Puppy Pie (16 page)

‘Told me what?'

‘About the Bank!' A chill runs through Helen. Jake gets up and Helen sits down in his place. ‘I'll bring you both some cake and tea,' Jake says softly as he heads out the door. Within minutes, he's back, leaving the tray on the bed.

Then Jakes rushes into the lounge room. The gang huddles around the computer while Gull answers the e-mails.

‘What's up, Jake?' Tom asks turning, as Gull finishes the last e-mail. The others turn to look at him.

‘Ted's in trouble,' he says frowning.

‘Why?' Tom asks.

‘The Bank is calling in his overdraft.'

‘Oh no! Not them too,' Gull sighs. Then she gulps. ‘Oops'.

‘What do you mean “them too”?' Lucy asks suspiciously.

Gull clicks the e-mail closed and looks up at Lucy. ‘Please don't tell Helen: I said I wouldn't say anything. She didn't want to worry you.'

‘Well, you'll have to spill the beans now,' Jake says.

‘Alright,' Gull says awkwardly. ‘The bank manager was here.'

‘And?' Tom prompts.

‘Harry and Helen have got two weeks before the Bank forecloses. Otherwise, the Folly goes to auction the next day.'

Lucy gasps. ‘But how much does the Bank want?'

‘About $30,000,' Gull says quietly.

‘Thirty!' the cousins repeat loudly together.

‘And now, if I can sell your puppies, that would be a good money-making scheme to help save the farm.' Tom looks hard at her. ‘I know Tom: to stop Harry making puppy pie.'

‘How much for the puppies?' Tom asks shaken.

‘About $3,000 to $4,000 if I sell them all,' Gull says glumly.

For a few minutes, there's dead silence as the cousins try to think of solutions.

‘Well,' Lucy says at last as she looks around the room, ‘if we sold Trixie and Dot, maybe we could get another, say, $2,000.'

‘More likely to end up in the glue factory.'

‘Don't say that,' Lucy groans cuffing Tom.

‘I could sell cakes to the tourists in the main street,' Jake says.

‘Too much competition from the CWA,' Lucy tells him.

Jake thinks hard. Suddenly he says, ‘What about Mum doing psychic readings? We could dress her up in an old black dress with lots of scarves and loopy gold earrings. She could read palms because we don't have a crystal ball.'

‘Or she could just stare into the distance, as if she's seeing the future.' Tom adds. When this is greeted with silence, he tries again. ‘Maybe Lucy could sell her artwork. Oh, hang on. What about Lucy doing sketches of people, like those quick sketch artists you see in old movies?'

‘I'm not that quick,' Lucy murmurs. ‘I know,' she says brightly. Maybe we could just sell Tom.'

‘On the Internet,' Jake says. ‘Gull could do it in five minutes flat.'

‘Be serious,' Tom says. ‘This is no time for joking.'

‘Who says we're joking, brother?' Jake answers giving Tom a friendly shove. ‘Although we might not get more than 50 cents.' Tom looks hard at his brother who grins cheekily at him.

‘Any heirlooms?' Gull asks desperately.

‘Only the Folly! That's the family's favourite heirloom,' Lucy mumbles despondently.

When Helen comes in a few minutes later, she sees four very downcast faces. ‘What's wrong?'

‘Jake told us about Ted and the Bank. Then Gull told us about the bank manager coming out here,' Tom says.

‘Thanks, Tom,' Gull says exasperated.

‘Ugh, sorry,' Tom gulps, turning bright red.

‘Well, you would have found out eventually,' Helen says, shrugging. ‘It's just that I didn't want to worry you. It's alright, Gull,' she smiles sadly looking over at her worried niece.

‘What about Dad?' Jake asks.

‘He's still snoring his head off,' Helen sighs. ‘So, we'll have to think up something by ourselves.'

‘We've been trying to think of things we could sell,' Lucy pipes up.

‘They even wanted to sell me,' Tom tells her indignantly.

‘I'll miss you, Tom,' Helen says looking serious. Tom looks crestfallen. ‘Only kidding,' she says grabbing him and giving him a big hug. ‘I forgot, my boy: it's the teasers who can't be teased.' Letting Tom go, she says, ‘Even if we could sell everything, we'd have to do it quickly.'

‘Oh, that's easy,' Gull smiles. ‘I could just put everything on eBay. People buy the stupidest junk. I mean,' she stumbles, ‘er, people buy unbelievable stuff.' As she's talking, she clicks onto eBay and starts scrolling through.

‘You were right the first time,' Jake says as she scrolls down through the list of items. ‘I mean, who's going to want a 60s butterfly chair? Or a lava lamp?'

‘Ah, those things are selling like crazy,' Gull tells him.

‘Alright,' Tom says, ‘let me have a go. What about a chess set made out of marble? Mmm, that sounds nice. Wouldn't mind it myself. Or what about a box of painted soldiers of Napoleon's army from the Battle of Waterloo? Wow, that sounds really cool. Or what about…'

‘What about you stop looking for yourself and start thinking about what we can sell?' Lucy says annoyed.

‘Look, maybe tomorrow, Gull and I can go through the rooms in the house and see what can be sold,' Helen says looking around the lounge room sadly.

‘But how will you know how much anything is worth?' Lucy asks.

‘Everything in this house is priceless,' Helen says very quietly.

‘I'll just look for similar things on eBay,' Gull says quickly, ‘and we can go from there.'

Helen looks around at her offspring and Gull. ‘Guess it wouldn't hurt to have a clean-out. We could sell the clothes you've grown out of and the ones your father and I don't wear.'

‘And I could start looking at ways to cut back on the food bill. Maybe I could make damper instead of bread. I know! I could use pasta to thicken the soup. And I'd really like to try using rice as a pie crust instead of using flour.'

‘Or we could just stop eating altogether,' Tom says pleasantly. ‘Rice instead of pastry? What a stupid idea. Whoever heard of such a thing, Jake?'

‘You did. I just told you,' Jake says cuffing his brother as he stands up ready to head for bed.

Half an hour later, the house is eerily quiet. Together, Gull and Helen are standing at the bottom of the stairs, the others having gone up to bed.

‘Don't worry,' Gull says gently to Helen. ‘I'm sure something will turn up. I mean, maybe this is just a really bad dream. One minute, things seem to be getting better. And the next minute, things are worse. It's really mysterious. Say, maybe the bank manager will get transferred and you'll get a nice one again, like Mr Silver.'

‘Doubt it,' Helen says trying to smile. ‘This one's just arrived. I get the impression he's here for the long haul.' She sighs heavily. ‘Now, Gull, up to bed with you. And I'll promise not to worry, if you promise too.' Mutually promising, Helen and Gull head for bed. And lay awake half the night worrying.

* * *

While waiting and worrying for their 8.00am lift, Lucy is watching her mother sleep in her usual chair in the lounge room.

‘Poor Mum,' she says softly as she bends down and kisses her gently on the cheek before picking up her sketchbook. Sitting down comfortably opposite Helen, she begins putting the finishing touches to yet another sketch of a sleeping Helen. ‘Looks as if she's standing up, rather than lying down,' Lucy murmurs looking critically at her sketch. ‘Perspective's all wrong.'

‘What are you mumbling about?' Jake asks as he comes in carrying a tea tray.

‘Is it that time already?' Lucy asks surprised.

‘No, just thought seeing I've finished up, you might like a cup of tea too. Plus we could finish off the jam roll before Tom finds it,' he adds impishly. ‘Anything more?' asks Jake as Lucy pours their tea.

‘Nothing at all for the last four days,' Lucy says shrugging. She takes a bite of the jam roll. ‘Yum,' she mumbles appreciatively.

‘Our very own raspberries,' Jake says taking a bite himself. ‘Makes all the difference, doesn't it?'

Lucy nods. Finishing her mouthful, she looks at Jake.

‘What?' he asks.

‘You know, I think Mum might have run out of ideas and dreams. I mean, she's still sleeping heavily during the day but for shorter periods. And that seems to be it. No hints, no words, not even any dreams that she can remember. Maybe whatever it is that she's been picking up on is losing its power.'

‘You mean vanished?' Jake asks.

‘I don't think so,' Lucy says slowly. ‘Otherwise, she'd be awake. No, I think we've got all the information we're going to get this way. Now, the only problem is Dad. I know he's walking around like a bit of a zombie but it's getting harder and harder to keep Mum's sleeping a secret from him, even with Shirley's help. I mean, what happens if he comes back and finds her asleep?'

‘Or one of the CWA helpers finds out she's sleeping all the time and lets it slip. You know how news travels.' A picture of Norah Sprogg immediately springs into their minds.

‘So I've been thinking,' Lucy says slowly.

Jake grins. ‘Thought you might have,' Jake grins. ‘Have you got a plan? Do we make Mum stand under a cold shower for six hours until she wakes up?'

Lucy shivers. ‘Ooh, not nearly so gruesome. You sound like Tom thinking up something so horrible.'

‘Well, we are twins,' Jake grins. ‘Maybe I'm catching some of his, er, strange ways. But only because of all the stress,' he adds cheekily.

‘Oh, right,' Lucy frowns not convinced. ‘Anyway, I've been thinking that we really need to get Mum away from the farm. I mean, a long way away. Like staying with someone. It would have to be somebody who really needs her help. And it would have to be someone who's as important to her as we are. Otherwise, she won't go.'

‘Yeah but who?' Jake asks.

‘Her sister, Aunty Jane,' Lucy smiles. ‘You know, she's about to have her first baby any day now.'

‘But I thought Gran was going over to help.'

‘I know, I know,' Lucy says excitedly. ‘But what if I ring up Gran, explain the situation and see if Mum can replace her for a few weeks? Even a week might break this sleeping cycle.'

‘But what will you tell Aunty Jane and Gran? Won't that worry them if they find out Mum keeps falling asleep?'

Lucy sighs. ‘I know but what else can we do? Can you think of anything else?'

Jake looks down at the floor for a few minutes. ‘Guess not,' he says. ‘So, who do you want to call first?'

Lucy thinks for a while. ‘Well, Aunty Jane's probably all het up about the new baby. So, maybe we could ring Gran. I mean, she should understand seeing she's so sensitive too.'

‘But what if Aunty Jane catches whatever Mum's got and starts falling asleep too?' Jake asks concerned.

‘Somehow, I think that whatever is sending her to sleep is on this farm. And if she was away for even a few hours, I think she'd wake up. What do you think? Will I ring Gran?'

‘Yep,' Jake replies as they both race to the phone in the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy dials her grandmother. ‘Oh, hi Gran. It's Lucy here,' she begins and then stops. Jake looks over at her puzzled, while Lucy listens to her Gran. Finally, Lucy says, ‘Oh, sure, Gran. I'm sure she wouldn't mind at all. No, she can't come to the phone at the moment.' Lucy mentally pictures her sleeping mother. ‘She's flat out. But I'll get her to call you when she… er, later this afternoon. Is that all right?' Lucy looks over at her frowning brother and winks. ‘I'm sure she'd love to help out. Yes, they are very close. Almost like twins,' she nods and then saying a quick goodbye, hangs up.

‘What happened?'

‘You won't believe this,' Lucy says grinning from ear to ear. ‘Unbelievably good news!'

‘What?'

‘Gran'pa's got measles.'

‘What? Measles? At his age?' Jake replies.

‘Apparently you can get them anytime. Anyway, isn't that lucky for us? Although not so good for Gran'pa. It's a really mild case but Gran doesn't want to take any chances around a newborn baby. She reckons she'll be able to go over to Jane's in about ten days which might be just long enough for Mum to snap out of it,' she finishes as she and Jake rush back to the lounge room.

‘Snap out of what?' Gull asks as she and Tom wander in to the comfortable lounge room.

‘Gran'pa's got measles. Isn't that great?' Lucy says beaming.

‘Isn't he a bit old for all that kids' stuff?' Tom says. ‘I mean he's really old.'

Lucy shakes her head and laughs. ‘But don't you see? If Gran'pa's got measles and Gran's got to hang around until he gets better, then it's the perfect solution to our problem.'

‘Which problem?' Tom asks. ‘We've only got about a million.'

‘Mum, dopey,' Lucy grins. ‘Jane's baby is due any minute and, as Gran was going over to help, she can't now.'

‘So?' Tom says.

‘So, Mum can go and get away from here. And maybe, just maybe,' she adds for emphasis, ‘she might stop falling asleep.'

‘Oh,' Tom says, as understanding begins to dawn.

‘That means we'll have one less thing to worry about. Phew! That's a relief,' Gull smiles plopping herself down into a nearby chair.

‘Great,' Tom beams. ‘No more boring two hour shifts waiting for the mother oracle to say something we can't make sense of anyway.'

Just then, the gang hears a car pulling up. ‘That'll be Shirley,' Tom calls out running out of the room. ‘Bags I tell her.'

‘What great news for a change,' Shirley smiles walking into the lounge room with an excited Tom. She glances over at Helen who is sound asleep, oblivious to the flurry around her. ‘Oh, by the way, the four of you are off to help the CWA distribute lunches today. We seem to be a few ladies short. After all, they do have their own households to keep ticking over. So, I've volunteered the four of you. Hope you don't mind but you need to dash up to the front gate. Doris is waiting.'