by Davina Bell
She rushed to the dress-up box. She pulled out the gorilla mask she’d worn when 1W did their jungle song in assembly. It was a bit big for Baby Walter, but it looked okay.
‘Everything all right out there?’ called Mum as Lemonade Jones dragged the playpen out the back door.
‘Fine,’ called Lemonade Jones.
Steve was in the backyard with the cages. ‘It’s all set up,’ he said. ‘Is your mum about?’
‘She’s busy,’ said Lemonade Jones. ‘With the birthday cake.’
‘Right-o,’ said Steve. ‘I’m just going to nip out for a takeaway coffee.’
When Lemonade Jones put her doona over the playpen with Baby Walter inside, it really did look like a monkey cage. ‘There,’ she said happily.
Just then, Verity Minx slunk out of the bushes and came to rub herself against Lemonade Jones’s legs. Her fur was so soft, like wool. And that gave Lemonade Jones another Big Idea. ‘Stay here,’ she called to Verity Minx and Baby Walter. ‘I’ll be right back.’
Lemonade Jones ran into the bathroom and stood on the Teeth Cleaning Stool to reach the cabinet, which she wasn’t really supposed to do. She grabbed a special can that she had seen Dad use when he was shaving. She shook it as she ran back outside. She shook it as hard as she could.
She pressed the button and out came white foam — HEAPS of it, like a fluffy white cloud.
She sprayed it on Verity’s Minx’s head and on her body. It looked just like wool. ‘You’re a sheep,’ she said to Verity Minx. ‘A type that nobody has ever seen before. That’s why you’re in the zoo instead of a farm.’
‘Miaow,’ said Verity Minx crossly, trying to lick herself clean.
Lemonade Jones ran to the garage and grabbed her tricycle. She tied Big Ruffy’s lead to her tricycle so he could pull it along. He was big and brown, sort of like a bear.
She raced to the Craft Cupboard and got the tub of black glitter from Halloween. She tipped the whole thing over the parrot’s cage so he looked more like a bat. That was the moment when Steve came back.
‘Hey!’ he said. ‘What have you—’
‘Your guests are here!’ called Mum as the back door opened and Clark Dark and the kids from 1W poured into the yard. ‘I’ll be out in a minute.’
‘Where’s the crocodile?’ yelled Marcus Crackle, who was dressed like a lobster.
‘I’m the crocodile,’ said Lemonade Jones, and started to chase him with her hands snapping like jaws.
‘SNAP, SNAP!’ she cried.
‘YOWEE!’ yelled Marcus Crackle waving his lobster claws in the air as he ran away.
Soon everyone was chasing each other round and round and round again, making very loud animal noises.
Lemonade Jones loved loud noises.
Underneath his gorilla mask, Baby Walter was happily screaming and he sounded just like a real monkey.
Mum came out with the fairy bread, but nobody had time for any of that, so she took it back inside.
Lemonade Jones ran past Steve as he was reaching into the cage to pick up the rat with a patch on its eye.
‘Snap!’ she said behind him, and he jumped.
He dropped the rat. It did a backflip and landed on the grass.
From across the yard, Big Ruffy saw the pirate rat and started to chase it, pulling the tricycle behind him. He is faster than any lion, Lemonade Jones thought proudly.
‘Catch the rat!’ yelled Clark Dark, who was dressed as a toucan.
‘Catch the rat!’ yelled everyone as they chased the dog chasing the rat all around the garden.
But when Big Ruffy spied Verity Minx dressed as a sheep, he forgot all about the pirate rat. He stopped and woofed at the strange-looking sheep. Verity Minx hissed and arched her back and bared her claws. Big Ruffy growled a deep growl and showed his teeth.
Verity Minx screeched and turned and ran up the very smooth, very tall trunk of the gum tree, right to the very top branches. Her miaow sounded small and scared.
‘MUM!’ called Lemonade Jones as loud as she could. ‘MUM!’
Mum came dashing out, holding the cake on a big tray. That was the same moment Marcus Crackle let the parrot out of its cage.
The parrot, which looked like a bat, flew straight towards Mum’s head.
She screamed and tried to run, but she couldn’t see where she was going.
She tripped over the turtle’s cage. Her face smashed straight into the middle of the cake. And when she looked up, Mum’s face had disappeared and in its place was the face of a lion.
‘ROAR!!’ yelled Marcus Crackle.
‘ROOOAARRR!!’ yelled 1W.
Big Ruffy forgot all about the strange sheep.
He rushed over to lick the icing off Mum’s face.
‘Mum, Verity Minx is stuck again,’ said Lemonade Jones. ‘We need Dad!’
The fire brigade arrived to get Verity Minx down from the tree just as the parents arrived to pick everyone up from the party.
‘Dad!’ called Lemonade Jones as he climbed down his extra-long ladder in his smart yellow hat. ‘You came!’
‘Wouldn’t have missed it,’ said Dad.
That’s just when a lady arrived from the local newspaper to see what all the fuss was about.
‘Smile, Dad!’ called Lemonade Jones as the lady took a photograph.
When Verity Minx was safe again, Dad lifted everyone up to have a turn sitting in the front of the fire truck. He let them all try on one of the special yellow hats. He explained to Leela Blue about the special radio. He let Marcus Crackle push the button to make the lights flash.
Everyone had some cake. It was squished and it didn’t look much like a lion anymore, but it was nice and chocolatey all the same.
‘That was the best birthday party ever,’ said Clark Dark as Lemonade Jones gave him his party bag. ‘Even better than when Marcus Crackle set fire to that spaceship cake.’
‘Thanks,’ said Lemonade Jones, as she did a little dance that made her sneakers light up.
The last guest left and the front door closed, and she whispered to herself, ‘I sort of always knew it would be.’
For Jeanmarie, of course.
With thanks for the gift of this character and the gift of your friendship. DB
For sweet, fizzy Grace Pascale Blair. KB
Published by Allen & Unwin in 2018
Text copyright © Davina Bell 2018
Illustrations copyright © Karen Blair 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.
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ISBN 978 1 92526 673 3
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Cover and internal design by Sandra Nobes and Shahirah Hambali
www.davinabell.com
www.karenblair.com.au
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