The Adventures of Jellybean

by Dianne Bates

  Mum was the head cook and the boys were her helpers. They read out the recipe and took turns at stirring as the soap cooked.

  It was a lot of work and in no time at all they were sweating. But at last, Mum poured the soap into mould trays.

  ‘Errggh.’ Rory screwed up his nose. ‘That stinks.’

  Trang fanned his face. ‘Even my dirty socks don’t pong as much.’

  ‘Yuck!’ Rory shivered as he said it. ‘I didn’t think anything would ever smell worse than your socks – or mine.’

  ‘Yes, it’s pretty bad right now.’ Mum opened a window. ‘But eventually the stink will fade away. Once the soap sets it will smell really nice. We’ll just have to wait for a while.’

  ‘I know what we can do while we’re waiting. We can play soccer! You up for it, T?’

  ‘Totally.’

  ‘Mum?’

  ‘Always. But you boys better watch out – I’m good.’

  Rory raced outside, calling over his shoulder, ‘Not as good as us!’

  All Mum had to do to score was kick the ball between the flowerpots. They were placed about two metres apart. That would have been easy, but first she had to get the ball past the goalkeepers.

  Her first kick went wide. Her second went straight, but Trang stopped it.

  ‘Is that the best you’ve got, Mrs H?’

  Rory shouted, ‘You can’t beat us!’

  Mum got ready to try again. She gritted her teeth. ‘I’ll score this time. For sure.’

  As soon as she kicked, Bitsa sprang on top of the ball. And bit into it.

  ‘No, Bitsa!’

  The ball burst and Bitsa scampered off with it in his mouth.

  While all this was going on in the backyard, Dad came home with Luna. They’d been at the park feeding the ducks. When they went into the house, it smelt DISGUSTING.

  ‘It must be coming from the sink.’ Dad got down on his hands and knees. ‘That shouldn’t be too hard to fix.’

  ‘I might be able to fix it, Daddy.’

  ‘You probably could, too.’ Dad gave her a hug. ‘But it’s a dirty job. You don’t want to get dirty, do you?’

  ‘Yes! It’ll be fun!’

  ‘I don’t think so, honey.’

  ‘Awww.’

  ‘Off you go now. Run along and play.’

  Once outside, Luna ran straight into Mum’s outstretched arms.

  ‘Did you have fun at the duck pond?’

  ‘Yes, except Daddy was mean.’

  Mum let Rory and Trang keep playing while she sat down on the grass with Luna.

  ‘Oh? That’s not like him. What did he do?’

  ‘He wouldn’t let me bring home a ducky.’

  ‘Darling, you’re not allowed to take ducks from the pond.’

  ‘But I only wanted to play with it. Not keep it for ever and ever.’

  While they chatted, Dad was hard at work in the kitchen. First he turned off the water supply. Then he started undoing the pipes under the kitchen sink. They were scattered across the floor when Mum and Luna came in.

  ‘What are you doing, Todd?’

  ‘It’s all under control. I’m getting rid of that stink.’

  ‘That stink is not a stink.’ Mum sighed. ‘It’s homemade goat’s milk soap.’

  ‘Come back!’ Trang was yelling.

  And then Rory. ‘Stop her!’

  Mum had left the back door open. Jellybean hurtled into the kitchen. Right behind her was Bitsa, still with the soggy remains of the soccer ball in his mouth.

  The boys rushed in. Jellybean had her nose on the floor, seeing what there was to eat. Rory grabbed her. Trang picked up Bitsa.

  ‘Sorry. We were playing and Jellybean got away from us.’

  ‘No harm done.’ Mum turned to Dad. ‘All that’s left to do now is to put the sink back together. I hope you know how to do it, Todd.’

  ‘Easy peasy. I’ve even put the washers in a little pile so I won’t lose them. They’re just over—’ Dad scratched his head. ‘That’s funny. They were there a second ago. Did anyone see some rubber washers?’

  ‘Look!’

  All eyes turned to Jellybean. She was chewing.

  Last year Mum had run a cake stall at the fete to raise money for the school and Rory had helped her. He’d sold lots of cakes (and eaten quite a few as well). Now it was once more time for the fete.

  ‘Are we going to have the cake stall again, Mum?’

  ‘No. Your dad and I are doing something different this year. We have a special project. But I can’t tell you what it is yet.’

  Rory couldn’t work it out. Neither could Trang. They could hear both their dads sawing and hammering in the shed. But no matter how much they snooped around and begged for clues, they were told, ‘It’s a surprise.’

  To keep their minds off the mystery, they came up with a project of their own.

  They would teach Jellybean tricks. Then they would take her to the fete. When she performed, people would give them money. And they’d donate the money to the school to buy books.

  Too easy!

  There was only one not-so-easy problem. They had no idea how to train a goat.

  ‘It won’t be too hard. Jellybean is way smart.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Trang looked deeply into Jellybean’s eyes and then at Rory. ‘You’re right, she’s heaps smarter than you.’

  ‘Aw yeah?’

  ‘Yeah!’

  Rory threw an air punch. With sound effects.

  Whhhooosh!

  Trang sank to the ground. With sound effects.

  Arrggghhhh!

  Rory paraded around, his arms held high. ‘The champion wins again!’

  Trang lifted up his head. ‘But Jellybean’s still smarter.’

  The game over, they got back to their project. They started off with simple tricks, like ‘sit’ and ‘roll over’.

  Jellybean just stared back.

  ‘Hey. I’ll get Bitsa to teach her,’ Trang said.

  ‘You’re going to get a dog to teach a goat? Right.’

  ‘I’ll show you what I mean.’

  Trang whistled and the dog came running. Then he turned to the goat. ‘Okay, Jellybean, pay attention … SIT, Bitsa!’

  Bitsa sat.

  ‘ROLL OVER!’

  Bitsa rolled over.

  ‘Good dog.’ Trang patted him and Bitsa wagged his tail. ‘Now it’s your turn, Jellybean. SIT!’

  Maa. Maa.

  Rory laughed. ‘That means, “No way.”’

  ‘It’s simple, Jellybean.’ Trang wasn’t going to give up. ‘Just do what I do.’

  Trang got down on the ground and rolled over.

  ‘Now you do it.’

  She munched some grass.

  ‘Here’s your big chance, Jellybean.’ Trang stood up, and then slowly sat down. ‘SIT!’

  Maa. Maa.

  Trang had barked commands at Jellybean and that hadn’t worked, so Rory tried a different way. ‘Jellybean’ – so, so softly – ‘sit. Please.’

  Jellybean kept on eating.

  Trang shrugged. ‘Maybe she’s just one of those goats who can’t do tricks.’

  ‘Or she could be tired. She looks kinda sleepy.’

  They agreed to try again first thing in the morning, when Jellybean was wide awake after a good night’s rest.

  Trang had a brand-new video game that he and Rory were keen to try out, but as they walked past the garage they heard the WHIRRRRR of a drill.

  Rory and Trang crept over to the door, pushed against it and it burst open.

  Dad stood there, towering over them. ‘No peeking.’

  ‘Can’t we have just one quick look?’

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘You’ll both have to be patient.’ It was
Mr Nguyen.

  ‘But, Dad—’

  ‘Go. Away.’

  Being patient was about the hardest thing in the world.

  That night Rory told Mum about Jellybean. ‘She won’t learn tricks. We’ve tried everything.’

  ‘You should have asked me to help.’

  ‘Can you train goats?’

  ‘I don’t see why not. I trained you kids.’ She gently pinched his nose. ‘Don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll teach Jellybean a few tricky moves. No trouble at all.’

  In the morning Mum was outside early to help Rory and Trang.

  ‘Watch this.’ She held a stick in front of Jellybean and let her sniff the end of it. ‘Come on, girl – follow me.’

  Mum walked backwards, holding the stick out. Jellybean scurried after her. Up the yard and back again. Then Mum trotted in a circle. Jellybean followed every move.

  Next, Mum stood behind a plastic hoop, and held out the stick. Jellybean walked straight through the hoop.

  Rory and Trang were gobsmacked! Unless they had her on a lead, Jellybean never went where they wanted her to go.

  Mum wasn’t finished yet. ‘Jellybean.’ She leant forward. ‘Give me a kiss.’

  Sure enough, Jellybean kissed her on the cheek!

  ‘Wow! How did you make her do that?’

  ‘Yeah, Mum. Tell us.’

  ‘Getting her to follow me was simple. I just put some jam on the end of the stick.’

  ‘But how did you get her to kiss you, Mrs H?’

  ‘That’s easy.’ Mum pointed to the side of her face. ‘Peanut butter.’

  Rory clapped. ‘You’re a great trainer!’

  Trang put his arms around Jellybean’s neck and hugged her. ‘I knew you were smart.’

  It wasn’t until the day of the fete that the dads revealed the big secret. ‘Ta-da!’

  The boys’ jaws fell open when they saw a cart made just for Jellybean. It was painted jet black, with red stripes. On its side in bright green letters was written: Jellybean Soap.

  With a rag Mr Nguyen flicked a bit of dust off the new paint. ‘Good enough, fellas?’

  ‘Awesome!’ said Trang.

  ‘What about this?’ Mr Nguyen held up a rope harness Trang’s mum had made for Jellybean, a fancy one with gold thread running through it.

  ‘Super awesome!’ said Rory.

  Rory’s mum’s part of the secret project was to make another batch of soap.

  ‘Good job, Mummy.’ Luna held the soap to her nose. ‘It’s nice!’

  At the fete Dad hooked Jellybean up to the harness and filled the cart with bars of soap. All was ready.

  As Rory and Trang led her through the school grounds, they called out, ‘Goat’s milk soap for sale! Goat’s milk soap!’

  Business was brisk. People flocked around just for a closer look at Jellybean and then they’d get a bar of soap pushed at them, and they’d hear something like this …

  ‘All profits go to the school!’

  ‘And this soap is really good for you!’

  ‘Aw, come on – you know you want to!’

  Who could resist?

  When they’d sold half the soap, they took the harness off Jellybean, because there weren’t any more customers.

  ‘Good on you.’ Rory patted her. ‘You made lots of money for the school. But you can’t rest yet, girl. It’s time to do some tricks.’

  In his loudest voice Trang yelled, ‘Goat tricks! Come and see our goat do tricks!’

  A small crowd gathered round.

  Turning his back so they wouldn’t see what he was doing, Trang smeared jam on the end of a stick.

  ‘Follow me!’

  Jellybean didn’t move.

  Trang pumped up the volume. ‘FOLLOW ME!’

  Jellybean looked around for something to eat.

  ‘You must have used the wrong kind of jam, T.’

  ‘No one told me there was a special kind.’

  The crowd started to wander away.

  ‘Come back! There’s one more trick!’ Trang turned to Rory. ‘You can do this one.’

  ‘What do I do?’

  Trang whispered.

  ‘Oh, right.’ Rory knelt down in front of Jellybean.

  ‘Kiss me!’

  For a moment Jellybean was slightly interested, and then she burped and went back to hunting for a snack.

  It wasn’t till the crowd had left that Rory realised his mistake.

  ‘I forgot the peanut butter!’

  In Emily Street all was peaceful. Bitsa was snoozing in his kennel, lying in his favourite position – flat on his back. He’d had a tiring day in the park chasing the ball with Rory and Trang.

  The whole neighbourhood snoozed.

  But Jellybean wasn’t asleep.

  Maa! Maa! Maa!

  Maaaa!

  Rory was sure he was having a bad dream. He had put Jellybean into the garage the night before. When the door was shut, not even her loudest bleats could be heard.

  So why could he hear her so clearly?

  Rory’s room became brighter as house lights flickered on in the street. Soon Mum and Dad turned their light on, too. Rory looked out the window. Jellybean wasn’t in the garage where he’d left her. She was in the backyard, near the fence.

  Maa! Maa!

  Rory reached the back door at the same time as Dad.

  Now Bitsa was barking, too.

  The backyard was as noisy as a zoo at feeding time – a zoo where the head keeper had forgotten the food.

  ‘I’ll take care of Jellybean, Rory. You see if you can get Bitsa to stop yapping.’

  ‘It’s okay, boy.’ Bitsa jumped up and down. He was shaking. ‘Something’s scared him, Dad.’

  ‘And I know what. The poor dog must have got a huge fright when she started bleating. I don’t blame him.’

  But how did Jellybean get into the backyard?

  Dad checked the garage door. ‘It’s not locking properly. She probably just pushed against it and it opened.’

  ‘But what made her lose it like that?’

  ‘Could have been anything. A bit of paper blowing across the yard. A gust of wind. Maybe a mouse. Or maybe she was too hot, and wanted to complain. I just wish she’d keep it down!’

  ‘It probably won’t happen again.’

  ‘Now look, mate.’ Dad shut his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. He did that whenever he was worried about something. ‘I told you if she caused problems she’d have to go. You agreed to that. Right?’

  ‘Yeah. But we have to give her a chance. We can’t give up on her.’

  ‘Well, I’m just warning you, okay? No one likes a noisy goat.’

  Under his breath Rory murmured, ‘I still like you, Jellybean.’

  Dad and Rory stayed with the pets until they’d calmed down. By then all the lights in the street were off except for one.

  Mrs Herman was still up.

  ‘We’re going to hear about this tomorrow.’ Dad sighed. ‘She’s really going to give us some stick.’

  After one last pat Bitsa curled up in his kennel again. Then they put Jellybean in the garage and jammed a chock of wood under the door so she couldn’t get out.

  ‘We’ve done our best.’ Dad wrapped his arm around Rory’s shoulder. ‘Let’s see if we can get some sleep this time.’

  They hadn’t gone far when a police car cruised into the street. It stopped in front of Mrs Herman’s house. Two officers – a man and a woman – got out and strode up the driveway.

  ‘Oh no,’ Dad groaned. ‘We’re going to hear about it sooner than I thought! She must have complained about all the noise.’

  ‘Are we in trouble?’

  ‘There’s a good chance, mate. A very good chance.’

  After breakfa
st Trang came over to talk to Rory. His family had also been woken by Jellybean. But they weren’t angry. Not even Grandma.

  ‘They’re just scared we’re going to have to give Jellybean away because she’s a pest,’ Trang said.

  ‘Yeah, I’m scared of that, too.’

  ‘How about we take her around to the neighbours and say sorry? Like we did last time.’

  Rory had already thought of that. But it mightn’t work again.

  ‘Jellybean was really loud, T.’

  ‘You’re not wrong. I thought she was going for the record as the loudest goat ever. And Bitsa wasn’t exactly quiet either.’

  ‘Maybe just saying sorry won’t be enough.’

  ‘What about if we give them all a bar of Jellybean soap too?’

  ‘It’s worth a try.’

  Before they could say another word, the front gate opened and in walked Mrs Herman.

  ‘I’m here about your goat.’

  Rory’s mind was racing. What if Mum and Dad were in trouble with the police, because of Jellybean? What if they got arrested? What if Jellybean was taken away and he and Trang never saw her again?

  ‘Are your parents home?’ Mrs Herman tapped a finger on the doorframe.

  Rory was tempted to lie, just to get rid of her, but before he could, Mum opened the door. Dad was beside her.

  Rory hung back to see what would happen. Trang gripped his friend’s shoulder. Tightly.

  Mum spoke up. ‘We’re really sorry that our goat woke you last night.’

  ‘You have every right to be upset,’ chipped in Dad. ‘We’re going to try much harder to keep her quiet in future. I’ve told Rory she’ll have to go if she doesn’t behave.’

  ‘No, no, you don’t understand.’ Mrs Herman didn’t sound at all grumpy. ‘I came here to thank you.’

  Surprised, Rory and Trang glanced at each other.

  ‘Someone was in my backyard last night. And up to no good. The goat must have heard him climbing the fence. When she made that awful racket, it scared the man off.’

  ‘Good heavens,’ said Mum. ‘We had no idea.’

  ‘I saw him running away and I was straight on the phone to the police.’ Mrs Herman hardly paused for a breath. ‘It was so lucky. They had a car just two streets away. Best of all, they got here in time to catch him!’