as a lie detector yet.
‘Dad,’ she said, ‘you know how I said Mrs Preston’s picture looked like a cow doing a p–’
‘Yes, Lucy,’ said Dad. ‘I certainly do remember that.’
‘You didn’t want me to tell the truth, did you? Is that because you didn’t want me to hurt Mrs Preston’s feelings?’
‘Yes, it was, Lucy. Spot on.’
Lucy frowned as she thought this over. ‘Mum, if you bought a dress and I didn’t like it, it would be mean to say it was yucky, wouldn’t it?’
Mum nodded. ‘Yes, it would, love.’
‘But that’s telling a lie.’
‘Good point,’ said Mum. ‘It would be a lie, but it would also be the kind thing to do.’
‘Telling the truth is tricky,’ concluded Lucy. ‘I need to think about it some more.’
‘We all do,’ said Dad, climbing into the front seat of the car. ‘It’s a complicated business. Coming, Lucy?’
Before she got into the passenger seat, Lucy went over to her mother. ‘I missed out on a bedtime story because I was hiding Miss P. I was wondering, I know I’m grounded so I can’t have any nice things or anything ...’
‘Yes?’
‘But maybe you could still read me a bedtime story, if you wanted?’
Mum gave Lucy a sideways hug. ‘I’d love to, honey-bunch.’
‘And we’ll play Wild Things later?’ said Calvin. ‘I’m the boss.’
‘Yes,’ said Lucy. ‘We’ll play Wild Things later and you’re the boss.’
As she got into the car, Calvin grinned and Mum beamed. Lucy wished she too could smile but there was one more extremely unpleasant thing she had to do first.
‘I’m ready,’ she said to Dad. ‘Let’s go.’
Chapter Twenty-three
As it turned out, the Prestons had got home earlier than expected.
‘There you are!’ cried Jacinta, flinging open the door. She crouched down beside Miss P.’s cage and threw an accusing look at Lucy. ‘Where have you been?’
Mr Preston came outside and smiled warmly. He and Dad shook hands. Mrs Preston followed behind him, her hair perfectly straight, despite the plane flight.
‘Thank you for taking care of the wondrous Miss P.,’ said Mr Preston. ‘My daughter loves that little rascal. Sometimes I think she loves her more than me.’
‘Dad,’ said Jacinta, rolling her eyes. She was smiling, however.
As she went to unlatch the lid, Dad held up his hand. ‘Before you do that, Lucy has something to tell you.’
Jacinta narrowed her eyes. ‘Tell me what?’
They went into the Prestons’ backyard and Lucy began the whole sorry tale. When she got to the end, Jacinta was shaking with fury.
‘Lucy van Loon, you are a horrible girl and I hate you! I hope you never, ever get to have a guinea pig because you’re not good enough to own one!’
‘Settle down, love,’ said Jacinta’s dad. ‘Lucy said she was sorry.’
‘So?’ said Jacinta. ‘Miss P. could have died!’
Normally, Lucy would’ve argued back, but not this time. Jacinta was right – Miss P. could have died.
‘A feral guinea pig!’ said Mrs Preston, turning up her nose. ‘What next? I think it may be time we found Miss P. a new home.’
Jac
inta’s eyes filled with tears. ‘Please, Mum, no! She’ll be fine! I know she will!’
As if to prove her wrong, Miss P. zoomed around and around the cage, squealing at the top of her voice.
Mr Preston took his wife’s hand. ‘It seems a bit harsh to send her away when Jacinta loves her so much.’
‘That’s all very well, Dan, but look at her. She’s wild! That cage is far too small for her and where else are we going to keep her?’
Tears spilled down Jacinta’s cheeks. ‘Miss P.,’ she whispered, lacing her fingers through the wire.
A lump rose in Lucy’s throat. ‘Dad,’ she said, tugging on his shirt, ‘ do something.’
Dad shrugged as if to say, ‘What can I do?’
Jacinta clung to the cage wire while Mr and Mrs Preston had a whispered conversation. Lucy scanned the yard.
‘Dad,’ she said, pulling on her father’s arm. She dragged him down so she could whisper in his ear. Dad nodded his head a few times then straightened up.
‘Excuse me, Dan, Judy. I’m wondering what you folks use the back corner of the yard for? That strip over there behind the shed. There appears to be a bit of room back there.’
The Prestons followed Dad’s gaze.
‘We don’t use it for anything,’ said Mr Preston.
‘I wonder ...’ said Dad, rubbing his bald patch. ‘What do you think of building a guinea pig run?’
‘A guinea pig what?’ said Mrs Preston.
‘A guinea pig run.’
‘Let’s take a look,’ said Mr Preston and the two dads walked over to the back corner of the garden. Jacinta stopped crying and she and Lucy followed.
‘What on earth?’ said Mrs Preston.
‘It could start here and end here,’ said Dad, pointing behind the shed. ‘If you built a big enough frame, you could fence it in on all sides with chicken wire. Top and bottom too, to keep the foxes out. Then Bob’s your uncle – Miss P. has a new home.’
Lucy and Jacinta exchanged hopeful looks.
‘It would mess up the look of the garden,’ said Mrs Preston, coming over.
Jacinta drooped and Lucy’s hope drained away like dirty dish water gurgling down the plughole.
‘But, Judy,’ said her husband, ‘you’re always complaining about the cage being in the middle of the lawn and spoiling your view. No one would see it back here.’
Mrs Preston frowned. She appeared to want to keep arguing, but Jacinta said, ‘Please, Mum. Please let me keep her.’
Her mother was silent for a long while. Lucy held her breath. Without realising it, she and Jacinta were holding hands. Everyone and everything fell quiet. All except Miss P., who squealed like a kettle on the boil.
At last, Mrs Preston’s shoulders slumped. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘You’ve worn me down. Go on, Jacinta. Have your guinea pig run.’
‘Thanks, Mum! Thanks, Dad! Thanks, Mr van Loon!’
Jacinta realised she was holding Lucy’s hand and let go, but not before giving it a grateful squeeze. ‘I get to keep Miss P.!’
Chapter Twenty-four
‘These are called clogs,’ said Lucy, pointing at her wooden shoes. ‘These
It was the weekend and she was in Jacinta’s backyard. Her dad had offered to help Jacinta’s dad with the guinea pig run. He’d asked Lucy to come too, even though she was officially grounded. He said it’d be good for her character.
‘They’re special Dutch shoes,’ continued Lucy. ‘They keep out the mud and stuff.’
‘My wellingtons are better,’ said Jacinta, looking down at her pink rubber boots.
Lucy gritted her teeth. They might not be enemies anymore but Jacinta could still be really annoying sometimes. Lucy decided not to say anything just this once. She had something she wanted to ask. ‘Hey, Jacinta.’
‘Hm?’
‘Dad said I might be able to have a guinea pig one day. It won’t be for a long time, though. I have to finish all my punishment first. When I get him, I’m going to call him Fang and I wondered, maybe Fang and Miss P. could be friends.’
Jacinta looked thoughtful. She glanced over at Miss P., running around her cage at top speed. ‘I think Miss P. would like a friend. Then she wouldn’t be so lonely.’ She looked up at Lucy and smiled.
‘Good,’ said Lucy.
‘And maybe, if you wanted, you could come and visit Miss P. before then. She’d like that.’
‘Great!’ said Lucy.
‘But you have to ring first,’ said Jacinta, ‘and you have to follow my rules, okay?’
Rules, rules, rules, thought Lucy. Jacinta was worse than Harriet. Still, she could put up with a few rules if it meant she could visit Miss P.
‘Got it,’ she replied.
Jacinta smiled. ‘Then it’s a deal.’
‘We need two strong girls over here to help us with the chicken wire,’ said Mr Preston. ‘Know any, Arjo?’
‘Two strong girls?’ said Dad, scratching his chin. ‘Can’t think of any off the top of my head, Dan.’
‘What about us?’ called Jacinta.
‘Yeah!’ said Lucy. ‘What about us? We’re strong!’
‘They have a point,’ said Mr Preston. ‘What do you say, Arjo? Shall we get them to help us?’
‘Yay!’ cried Jacinta and Lucy, and the two girls ran over to help, one in wellingtons, the other in clogs.
Pronunciation Guide (in accordance with the author’s attempt at a Dutch accent)
Arjo: ar-yo
goedemorgen: hood-er-mor-a-her (the ‘h’ should be gently gargled)
goed zo: hood so (again, gently gargle the ‘h’)
hageltjes: har-hool-chers (gargle the second ‘h’ only)
Hanneke: hunna-ker
lekker: leckar (it means yummy)
oliebollen: oh-lee-boll-ah
van Loon: van loan
vla: flar
zoontje: zoan-ch
All about guinea pigs
Did you know ... ?
•Guinea pigs are not pigs. In fact, they are related to mice, beavers and porcupines.
•No one knows exactly how the guinea pig got its name. One theory is that they were sold to sailors for one guinea (an old currency), plus they look a bit like little pigs.
•They are also known as cavies.
•They can learn to recognise the sound of their favourite human’s voice.
•Females (sows) can have babies (piglets) from the time they are one month old. They usually have three or four piglets at They usually have three or four piglets at They usually have three or four piglets at once, but can have as many as ten.
•They live for five to seven years on average, but the oldest guinea pig on record lived for nearly fifteen years!
•Guinea pigs’ teeth never stop growing, so they need to chew constantly to keep them from getting too long.
Caring for your guinea pig
Play
•Guinea pigs are very social creatures so they like lots of daily love and attention. It’s best to have two guinea pigs so they can keep each other company (make sure they are both the same sex so they don’t breed). Males (boars) are more aggressive so you may prefer to get sows.
•Guinea pigs like playing with simple toys like a cardboard toilet roll, a paper cup or an empty tissue box.
Diet
•Grass or grass hay is best. For example, Timothy, oaten, wheaten or ryegrass hays. They also eat green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, carrot tops and parsley, as well as fruit high in vitamin C, like kiwi fruit. Provide fresh water daily.
•Avoid: Lucerne and clover hays, bread, biscuits, chocolate, beetroot, spinach, rhubarb, nuts and onions.
Housing
•When it comes to a hutch, you will need an area of about 70cm x 70cm per guinea pig. If possible, let your pet out of its cage every day for a run around.
•Be sure to provide a gnawing log made of untreated wood.
Acknowledgements
The idea for this book came from a vivid, middle-of-the-night dream, but it was the encouragement of friends, family, colleagues and readers that has brought it to life. Thanks go to my agent, Sheila Drummond, for all her hard work; Cheryl Orsini, who has once again illustrated the story so well; those who provided frank but diplomatic feedback on my manuscript, in particular, Miranda, Emilia, Kathryn and Peter McDonald, Reuben Howe, Russell Talbot and Dave Rees; Mum, for all the late night workshopping and character exposition; and finally, to my publisher and editor, Zoe Walton, my other editor, Kate Stevens, and rest of the fabulous team at Random House Australia. Thank you!
About the Author
South Australian author Marianne Musgrove got her first taste of success when, at age ten, she won the Sinbad Award For The Most Outlandish Stories To Be Written. In 2008, her first novel, The Worry Tree, was granted the Australian Family Therapists’ Award for Children’s Literature. It was also short-listed for three other awards including the 2007 National Children’s Peace Literature Award. Her other books include Lucy the Good and Don’t Breathe a Word. She has, at various times, worked as a tomato picker, museum guide for kids, social worker and social policy writer. Her favourite foods are banana on toast, orange chocolate and Dutch cheese.
For more information, check out:
www.mariannemusgrove.com.au
or www.randomhouse.com.au/Authors/
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