by Ruth Thomas
Julia thought for a long moment. ‘Don’t pirates bury treasure?’ she asked at last. ‘Perhaps they’ve buried some treasure here.’
‘Nah – they always bury it on a island, with a cross on the map to show where it is.’
‘Don’t they never bury it in a house? Shall we look and see? Shall we, Nathan?’
‘Nah,’ he said.
‘Why not? We might find something. Where would they put it if they did?’
How stupid she was! She didn’t understand it was a game, she thought it was real.
‘Where do you think they’d put it, Nathan?’
‘Under the floorboards, I suppose,’ said Nathan reluctantly. It was silly to think the pirates were real, but of course, things that were buried in houses were always under the floorboards. Everyone knew that.
Half-heartedly, Nathan tried to prise up a board in the corner of the room which looked loose.
Julia frowned. ‘Not there,’ she said.
‘Why not?’
‘It’s all thick dirt. Nobody’s moved that lately.’
Nathan looked at Julia sharply. She couldn’t be that stupid after all. ‘Let’s go in the other rooms,’ he suggested.
They wandered through the house, peering carefully. It was only a game, of course – but on the other hand, you never knew. . . .
‘There!’ said Julia.
Nathan saw immediately what she meant. A piece of floorboard with fresh scratches on it, and the dirt scraped over to cover up the scratches. The board was quite loose, it came up easily in Nathan’s hands. The hole revealed was empty. ‘There’s nothing there,’ he said, disappointed but hardly surprised.
Julia lay full length on the dirty floor and thrust her arm into the space beyond where the piece of board had been pulled up.
‘I got something,’ she exclaimed, excitedly.
‘What is it?’
‘I dunno. Here it is.’ She withdrew her arm, and in her hand was a large brown envelope. The envelope was stiff and new, and hardly dirty at all. Julia was quite dizzy with triumph. Without speaking, she lifted the flap off the envelope and tipped its contents on to the floor. Money! Lots of real paper money, all in twenty pound notes. The two children stared at what they had found.
‘Look at that,’ Nathan breathed, his eyes round with incredulity. ‘Just look at that!’
‘You was right, Nathan,’ Julia whispered in awe. ‘It was pirates.’
Nathan shook his head. He was still struggling to grasp the reality of what had happened. This stupendous discovery that in one moment had put all the previous highlights of his life in the shade. ‘It ain’t pirates though,’ he said. ‘It ain’t pirates.’
‘But we found the money they buried.’
‘It’s the wrong sort of money for pirates,’ said Nathan. ‘Pirates’ money is all gold coins. This is ordinary money.’
‘Who put it there then?’
‘I dunno. Robbers I suppose.’
‘Where they get it from?’
‘How should I know? Burglared a house most likely.’
‘What did they put it under the floor for?’
‘So the police won’t find it in their house of course!’ What was the matter with her – stupid thing? Didn’t she ever watch telly?
‘We found it, didn’t we, Nathan! We found all that money! I can’t believe we really found all that money, can you? How much is it?’
‘I dunno. Hundreds of pounds anyway. Thousands, probably.’
‘Thousands of pounds! How did the robbers get in here, Nathan? Suppose somebody saw them coming in?’
‘You don’t know nothing, man,’ said Nathan, irritably. ‘They come in the back of course, over the railway. It’s perfect. I bet lots of these houses been burglared like that.’
The children’s eyes, and their thoughts, went back to the money, lying between them, spilled over the dusty floor. Over the quivering excitement of having found it, an unspoken questions hovered. Nathan prodded the money with his foot. Julia chewed the end of her pigtail.
‘Nathan,’ said Julia at last, ‘is it our money?’
‘Course. We found it, didn’t we!’
‘Do you think we ought to take it to the police?’
‘I ain’t taking my half to the police. You can do what you like with your half.’
‘Oh.’
‘What you going to do then, with your half?’
‘Keep it, I suppose,’ said Julia. ‘Same as you.’
‘Shall we share it out then?’
‘Half for you and half for me?’
‘Suppose that’s fair. You found it, but it’s my secret place.’
‘Yeah, all right, that’s fair.’
Dividing the money was easy. They dealt the notes like a pack of cards, and there were 105 each.
‘We’re rich now, aren’t we!’ said Julia. ‘I can’t believe I’m rich.’
‘We mustn’t tell nobody though.’
‘Course not.’
‘What you going to spend yours on, Julia?’
‘I dunno yet.’ Actually she was beginning to have an idea, but the idea was a private thing at this stage.
Nathan’s plans were also private. He was thinking in terms of saving his half until he was grown up, and then buying a house. There would surely be enough money for that; there might even be some left over. He would put his notes in a very safe place meanwhile. And that thought raised another question.
‘Julia – where we going to keep our money?’
Julia considered. ‘Couldn’t we keep it here? In another part of the house?’
‘No, we couldn’t! That’s one thing we certainly couldn’t do!’
‘Why not?’
‘Think, stupid! The one that put it here is going to come back for it, isn’t he.’
‘So. He won’t find it in the place, it’ll be gone. We could hide it again, so he won’t know where to look.’
‘But he might find us. He might come back any time and find us. Or somebody might see us going in, and tell.’
‘Oh yeah – then he’d take it away from us again.’
‘Then he’d kill us, probably.’
‘Really? Really kill us?’ Julia’s pale eyes were round with horror and fright. ‘When’s he coming back, Nathan? Is he coming back now?’
‘I dunno, do I?’
‘Perhaps he’s coming right this minute. Perhaps he’s coming over the railway line now. Let’s go, Nathan, before he comes to kill us.’
‘Wait a minute, we got to think first.’ But Julia’s fear was infectious, and Nathan was already feeling uneasy and jumpy. ‘All right, we’ll go. Put your money safe first though. You can have the envelope. Have you got a pocket?’
The plastic mac had no pocket, neither had the cotton dress beneath it. ‘Turn round, Nathan, don’t look,’ said Julia, primly. She stuffed the envelope with the money in it inside her knickers, where it felt scratchy but reassuring, against her skin.
Nathan wrapped his in the plastic bag which had contained the cats’ food. The bag was a bit mucky and greasy inside, but no matter. Folded over, the parcel was small enough to slip into the lining of his anorak, through the hole in his pocket which had been there for almost as long as he had had the coat.
‘Hurry up,’ said Julia, hopping up and down with fear and impatience. ‘Let’s go quick. Let’s go to the park. There’s shelters there.’
‘All right.’ Nathan would never have thought of that. It was obvious really, but he had to admit he would never have thought of it. Clearly Julia was better at some things than he was. Stupid old Rat-bag she might be, but she did have good ideas sometimes. They ran to the park, and huddled in the shelter opposite the playground, wondering what to do next.
‘Are you going to hide your money in your house?’ said Nathan.
‘I dunno. I’m scared my mum might find it.’
‘Mine might too. Where can we hide it then?’
‘Somewhere in the park?’
‘Where though?’
Julia gazed around her. ‘We could bury it.’
‘The gardener might dig it up.’
‘Not the grass bit. He don’t dig the grass up.’
Nathan thought, scowling with the effort. ‘He’ll see where we hid it though. It’ll show – like the board in the house.’
‘Not if we cover it up. We can put the grass back, and cover it over with stuff. Under a tree would be best, with all those leaves and twigs.’
‘We haven’t got nothing to dig with.’
‘A stone would do.’
Behind the shelter they found a large flat stone, and a piece of wood. Something was troubling Nathan. ‘I won’t look which tree you put yours under, if you don’t look which tree I have.’
‘All right.’ Julia understood; Nathan didn’t trust her. That suited her, she didn’t trust him either. ‘Who’s going first?’
‘Me. Hide your eyes and don’t look till I get back.’
‘Hurry up, then.’ Julia closed her eyes and drifted away into a warm dream. Already she was seeing the finding of the money as the turning point of her life, the answer to all her problems. Next week her new life would begin, and she could hardly wait.
Nathan took the piece of wood and ran behind the shelter, flitting from tree to tree in the rain, looking for a suitable place to hide his money. He glanced back at the shelter to make sure Julia wasn’t peeping, and then began to dig. The ground was harder than he expected, and he couldn’t make a very deep hole, but fortunately the package was not very large. He took out one twenty pound note first, and put it into the lining of his pocket. Then he filled in the hole, and covered the evidence with leaves and twigs. The rain would soon wash away any remaining traces, and if anyone did notice, they would think a dog had done it. Nathan’s money was safe.
Julia’s task was even easier. Looking for a tree, she was lucky enough to find one with a hollow trunk. Her sharp eyes spotted the smallish hole, and when she thrust her hand through, she discovered there was a lovely big space inside. Standing behind the tree, she took the money out of her knickers. She hesitated, took out one twenty pound note, and put the rest of the money back in the envelope. Then she dropped the little package into the hole in the tree, and put the twenty pound note back into her knickers.
‘I’m hungry,’ said Nathan, when Julia got back to the shelter.
It occurred to Julia that she was hungry also, and missing the prospect of school dinners – which, if not exactly exciting, were at least always filling. ‘We could buy something,’ she suggested.
‘Did you keep any of your money?’
‘Yeah, did you?’
‘Yeah, I kept one of them notes.’
‘We better use yours,’ said Julia.
‘What’s wrong with yours?’
‘Mine’s in my knickers, and I can’t get it easy. Besides, there’ll be a lot of change and I got nowhere to keep it today.’
‘All right, but you got to pay me back. I ain’t paying for your chips.’
‘I’ll pay you back when I change my note tomorrow.’
‘What you going to buy tomorrow?’
‘Never you mind.’
‘Shall we go to Tony’s Chippie?’
‘Yeah, but—’
‘What?’
‘I’m thinking,’ said Julia.
‘What about?’
‘The twenty pound note. Tony’s going to wonder where we got it from.’
She was right, of course. ‘What shall we do then?’ said Nathan.
‘I’m thinking, aren’t I . . . I know, you stay outside and I’ll go in by myself and say it’s for my mum.’
Nathan scowled, and began to lag. He kicked viciously at a stone in his path. He muttered under his breath, and kicked the stone again.
‘What’s the matter?’ said Julia.
‘Nothing.’
‘What you cross about?’
‘Nothing, I said.’ Nathan kicked the stone again, and wished he could kick Julia. He would like to kick her for being better at some things than he was. Resentment boiled up inside him. He didn’t want this ungainly, bent lamppost in his adventure. He wanted it all to himself, he didn’t want to have to share any part of it.
‘Rat-bag,’ he mouthed at Julia’s back, as they made their way to the chip shop.
He knew, all the same, that he couldn’t do without her.
3
Found out!
The Day of the Money was Friday. By Monday morning Julia was hoping Mrs Henrey had forgotten about the spilled paint. In fact, Mrs Henrey had not forgotten, but she had decided to be charitable. ‘Are you feeling better, Julia?’ she enquired, with only a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
‘Yes thank you, Mrs Henrey,’ said Julia gratefully. ‘I had a bad headache,’ she added, her pale eyes beseeching acceptance of the fib.
But Mrs Henrey had, in any case, lost interest in Julia and her troubles. She had likewise lost interest in the absconding of Nathan, on the way back from the park. This morning, Mrs Henrey was only interested in teaching the class how to do percentages. Next term they would all be going to their secondary schools, and Mrs Henrey did not want them to go, not knowing how to do percentages. Julia, of course, was quite incapable of learning how to do percentages – but, mercifully, Monday was the day Julia was taken off Mrs Henrey’s hands for an hour.
‘Don’t forget your Class, Julia. Miss Payton’ll be waiting for you in the library.’
Julia flushed with shame, and shambled to her feet. On these occasions she always felt that everyone was looking at her, laughing at her because she couldn’t read properly. Julia hated the Remedial Reading lessons – but today there was a crumb of consolation. Today she had a Secret – a lovely warm Secret, the substance of which lay hidden in her desk, wrapped in a plastic bag.
At playtime, Julia retrieved the bag and carried it self-consciously into the playground. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the yard, not knowing where to begin. Now that the moment had come she felt shy, uncertain. Jennifer rushed past, and pursuing her was Sharon. They were playing some game. Julia dived into her bag, and produced one of the dozen or so small objects that lay within. She stepped into Sharon’s path and held out her offering. ‘Want one?’ she heard herself say.
Sharon stopped in her tracks and looked at the Mars bar in Julia’s hand. ‘For me?’ she asked, suspiciously.
‘Yeah – you can have it if you like. I got plenty.’
Sharon peered into Julia’s plastic bag and saw that she had, indeed, a whole heap of Mars bars.
‘Where you get all that from?’
Julia was ready for that one. ‘It was my birthday on Saturday. My uncle gave me some money.’ Both the uncle and the birthday were, of course, fictitious.
The girls crowded round Sharon, who repeated Julia’s story between bites of Mars bar. Natalie, a sharp-faced girl with her eye on the main chance, left the group and approached Julia quite brazenly.
‘You had your birthday then?’
‘Yeah, want one of these?’
‘Thanks, Julia. I like Mars bars.’
Then Jennifer called, quite casually as though she was going to do it anyway, to know if Julia would like to join their game. A minute later most of the girls in Class 8 were happily chewing on Julia’s Mars bars.
Nathan, from his solitary position against the playground wall, watched all this with a sneer of contempt twisting his face. Silly cow, he thought. Fancy wasting her money on that lot! They won’t want her tomorrow – just let her see if they do! Tomorrow they’ll be mean to her again.
But next day there were more presents. This time Julia had really splashed out, and bought little packets of felt-tip pens. The girls were delighted. Again, Julia was allowed to join in their game at playtime and what was more, when it was time for PE, Julia had a partner. True, her partner was only Natalie, and Natalie’s motives were something along the lines of, ‘The less she spends on the others the more she’ll have to
spend on me, so I’ll get in and be best friends quick.’ Julia was well aware that Natalie’s arm through hers was no more than cupboard love, but it was a start. Julia had not had a partner in PE since anyone could remember.
Nathan observed Julia’s success with mixed feelings. He did not want to spend his money on other people, he wanted to keep it all for himself. Furthermore, he had no particular interest in having a friend. Having friends was rubbish. It would be good to have a partner, of course. . . .
He held out, until the fourth day.
On the fourth day, Julia treated all the girls to a packet of chewing gum each, and gave Natalie 50p to spend on herself. Nathan also went shopping. He bought four packets of crisps on the way to school, and shared them with Paul, Wayne and Sanjay. The boys were totally astonished. Nathan never had money to spend, and he had never been known to give anything away in his life. Their astonishment, however, did not prevent them from accepting this sudden generosity.
Next day, Friday again, there were more presents. Nathan was now at the centre of a crowd of boys, and Julia was at the centre of a crowd of girls. Mrs Henrey noticed this altered state of affairs with increasing suspicion. Something was wrong. The two most unpopular children in the class suddenly the most in demand? There had to be a reason. Mrs Henrey decided to ask Pauline, a guileless child who would almost certainly tell the truth, whatever that might be. She detained her after morning school.
‘I’m glad to see you’ve all decided to be nice to poor old Julia,’ said Mrs Henrey.
‘Oh, she gave us all presents,’ said Pauline, innocently.
‘Really! You mean sweets and things?’
‘Yeah – and felt-tips.’
‘You mean Julia gave you all those coloured pens? You didn’t buy them for yourselves?’
‘No, Miss. Julia got money.’
‘Really!’ Mrs Henrey thought for a moment. ‘Pauline – has Nathan got money as well, do you know?’
‘I think so, Miss. I don’t know. I think so.’
Mrs Henrey sighed. What a bore! Now she would have to investigate. Now there would be all the tedious business of probing and questioning and listening to strings of lies, and finally exposing these children in some miserable theft or other. Humiliating for the wretched children, and it would all take precious time. Time that Mrs Henrey would infinitely rather devote to teaching – which after all was what she was paid to do.