Monkey Come Home (6 page)

‘Home early again, Avery Bloom?’ Elsie Birkett called from her porch. ‘I certainly hope you’re not playing hooky.’

‘No, I’ve chosen rugby this season.’

‘Well your parents are home, anyway. A man in a very smart suit called on them today. It seems that your father might be in a spot of bother with
the law. I certainly hope that it doesn’t run in the family.’

‘Pull your…’ I didn’t manage to finish my sentence because Serenity came up behind me and covered my mouth.

‘Be nice,’ Serenity whispered in my ear. ‘She’s only interested in other people’s lives because she has no family left of her own.’ Sometimes my sister surprised me. We walked into the house to find Mum and Dad drinking tea in the kitchen. But there was no Earl.

‘Where is he?’ I asked.

‘Avery, we did what we had to do and…’

‘He’s not here, is he?’

‘No, he’s not here,’ Dad said.

‘So what happened?’ Serenity asked.

‘That guy, Craven, from PUXCorp, said he was searching for any information that could assist his team in locating the cone, or any part of it. I asked him why we were of particular interest to him and he said he’d received anonymous information about us.’

‘Elsie,’ I muttered.

‘I told him I knew absolutely nothing about the rocket until I saw it on the news. He was a big guy and he came up so close to me that he was almost standing on my toes. He said that if I concealed any information or artefacts, or refused to cooperate, I could face prosecution. He was very threatening.’

‘So you told him everything,’ I blurted.

‘No.’

‘Yes you did! You told them all about Earl and betrayed us and you’re a dirty double-crossing rat!’

‘No Avery. Let your father speak.’ Mum tried to calm me down, but it was too late.

‘AAAARGH!’ I screamed and ran headfirst into the sofa and punched the cushions till my fists stung.

M
um waited for me to settle down before she continued.

‘I took Earl to the surgery this morning and had his skull X-rayed. It confirmed that those bumps are electrodes. So your father and I decided that the best thing was to take him to where he belongs.’

‘But he doesn’t belong in a lab,’ Serenity said.

‘Or stuffed in a museum,’ I added.

‘I know,’ Mum said. ‘That’s why before Craven
arrived I took him to Sam’s place.’

I pulled my head out from between the cushions. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yes, seriously,’ Dad said.

‘I want to see him.’

‘You will. But we have to let things cool down a bit first. Craven asked me a lot of questions and I told him as many lies. I think I put him off the scent for a while but I have no doubt he’ll be in One Pebble Bay for a bit longer.’

‘You lied to save Earl. What made you do it?’

‘The fridge magnet,’ Dad said. ‘It triggered my memory of the morning of your fourth birthday. You loved that toy monkey from the moment you tore off the wrapping. You asked me what his name was, so I said the first thing that came to my mind — Earl.’

‘It’s a weird name for a monkey,’ Serenity said. ‘Why not Sparky or Coco?’

‘Strangely enough, Earl was the name of a real monkey that I met a long time ago.’

‘What?’ I said, completely baffled.

‘I think all of you should get comfortable,’ Dad said. ‘I’ve got a story to tell you.’

‘
M
ore than thirty years ago, my father, your Pop, took me to a travelling circus. I would have been about the same age that you are now, Avery. Back in those days, they had lions and tigers and elephants, as well as the human performers. There was a family of trapeze artists called the Flying Spandellos. The youngest daughter, who was a really good sort, could spin on the end of a rope, holding onto it only with her teeth. I think that’s why I became a dentist.’

‘Stick to the point,’ Mum said.

‘There was a strongman who could lift up the clown car with all of the clowns in it and a human cannonball who was shot clear out of the tent. The ringmaster threw knives and cracked whips. He also performed a few warm-up tricks with balloons and then asked for volunteers from the audience. Well, your Pop put his hand up for me and I got chosen.’

‘Barry, you’re going off on a tangent again,’ Mum said.

‘Okay. I’ll tell you about that later, kids. Despite all of the magnificent spectacles that took place under the big top, my favourite part of the circus was the sideshow afterwards. There was a conjuror called Fingers Filipinski who could pull silver coins out of his nostrils and swallow live goldfish. His tricks defied explanation because he did it all up close in front of us.’

‘Please get on with it, Dad,’ Serenity said.

‘Okay. Be patient, we’re almost there. For his grand finale he made all the mens’ watches and all the ladies’ jewellery disappear. Then he pretended that the show was over and started packing up. Some sucker in the crowd started yelling abuse at him and a couple of others joined in. Right on cue, Fingers’ sidekick, a monkey called Earl, appeared wearing the missing jewellery and watches. Of course everybody laughed. Some people laughed at the hothead who had lost his temper, some laughed with relief and some at the sight of the cute little monkey adorned with gold. The funniest thing was that the monkey had pilfered everything in the first place, stealthily
moving through the crowd while Fingers had kept them distracted with his tricks. He was probably the smartest monkey on the planet.’

‘That’s just like our Earl!’ I said.

‘Exactly. So get this. Pop took me back to the circus the next year and Fingers Filipinski was still there, but he had gone solo. There was no monkey. The show had lost its magic and charm without Earl. Fingers looked washed up. After the show, Pop asked him where the monkey was, but he just shook his head sadly. I did a little research on the Internet last night and discovered that it was one year before the Pan Universal Exploration Corporation blasted their seventh rocket into space — the rocket Earl was on.’

‘It’s the same Earl!’ Serenity said.

‘Bingo!’ Dad answered. ‘Give the little lady a prize.’

D
ad figured that someone from PUXCorp had stolen Earl from Fingers Filipinski, all those years ago, and that Fingers had never found out what had happened to him. The public never knew there was a monkey in the rocket because it had been kept top secret.

I discovered that lots of different creatures from different countries had been sent into space over the years. There were flies, spiders, worms, snails, frogs, newts, fish, tortoises, mice, rats, cats,
dogs and other monkeys and chimps. A lot of them had names. But there was no mention of Earl.

Three weeks crept by before Chase Craven left One Pebble Bay and it was safe to see Earl again. I spent my quiet moments daydreaming about the intense astronaut training schedule Earl must have been put through and the mad things he would’ve seen on his incredible journey. Every night I played
Outer Extremity
alone in my room until Mum came and told me to go to bed.
Despite the huge number of hours I racked up on the game, I only reached level nine. Reaching level twenty-seven was probably one of the easiest things Earl had ever done.

Even though he was a genius and had a good memory, I was still worried that Earl might have forgotten me.