The Secrets of Ice Cream Success (26 page)

Carlo, who was still mostly
green, barely heard his father as his ears were still full of
gunge, some of which was drying and flaking off as he moved. He
picked up a ball and flexed his arm causing a shower of green
specks to fall around his feet. Never the best shot anyway, he was
feeling slightly constricted by the thick layer of slime now caking
his body.

He looked up and saw Mr Hill
finally in place and Herbert, still holding much of Mr Hill’s
wardrobe, slap Mr Gardener on the back in a jovial manner before
moving to the side. Mr Gardener stood next to the hydraulic
controls and gave the Mayor a thumbs up, who then waved Carlo
forward.

‘
In your own
time, Leodoni’s team.’

Carlo looked at his teammates
and seeing neither of them show any inclination to be the first to
throw, he stepped up and took aim. On the chair Mr Hill alternated
between a scowl and utter panic at the slightest wobble of the
hydraulic rig, gripping tightly to the arms of the seat. Sweat was
dripping down his balding head and he looked an oddly wretched
sight sat there disrobed from his usual grand jacket and hat, from
under which he typically looked so intimidating.

A moment’s pity crossed Carlo’s
mind as he tried to focus on the target.

‘
What’s
wrong?’ whispered Mr Leodoni.

Carlo dropped his hand and
pretended to busy himself wiping so more drying green gunk from his
eyes.

‘
Nothing, it’s
just…’ he said from behind his arm so no one could see him
talking.

‘
What?’

‘
It doesn’t
seem right. He’s older than you!’ Carlo whispered.

‘
He wants to
close our company.’ Mr Leodoni pointed out.

‘
I know,
but…’

‘
Son, it’s up
to you, but I would take it as a grand gesture on your part if you
would dump this horrid chap in the slime for me.’

Carlo sighed, still unsure.

‘
Carlo, you
switched off your targeting computer. What’s wrong?’ Norton shouted
from the side-lines.

‘
Are you going
to throw or can I leave? I haven’t got all day to hang around
waiting for Luigi Leodoni’s offspring.’ Mr Hill snarled from the
seat.

Carlo turned to stare at the
old man, still fidgeting in place with every bounce of the chair.
Pathetic he may look, but his father was right. Mr Hill was working
towards ending Leodoni’s. A dunk into some green slime was the
least he deserved. He stood up straight, all sympathy gone.

‘
Dad, watch
this!’ Carlo said, pulling back his arm like a baseball pitcher and
releasing the ball directly on target where it hit dead
centre.

Luigi whooped in triumph, the
crowd cheered and Carlo waited in anticipation for the slight pause
he knew took place as the machinery kicked in, but nothing
happened. The cheering died down as the crowd realised the shot
must have missed and there were some audible groans of
disappointment, the loudest from Norton and Mr Leodoni.

Carlo was absolutely certain
his throw had hit the target dead centre, not slightly off target
as Herbert’s final shot had been.

He looked at Mr Hill, who was
still scrabbling in place on the seat like a cat dangling above
water, worried that he would be tipped into the slime at any
second. Then Carlo noticed Herbert stood to the side with a grin on
his face. He laughed at Carlo’s surprise and gave him a sarcastic
shrug to suggest the shot must have missed the target. Carlo stared
at Herbert trying to guess what the older boy was up to, but not
wanting to create a scene as Herbert had earlier, Carlo decided to
play along.

He smiled and waved to the
crowd, making way for the next thrower. ‘Almost.’ he said laughing,
as Lumsden stepped forward.

The tall man, who in his own
way looked just as unlikely an athlete as Norton, picked up a ball
and surprised everyone by extending his long arm back and snapping
the ball forward with tremendous speed where it whizzed at the
target, ricocheting off with a glancing blow and just missing the
centre.

‘
Wow! Good
shot!’ Carlo said, genuinely impressed.

Lumsden smiled at his
amazement. ‘I used to play cricket, Misssster Leodoni. You have to
have a good arm if you field in the ssslips.’

‘
Apparently.’
Carlo agreed with a laugh as Newton warily stepped forward. Unlike
Norton, who despite all evidence to the contrary consistently
talked up his sporting prowess, Newton was under no illusions at
all about his ability. He picked up the ball and sent a tame effort
vaguely on line though it fell short of the target. With a shrug he
ambled to the back of the queue, letting Carlo move
forwards.

Knowing full well that the
accuracy and power of his first shot was a product of blind luck
and anger, Carlo’s second attempt was much less impressive, barely
troubling the target and eliciting groans from Abi, Ben and Norton
on the side-lines.

Mr Hill began to look bored,
perched above the tank, while Herbert stood to the side still
grinning. Lumsden took his second turn and released an even more
powerful throw, which this time Carlo was certain had indeed hit
the target, but once again, after initial applause from the crowd,
it was clear that the ball must have missed as Mr Hill continued to
dangle above the gunge tank.

‘
Is that thing
switched on?’ Ben shouted across to Mr Gardener.

‘
Of course it
is. It’s not my fault if everyone keeps missing.’

Ben looked dubious.

‘
You must have
thrown a wicked shot to set that thing off.’ Luigi’s ghostly voice
said to Abi as he floated back to the supporters.

‘
Well, yes.’
she agreed, with a little pride, ‘But I’m sure Carlo and Lumsden
have both hit that target too.’

‘
I’m positive
they have.’ Ben agreed.

Luigi floated away with a
spectral ‘Hmmmm…’ He landed next to Newton who was taking aim with
his second attempt and decided to take matters into his own hands,
quite literally. Newton pulled back his arm and let go with a
stronger though less well aimed throw and Luigi shot after it,
guiding the ball invisibly from its wayward path straight at the
target, where it hit dead centre. The crowd erupted in cheers once
more having not expected such a keen curveball from Newton, who
looked reasonably surprised himself. Luigi floated up above the
tank in anticipation of watching Mr Hill disappear into the gunge,
but was disappointed as nothing happened. There were more groans
from the crowd.

‘
Must we
prolong this debacle?’ Mr Hill called across to the
Mayor.

‘
Now, now,
Haverton. Both teams must be allowed the same number of attempts. I
believe Leodoni’s still have three more.’

‘
I have better
things to be doing with my time.’ Mr Hill grumbled, as Carlo
readied himself for his final shot, still trying to scratch off dry
green slime, which was irritating him as he moved.

Behind the dunking stall, Mr
Leodoni was inspecting the hydraulics certain that they must be
broken in some way. A loose valve or bent arm perhaps, yet he
couldn’t see anything amiss. On the other side of the screen there
was a thunk and “oohs” from the crowd as Carlo missed with his
third and final attempt and as Luigi continued to search he vaguely
heard an argument breaking out.

‘
You can’t
change the order!’ Herbert shouted from beside his dangling
employer.

‘
Why not?’
Carlo asked, bemused.

‘
You just
can’t!’

‘
Oh be quiet,
you buffoon.’ Abi shouted across from the crowd.

‘
Don’t you
call me a buffoon!’ Herbert shouted, advancing towards
her.

‘
Herbert, get
back here. Do not leave me!’ Mr Hill yelled forcing Herbert to spin
around sharply and slouch back to the side of the stall, still
holding Mr Hill’s belongings.

‘
HER-BERT.
HER-BERT!’ Ben and Norton started droning in low, loud
voices.

‘
I’ll have
you!’ the taller boy roared at them. ‘I will bloody have
you!’

‘
Oh will you
all just shut up!’ Newton shouted in frustration at the constant
bickering. He picked up the penultimate ball and threw it with all
his might. The outburst from such a timid boy shocked the others
into silence and they turned to watch the ball fly towards the
target, which it missed by a good three feet, hitting the back
screen and falling to the floor with a tired thud.

‘
Nice one,
Newton.’ Norton said.

Newton sighed and mooched back
to the crowd, delivering a half-hearted thump to Norton’s arm on
the way past ‘Shut up.’ he said mournfully.

His friend patted him on the
back in sympathy.

‘
OK, this is
the last ball!’ The Mayor shouted in excitement as Lumsden stood
alone in front of the Gunge Tank.

‘
Throw it at
Herbert!’ Ben shouted from the crowd.

(Oi, I heard that! I’ll have
you!)

Mr Lumsden, planted both feet
and once more pulled back a long arm delivering his fastest ball
yet, which clattered into the target leaving no one in any doubt
that it was a direct hit.

The crowd cheered.

Nothing happened.

But at that moment behind the
screen, there was a faint exclamation of triumph as Mr Leodoni
noticed a stick that had been wedged between the target and the arm
behind it, which was supposed to trigger the hydraulics with a
direct hit. He concentrated as hard as he could and grabbed the
stick.

On the other side the crowd
started to boo as a smirking Herbert put down his employer’s
belongings and clambered onto the side of the tank to help Mr Hill
down from the chair, but he paused as a strange noise reached
him.

An ethereal grunt of effort and
a few choicer Italian swearwords from behind the wall were followed
by a whoop of delight and a slight click from the trigger. There
was a pause; the most precious pause of Carlo’s young life; a pause
he would remember for many years to come. He smiled and waited as
the pause continued, lasting just a brief second, yet to him it
felt like an age. Finally, the pause ended, the chair tipped and Mr
Hill was emptied with little ceremony into the gunge still holding
Herbert’s arm. Herbert lost his footing and tumbled right on top of
his boss, both disappearing briefly below the green slime.

The small crowd cheered, whilst
the Leodoni’s team ran around waving their hands and shouting with
joy.

‘
Congratulations, Master Leodoni.’ The Mayor said, shaking
Carlo’s hand vigorously. ‘And very well done on the re-launch of
the company. It really is a tremendous achievement.’

‘
Thank you.’
Carlo beamed.

‘
If you’ll
excuse me?’ The Mayor asked, indicating the two green forms
slipping in the gunge tank as they tried to free themselves. ‘I
should probably…’ The Mayor muttered as he walked over to lend
assistance to Mr Gardener.

‘
Get off me
you fool!’ Carlo heard Mr Hill shout as Herbert tried to help him
to the side. Mr Hill pushed him away and both slipped back into the
gunge. Eventually they were extracted and Herbert was reprimanded
all the way back to the Hill’s van where Mr Hill at least had a
change of clothes waiting for him.

Carlo felt a twinge of sympathy
for Herbert as he watched them leave, but he was brought out of his
contemplation as something tapped him on the shoulder from behind.
He turned around to find nothing there, but then noticed a stick
floating in front of him.

‘
Guess where I
found this?’ Luigi said, waving the stick around. Carlo grabbed it
before someone noticed.

‘
A tree?’ he
asked.

‘
Nup. Wedged
in the target. Your friend Herbert must have put it there to make
sure Hill didn’t get a dunking.’

‘
You’re
kidding! They were cheating again?’ Carlo shook his head, all
sympathy gone.

He watched as Ben and Norton
sprinted across to Mr Gardener, thrust money into his hand and then
argue about who got to go into the chair first. Ben naturally won
and clambered in, but then spent two minutes dangling as his friend
missed with all three throws. Abusing each other as they exchanged
places, Ben waited whilst Norton took a number of attempts to make
it into the chair and then delivered a first time strike to tip his
friend straight into the gunge, much to the delight of them
both.

Looking around Carlo saw the
crowd had thinned as the evening approached. A few stalls were
still open, but most were now being stripped down. Further down the
road he could see that Lumsden and Newton had started packing away
the Leodoni’s Van and Carlo noticed one of the camp chairs fold
down and store itself away as his father lent a spectral hand.

‘
I wish he
wouldn’t do that.’ Carlo said as Abi walked over.

‘
He still
thinks it’s his company. He will do what he wants.’ She
laughed.

Carlo nodded in agreement as
they started to walk back to the van, but stopped and looked across
to the trees at the side of the path.

‘
Someone’s
crying.’ he said, putting his hand on Abi’s arm to stop
her.

They both craned their necks a
little and saw Herbert, still covered from head to foot in slime,
sat behind a tree with his knees pulled up to his chin, tears
clearing trails through the green goo on his face.