Archie Appleby: The Terrible Case of the Creeps

by Kaye Baillie

  ‘Did Roxanne eat Uncle Jock? Did she?!’

  Chapter Thirteen

  Aunt Ruth looked a strange shade of purple again.

  ‘First Bob’s leg, then Uncle Jock and now me!’ Archie raced up the stairs and into his room. He dragged every bit of furniture across the floor and piled it in front of the door.

  Knock. Knock. Knock. ‘Archie.’

  ‘Go away!’

  ‘Archie, come out. I warned you not to go near the basement.’

  ‘I’m not coming out until Mum and Dad get here.’ Archie stuffed his things in his bag. He paced up and down, up and down. He couldn’t wait until his parents arrived.

  Knock. Knock. Knock.

  ‘I’m calling the police when I get out of here!’ called Archie. ‘Go away.’

  ‘Archie, it’s Mum. Open the door.’

  Archie dragged the furniture from the door, then flung it open. ‘Aunt Ruth has a man-eating plant in the basement. It ate Uncle Jock and I was next!’

  ‘Archie, Aunt Ruth told us everything. I know the plant looks scary but I’m sure it’s not a man-eater. There’s no such thing. I should have known you’d turn this visit into some kind of disaster.’

  ‘How can you say that? She grew a monster! And nobody knows where Uncle Jock is? Aren’t you worried about him?’

  Archie ran out the door, down the passage, past his father and jumped into the car.

  He locked the doors. Archie wasn’t coming out of that car for anybody.

  Suddenly an old ute came flying along the road and pulled up in a cloud of dust. The driver got out. He wore a fishing hat, vest and waterproof pants. In the back of the ute were fishing rods, tackle boxes and an esky.

  ‘Uncle Jock?’

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‘Uncle Jock!’ yelled Archie, springing from the car.

  ‘It’s me, alright. Wish I’d known you were here, Archie. You could’ve come fishing with me. Best trout I’ve ever caught. And they taste a whole lot better than you-know-who’s stew,’ he said with a wink.

  ‘So you didn’t get eaten by Aunt Ruth’s plant!’

  ‘Hoh! No I didn’t get eaten. You poor kid. I told Ruth to get rid of that thing. She’s got some wild idea that she and Cronk are going to make history.’ He shrugged. ‘Who knows? Maybe they will. But have you seen that thing? It’s not a pretty sight.’

  Archie felt so relieved. He looked around to see his parents, Aunt Ruth and Bob standing there. ‘It’s Uncle Jock. He’s alive. He didn’t get eaten!’

  None of them looked happy with Archie. None of them at all.

  Aunt Ruth plonked a large pot of tea on the table and a plate of her famous tomato cake. ‘Hungry, everyone?’

  Archie sat in-between his parents and grimaced at the strange red cake, while Aunt Ruth told everyone about the happenings of the last two days. First she told them about the experiment. How Roxanne grew into a gigantic plant. How Jock didn’t like Roxanne, so she put her in the basement. How it was a scientific miracle and would be a world first. How Mr Cronk wanted to be famous too and helped her build the greenhouse. And how she tried to keep it a secret from Archie in case he freaked out, then told everyone.

  ‘You nearly scared me to death with all that creeping around,’ complained Archie.

  ‘Archie, a lot of this has been your own doing,’ said Mum. ‘You and these ridiculous ideas. How many times did Aunt Ruth tell you to stay away from the basement?’

  ‘I couldn’t help it. I kept hearing weird noises. And Uncle Jock was missing.’

  ‘S’pose I should’ve told Ruth where I was going,’ chuckled Uncle Jock. ‘She’s always glad to get rid of me though, so I didn’t bother.’

  ‘Even Bob didn’t like Roxanne. I thought she ate his leg,’ said Archie.

  ‘Nope. It was a croc, alright,’ said Uncle Jock. ‘I was there and it wasn’t a pretty sight.’

  ‘Well, I still want to know if Aunt Ruth sent any poisonous herbs to Cecil,’ said Archie.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ snapped Aunt Ruth. ‘I wouldn’t waste the postage. Whatever Cecil ate was something from one of his forest expeditions. He was always eating things he knew nothing about. Stupid.’

  ‘There’s no lungwort in that cake, is there?’ Archie was feeling hungry.

  ‘No!’ said Aunt Ruth with a scowl.

  ‘Good.’ Archie lifted the cake to his mouth …

  ‘But I thought I’d add some devil’s beard,’ she chuckled.

  ‘Here, Bob, catch.’ Archie threw the tomato cake but Bob turned and ran out the door.

  When the cake hit the floor, Aunt Ruth just shook her head. She shuffled outside, then brought something back. ‘This is for you.’ She plonked a potted seedling on the table in front of Archie. ‘Your very own little herb. It’s a new one that I’ve just cultivated. I call it Ruth Reticulata. Look after it, won’t you, Archie?’

  Archie stared at the plant. Then he decided it was his turn to give something to Aunt Ruth. He got up and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. Mwah. She turned a soft shade of pink.

  Maybe Aunt Ruth wasn’t so bad after all. Maybe it was just her cooking that was horrible. And maybe, he might even come back for another visit … but not too soon.

  Meet Kaye Baillie

  Kaye Baillie writes picture books, short stories and chapter books and sometimes dabbles with poetry. She has two published books in the educational market, Diving at the Pool and Train Music (Cengage Learning). Archie Appleby is Kaye’s first chapter book with Wombat Books.

  Kaye enjoys attending conferences and events relating to children’s writing. When she is not scribbling down ideas for new stories she can be found at the library, walking her dog on the beach, eating cake, or trying to keep up with her two teenage daughters.

  Meet Krista Brennan

  Krista is a freelance illustrator, fine artist, art teacher and stained glass artist who lives in Sydney, Australia with her partner and mischievous cat. She primarily uses traditional methods for her art, including watercolour, ink and oils. Krista's art has been featured in books, card games, exhibitions and competitions, but she enjoys using her pictures to tell stories most of all.