by Sam Jasper
‘Stalks. Okay, okay, we get the idea,’ Jake says shortly. ‘We’re there too, you know.’
‘Yeah, but you don’t seem bored,’ Tom says mystified. ‘Why am I the only one who’s bored?’
‘We’re just not talking about it all the time like you are,’ Jake answers irritated.
‘Oh, stop it you two,’ Lucy says. ‘Honestly! Now, let’s see, today’s the twenty-third. So, we’ve got one more week of these pests. And then?’
Lucy glances over at Jake who is looking particularly solemn.
‘And then,’ Jake says, ‘the day after the mites keel over for good is the day the overdraft on the farm is due. That’s the thirty-first.’
‘Oh!’ everybody says simultaneously.
‘What a coincidence,’ Tom says glumly.
‘Yes,’ Lucy says very slowly. ‘A very big coincidence.’
‘Hold on. Maybe we should backtrack,’ Gull suggests as she’s been busy at the computer checking to see if the Argentinian Siesta Mite has spread throughout South America. ‘Those mites didn’t just fly over from Argentina and land on the Folly’s doorstep. The big questions are who smuggled those exotic mites into the country? And why?’
‘You’re right,’ Lucy says. ‘Who would do such a thing? And why? Hold on,’ she says running out of the room suddenly and rushing up the stairs to her room. In no time, she’s back in the lounge room, clearing clutter off the coffee table.
Unrolling huge sheets of the butcher’s paper she uses for sketching, Lucy hands a sheet and a pen to her brothers. ‘Go spread out on the kitchen table and start writing everything that’s happened from New Year’s Day onwards. Gull, you can type on the computer. And put a date beside each entry. And don’t talk to each other because we’ll all remember different things. When you’ve finished, come back to the computer and we’ll compare notes.’
For the next three quarters of an hour, the house is completely silent, except for the ticking of the clock in the kitchen.
By the time Gull finishes writing, Lucy is carrying in a tray with four mugs and a plate of coconut biscuits. ‘Bring your sheets over to the computer,’ Lucy commands.
Standing up, clutching their mugs, the gang looks over at their sheets and Gull’s spreadsheet.
‘I can type in what everyone’s written down,’ Gull tells Lucy.
Lucy looks across at her brothers’ sheets and starts to giggle. ‘Look how different they are: Jake’s is neat and orderly as if he’s writing out recipes; Gull’s spread sheet is jam-packed because everything is new to her, and Tom’s is … well, what can I say?’
The other three stare at his sheet and giggle.
‘What?’ Tom asks.
Lucy shakes her head, ‘Tom, you would be the most unobservant person I know,’ she says. ‘Hasn’t anything happened in the last month? And what’s this? A stick figure?’
‘That’s Gull. I drew her. That’s the day she arrived,’ Tom says.
‘Very artistic, I don’t think,’ Lucy laughs. ‘Let’s see, Tom, you’ve written “chores, Gull, more chores”. And then, you’ve written for almost every other day, “the same plus harvesting.” No wonder you’re bored.’
‘Well, what has happened, smarty?’ Tom asks grumpily.
‘Let’s see,’ Gull murmurs as she studies her spreadsheet she’s been typing into.
‘Right,’ Lucy says as she begins reading the columns. ‘Everybody agrees Gull arrived on first January, New Year’s Day.’
She continues, ‘Next item is “Harvesting begins the second”. Better type in ‘Harry, Ted and Jimmy at the Folly.’ Let’s see, what else is there?’ she says, studying the sheets. ‘Oh, I almost missed it,’ she says backtracking. ‘On the same day Gull arrived, Dad meets the new bank manager.’
‘That’s right,’ Tom says laughing. ‘And Useless almost ate him up.’
Lucy looks hard at their information. ‘No mention of Useless chewing bank manager anywhere.’
‘Oh, sorry,’ Gull says. ‘It only happened when Tom and I were going off to look at the puppies.’
‘Well, somebody,’ Lucy says sternly, looking at no one in particular, ‘should have written it down.’
‘Why?’ Tom says. ‘It’s no big deal. Dad just got me to hold him by the collar until the bank manager got back into his car.’
Lucy sighs irritably. ‘But that’s what I mean, Tom. Have you ever known Useless to act like that around anybody else? This could be very important.’
Gull flies to Tom’s defence. ‘We thought it was because he’d picked up Useless’ new puppy, and he was being very protective. Oh, wait a minute, ’ Gull says, ‘I left something else out too.’
‘What?’ Lucy sighs.
‘Well, when that man was bending over the puppies, I remember seeing a glimpse of silver. I didn’t know what it was.’
‘Hold on,’ Lucy says. ‘Just back up a bit.’
Gull shrugs. ‘That man, the new bank manager, was talking to Harry,’ she says slowly as she pictures it. ‘He seemed only to notice the puppies on his way out. Then he said something.’ Gull is thinking hard, a frown on her face as she tries to remember. ‘His voice is as hard to remember as he is: it’s so quiet, almost a whisper. Anyway, the new puppies, the ones in the box were mewling. That man said something about them being hungry. Then he bent down and opened the box. I remember seeing something silver, yes, that’s right, a flash of silver in his hand as he bent down to pat them. He put his hand right into the box. It was shaking.’
‘The box was shaking?’ Jake asks confused.
‘Yes. I mean, no. I mean the man’s hand was shaking, like you do when you’re shaking salt over a meal. And when he stood up, he was holding a puppy. And that’s when I saw the watch: I saw him close it. Then, when he was talking to Harry at the car, I saw him opening and closing his watch several times. That must have been the flash of silver I saw.’
Lucy scribbles some notes on her sheet.
‘But what kind of watch opens and closes?’ Jake asks.
‘Um, one of those grandfather watches,’ Lucy shrugs. ‘What are they called?’
‘A fob watch,’ Jake says suddenly. ‘Remember? Great Uncle Fred’s got one. That’s why he’s always wearing that horrible, mustard waistcoat so he’s got somewhere to put his watch, in his fob pocket.’
‘You mean the bank manager was wearing a waistcoat and jacket on New Year’s Day? But it must have been almost forty degrees,’ Lucy says. ‘How weird!’
‘No, he wasn’t wearing his jacket. I remember he was carrying that. And then, after he’d put the puppies down, he slung the jacket over his shoulder. That’s why I remember the waistcoat because I could see it clearly then,’ Gull says.
‘That’s right,’ Tom says perking up, ‘he was wearing a white shirt and a light coloured suit.’
‘Yes,’ Gull agrees, ‘he was. I remember thinking it matched his hair. Why would you wear a sandy-coloured suit if you had sandy-coloured hair? Didn’t suit him at all: made him look almost invisible.’
‘What are you writing, Lucy?’ Tom asks ever curious. He reads over her shoulder. ‘Is that supposed to make sense?’
‘Maybe not yet but we haven’t finished,’ Lucy answers. Jake and Gull are now standing next to Tom, reading over Lucy’s shoulder, ‘A colourless man in a colourless suit: almost invisible. A shaking hand over new puppies and holding open a fob watch.’
‘Why would it matter whether the watch was open or closed?’ Tom asks.
‘Don’t know yet,’ Lucy shrugs, ‘It’s all strange.’ She sits back on her heels. ‘Anything else happen?
Tom shrugs. ‘Then I walked Gull through the hemp. Oh, and we took Useless and two pups with us.’ He laughs at the memory. ‘Remember how they all started scratching at the same time and then stopped?’ he says grinning at Gull.
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ she laughs. ‘They were so funny: like father, like son you said. Remember?’
Lucy adds this to Tom’s column and shr
ugs. ‘You never know what’s going to end up important. Now we’ve got even more questions than answers it seems.’
‘Such as?’ Gull queries her.
‘Such as,’ Lucy begins, ‘why didn’t the bank manager slip the watch back in his pocket before bending over the puppies? And why was it open when he put his hand into the boxful of puppies? Wouldn’t you think he’d be worried it’d get ruined?
‘A very good point, Miss Marple,’ Tom says with mock seriousness. Lucy pokes her tongue out at him.
Jake seems lost in thought as he speaks, ‘So what have we got so far? We’ve got a flaky crop that falls over; a colourless bank manager with a shaky hand and a fob watch, and something that sounds very much like Argentinian Siesta Mites. And just think, Mum’s slept through all of this.’
Lucy stands up wearily and stretches. ‘But we’re still left with the same questions. Who brought in the mites? And why? And why here, to our district?’
Tom gazes at the sheets in front of him. ‘Yeah. Why? I mean, if the crop fails, the whole place falls apart: the farmers can’t support the shops, the shops can’t support their families, the shops close, the schools close, the land prices fall and the town dies. How could that possibly benefit anyone?
Lucy is staring hard at her brother. ‘Could you say that all again, Tom?’
He shrugs. ‘Why?’
‘It’s just that in all that rambling, I’m sure there was something that made good sense.’
‘Like school closing?’ Tom asks hopefully.
‘No, after that, I think,’ Lucy murmurs. ‘No one say anything for a moment.’ The others stand around in thoughtful silence. ‘Wait on, didn’t you mention something about land prices falling down?’
‘Yeah. So?’
Lucy looks grim. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling. Look, I think we need to speak to Dad and tell him what we’ve found out. He’ll know what to do about it.’
Gull looks out the lounge room window. ‘Hey, that’s Ted’s ute. They must be dropping Harry home. Ted’s turned off the engine, so he must be coming in too. And Shirley’s with him. Let’s go tell them what we’ve discovered.’
Just then, Harry walks into the lounge room swaying slightly from weariness.
‘Hey Dad,’ Tom grins. ‘Have we got news for you!’
‘Yeah,’ Jake adds eagerly, ‘We’ve found out why the hemp’s falling over.’
‘Oh, good,’ Harry says as he listlessly wanders over to the couch. ‘I’ll just lie down here and you can tell me all about it,’ he says, blinking hard. Heaving a great sigh, Harry flings himself onto the comfortable floral couch. The couch creaks as Harry sinks into it. His eyelids flutter dangerously.
‘Dad, Dad, wake up’ Lucy says gently. ‘Wake up, this is important. We need to talk to you.’ He doesn’t stir. She tries gently shaking him. No response. Then Tom tries, shaking him more firmly. Still nothing.
‘Dad, wake up,’ Tom yells shaking him roughly. ‘The Bank’s going to take the Folly, if you don’t stop them.’
‘Can’t,’ Harry mumbles. ‘’s mine.’
‘They can,’ Lucy cries out, suddenly losing control and bursting into tears. ‘They’ll take the farm, the house, the land, everything. Don’t you remember? They’re calling in the overdraft.’
‘Close door, Lucy. ‘’at’ll fix the draft.’ Harry rolls over, his legs sticking over the side of the couch.
‘But we’ll have nowhere to live. They’ll take the Folly.’
‘Find a tree,’ he mumbles, beginning to snore.
‘What? Find a tree?’ Gull repeats confused.
‘If you don’t wake up, we’ll really be living up a gum tree,’ Jake adds upset. ‘And we want to tell you about the mite we’ve found. And maybe if we can get rid of the mite, we might just be able to save the farm. Might! Mite! Might!’
Just then, a surprised Shirley and Ted walk into the lounge room with a homemade lemon meringue pie.
‘Mite? What mite?’ Ted asks. Shirley looks around at four very troubled faces: Lucy is blowing her nose loudly and wiping away tears; Jake is biting his bottom lip; Tom is kicking the leg of Harry’s couch, and Gull, arms crossed, is looking very upset.
‘Let’s go into the kitchen, and you can tell us all about it,’ Shirley says rounding up the quartet with a quick hug and raised eyebrows at Ted. Together, they leave the lounge room to Harry who continues to sleep undisturbed.
With relief flooding them, the gang begins to tell Shirley and Ted all about their latest theory.
‘Conspiracy?’ Ted echoes startled. ‘How have we jumped from mites to conspiracy? As in “mighty” big conspiracy?’ He laughs and winks at the gang.
Together, Lucy, Jake, Tom and Gull begin to explain to the perplexed pair all about mites, Argentina, their conspiracy theory and the bank manager until they realise Shirley and Ted are becoming even more confused.
At last, Gull stands up. ‘Look, we’ll show you on the Internet. You can read all about the mites.’ Clutching mugs of tea, Gull leads everybody back into the lounge room where Harry continues to snore fitfully.
‘What’s this?’ Ted asks as he squints at the screen. ‘ The “Puppy Pie” website?’
‘Oh, I’ve got some more hits,’ Gull grins. She turns to Ted. ‘I’m selling Useless’ puppies … ’
‘So Dad doesn’t turn them into puppy pie,’ Tom adds. ‘Long story: bore you later.’
Gull closes “Puppy Pie” and searches for “Argentina”. In no time, Shirley and Ted are reading about the “Argentinian Siesta Mite”.
‘They sang the wheat crop to sleep in the Pampas?’ Ted repeats amazed. ‘They had to harvest by hand with scythes. Just like we had to? Wow! So, we’re not the only ones, Lucy. What nasty little mites. Why would anyone want to bring them here and do this to us?’
‘That’s what we’ve been wondering,’ Jake nods.
‘I think it must have something to do with the greedy Bank,’ Gull adds.
‘That makes no sense at all. I mean, the Bank will lose if the farmers go broke. It doesn’t make sense,’ Ted frowns worried.
‘What do you think, Shirley?’ Gull asks looking up at her.
‘Well,’ she replies, ‘I agree with Ted. Even if the Bank takes farms, sells off all they can, they’ll lose in the end because the town’ll close down and die. No wonder people use Credit Unions.’
‘And start community banks,’ Ted adds knowingly.
‘Lucy thinks that if the town starts dying, someone might come in and buy up the land cheaply,’ Jake says.
‘Well, that’s possible,’ Ted agrees, scratching his head. ‘But what would they do with it?’
His question floats in the air.
‘Lots of food for thought,’ Shirley says finally. ‘And speaking of food, let’s enjoy that pie I made, and then Ted and I have to get home. Oh, by the way, Gull, I’ll pick you up at eight thirty tomorrow morning. It’s Bank day tomorrow so don’t forget. And remember you’re seven. So look your age,’ she adds grinning.
Later that evening, before the gang hauls itself up the stairs to bed, Jake walks back into the lounge room. He looks sadly at his father sound asleep on the couch. ‘Dad,’ he says softly, ‘I know it’s not your fault you keep falling asleep. But you really, really need to wake up and help us. We’re doing our best but … ’ Jakes bites his bottom lip to stop it from trembling. Sighing heavily, he takes off his father’s boots and slings a light cover over him, shaking his head at Harry flat out sleeping on the couch.
* * *
On Monday morning after waving Harry and her cousins off, Gull waits impatiently for Shirley. Soon, she sees Shirley’s car in the distance. She pulls up outside the kitchen door.
‘In that outfit, you could pass for seven easily,’ she says smiling at Gull. ‘That pink and green skirt, with the white blouse, looks as if it was made for you. Mmm, you know it looks vaguely familiar.’
‘It should,’ Gull laughs. ‘Lucy wore it when she was seven. And she said you made i
t for her.’
‘Oh, of course,’ Shirley laughs. ‘Helen has never liked sewing, so I used to make the occasional surprise for Lucy. Speaking of surprises,’ she adds, ‘I hope we find some surprises at the Bank. Today’s Monday, so you’ve got five days to snoop around. And remember, the auction’s on Saturday for the three farms.’
Gull groans. ‘How could I forget!’
Shirley smiles encouragingly as they drive towards Getalong, heading towards the Bank. ‘And by the way, everyone in the Bank has access to all the files to do with customers. All the information is in the computer. However, we’re only interested in information threatening the farms. Everything else is “off limits”. Got it?’
‘Got it. Only look for anything to do with the three farms.’
‘Exactly.’ Shirley nods approvingly. ‘Got your lunch?’
‘Got it,’ Gull grins. ‘I’ve “got” everything except the answer to our problem but soon I’ll have “got” that too,’ she says more confidently than she’s feeling.
‘Good,’ Shirley nods as they pull up outside the Bank building. Both of them get out of the car and walk towards the Bank. Gull looks at the Bank that is the only two-storey building in the street. It looks impressive with a facade of columns in front of the sandstone exterior.
From what Shirley has said on the way in, Gull knows that in the basement at the back of the building is the vault. At ground level is the main part of the Bank, and above that, the top storey houses the bank manager’s office.
Shirley looks at her watch and beckons Gull to follow her. As they enter, Gull notices how quiet and dark the entrance is with a sombre, hardwearing carpet. In front of the tellers’ windows is a length of dull, scuffed linoleum. In her mind, she imagines customers standing there, scuffing the lino absentmindedly as they wait to be noticed.
Soon, Shirley is introducing Gull to the other women in the branch. As usual, the bank manager is absent. Both Shirley and Gull breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Just thought she’d like a change from the farm,’ Shirley says as she bustles around showing Gull where everything is. ‘I don’t like to leave her alone at her age,’ she adds, as she puts her handbag in the drawer of her desk near the front of the office.