Special Invitation

It was a quiet day at Horden’s Antiquarian Books – but then so many days were quiet days.  Sometimes Ellie wondered how GG made enough money from selling his books to even cover the utilities and rates for the shop, let along her wages and some income for him. 

Quiet or not, there was always work to do.  Ellie’s recent to Old Jenkin’s place to see what books he had of value had added an enormous lot of stock which had to be processed.  As she suspected GG was very keen to have all the books she had identified – in fact he went and looked himself and came to the view that he could handle the whole lot, one way or another, and so he made an offer to Margaret that she could not refuse.  There were so many books that the total offer seemed generous but the unit price per book was plenty good enough for GG to be sure he would more than cover his costs.

When a pile of books like this came in the first task was to create an inventory of the stock.  A nifty database program enabled all relevant information about a book to be recorded and for the book to be given a category – Shop Stock, Trade Sales and boxes of odds and sods for second hand books sellers – this latter category included paperback fiction and other books that were what you might call Popular rather than Serious literature.

This work was generally done by GG working quietly in his office while Ellie was looking after the shop.  But this was a big job, so Ellie had a stack of books in her work area and she was adding records to the database.  The job was going to take a bit more than the week and when it was finished they had added over 5000 titles to their database.

While they were working away at this, Ellie asked GG if he had ever thought of having a web-site for his bookshop. 

“What would I do that for?” he asked – simple as that.

“It just seemed to me,” Ellie venture, “that with a web site he could be selling books to people from all over the state, Australia, even the world.  You don’t sell books that everyone else has got – and your price can only be as much as people in Quarabup are willing to pay you.”

“Well, well, well my young lady.  You really have been catching on to the business, and I suppose you are right.  I probably never thought of it because I thought it would be all too complicated to both keep up to date, and to supply customers where ever they are.  How much would it cost, do you think?”

Ellie gave him a bit of a run-down – domain name, internet provider for hosting the web site, web-design and web-maintenance.  It could add up to a fair bit, but Ellie was sure that if buyers from the city knew what books he had he could get much better prices than he gets just from the shop, or from selling in the trade.  AND she mentioned that if the web-site had the right applications she could use their database to easily keep the stock list on the web up to date as easy as pie.  GG was happy to leave it at that, and so was Ellie.

When she came back from her lunch break, GG seemed in the mood for a chat, but not about the internet.  He began by saying they had had a good meeting of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society Committee last night.  He reminisced over their recent show “Gondoliers” for which they had sought set designs from the set-designer for the Perth Society, which they had never done before.  Some of their own sets were suitable for the Quarabup venue and they made up some new pieces so that it really looked good – just like Venice.

The local paper had taken a line in reporting the show that hinted at the possibility of Quarabup having its own Venetian Quarter, if the Blue Lagoon Canals Project got up.  The thought had never occurred to GG but it made him smile at how politics had a way of getting into everything.

“You did some G&S at school didn’t you, Ellie?”

“We did ‘Joseph’ this year,” she said, “but last year we did ‘Mikado’ and I loved it.  I even thought I would love to go to Japan because the costumes were so gorgeous, but I suppose it really isn’t like that.”

“You are probably right, but we are going to have a go at it, too.  It has been about 6 years since we did it and we want to build a completely new set.  What part did you do at school?”

“I was the Second Sop – Peep Bo.  I was scared stiff of some of the speaking parts, but I loved the songs.”

“Well you must try out for our show.”

“But you’ve already got your good singers for the lead parts.  I wouldn’t be nearly good enough, I’m sure.”

But there was no putting GG off the idea.  He knew all the usual crew, and he assured her that a confident up-and-coming voice like hers would displace a wobbly old Sop who was 5 or 10 years past her prime.  He would not give up till she had agreed to try put at the auditions at the end of the following week.  All she had to do was sing the lead part of the “Three Little Maids” and they would then decide where her voice fitted within the trio or chorus.

When the auditions came round, Ellie decided that she had nothing to lose, even if they were much better singers than her, and if they chose her, then should was going to make the most of it.  This meant for her, that she was able to get her anxiety level down to being able “to make the butterflies fly in formation” as they say.  As a result her voice was strong and secure and she won the part hands down.  GG was one of four on the Audition Panel but he declined to participate in the selection of the three little maids – he thought people might get the wrong impression if it turned out that Ellie was selected.  Just as well, because when she was selected no-one was then able to say he had influenced people.

With the auditions settled, the Company was then sorted into rehearsal nights – Chorus on Wednesday evenings, with some principles joining in Chorus parts as required – and Principals Rehearsals on Thursday evenings.  Principals Rehearsals were much more in the way of vocal training for the lucky candidates, and they even had some one-on-one coaching for their particular parts.  They also had to do work on their spoken parts.  Ellie was involved both nights.

This was the first time since school had finished that Ellie felt she was in a group of other adults as an equal among them – she was a young adult, but she was definitely no longer a school kid.  She really liked it.

By the end of that day’s work, Ellie had begun to gather information for GG that might help him agree to set up a web-site.  She knew a couple of kids from school who were doing really good web-stuff, and she searched the web for ideas about web-platforms that bookshops might use.  Most of them used an Excel base that has been modified for search and stock control purposes.  The Database at work used an Excel foundation, too and could report in table form which would be vital for populating the web-page.

She wrote up her findings and then printed out some of the key data pages that would help GG as he considered this idea.  As she was leaving, she swung by his office and planted the pages right in front of him – “Just thought you would like some bed-time reading” she said and was gone.

Lamb of God

The end of term four each year was the best time ever at school for Nadia.  She enjoyed the feeling of coming to the end, the sense of achievement, but most importantly the slightly relaxed atmosphere that enveloped the whole school as the long summer holidays approached,  This relaxed atmosphere also meant they often did things they normally were not given a chance to do.  Small groups were allowed to use lunch-time to rehearse presentations they wanted to make at the final assembly of the year - and this ushered them into the school hall at lunchtime, a place from which they were normally barred.

Other times they were allowed to spend the whole period between morning recess and lunch to work on some fantastic art projects and the like, and often just after lunch they might get to watch DVDs - usually ones pertaining to their religious education program.

But there was normally another large group involved in something that was definitely an extra-curricular activity - in Yr 4 it was preparation for sacrament of Reconciliation (or Confession as most people know it these days), in Yr 5 it was preparation for admission to Holy Communion and then in year 8 it was preparation for Confirmation.  A lot of the preparations for these sacraments happened after school in the Parish Hall, but since the students were generally all together in class at school, opportunity was given for them to work on the special activities they were involved in for those events.

Six girls had decided they wanted to be confirmed this year.  Father Tham was keen to make the whole ceremony as creative as possible and wanted all the girls to have a distinctive as well as collective role to play in the ceremony.  Three of the girls played flute at school, and three did dance - it couldn't have been better.  So Father Tham thought they could practice a little liturgical dance routine to welcome the Gospel.  As Deacon Chris proceeded from the Reading Desk to the centre of the church to read the Gospel the girls would dance swirling ribbons etc emulating the flames of the Holy Spirit.  Mrs Jarratt, the dance teacher helped them work out the choreography as well as choose a tune that was good for the three flutes to play together.

As they got closer to the date, Fr Tham had been meeting with them weekly to make sure that they knew what the Bishop would expect them to know, and that they were all ready to do the things they needed to do when the service happened.  Everyone always got excited when the Bishop came from Bunbury.  He usually came once or twice a year - sometimes for special ceremonies that only a bishop can do and sometimes just because he wanted to come.  When he came to Quarabup he always made a visit to the school.  He used to be a teacher before he became a Bishop so he always took a special interest in schools.

On the Wednesday before the Confirmation service, Mother Superior organised a special school assembly for the Bishop.  She wanted him to see what some of the children had been doing during the year, so there were special items from the Year 3 class, the Year 6 class and from the secondary school Big Band.  Mother was especially proud of the Big Band.  She had found a very good music teacher, and the President of the nearly defunct Quarabup Brass Band had agreed to lend their collection of brass instruments to the school indefinitely.  No student with aptitude need go without a musical education because their family could not afford the instrument.

Nadia was a bit disappointed when she first saw the Bishop.  She had expected him to have special clothes full of colours, but instead he wore the same black clothes that Fr Tham always wore.  But he was very friendly, and after the assembly,  Mother made sure Nadia and her friends who were being confirmed were introduced to him.  They all giggled rather too much really, not knowing what to say, but the Bishop asked them easy questions, like "Which of your subjects do you like best?" and "what do you to be able to do when yu leave school?"  At the end he said he was looking forward to meeting them all again tomorrow after school at the rehearsal with Fr Tham.

That night Nadia thought about all she had done since the beginning of term 3 in preparation for this day.  She had to go to Mass every week with her Mum, but then they always did, and she was supposed to do something extra, so at school she volunteered to be a Chapel Monitor.   This meant that she would help the Chapel teacher or Fr Tham get the chapel ready when they had special ceremonies or prayer times.  She had to go to Confirmation Classes every week after school on Tuesday and Mrs Dunbar taught them lots of things she needed to know to be confirmed.

Nadia's best friend at school as Claire and Claire's Mum and Eula were good friends because they always did things together at school when parents had to do something.  Since Nadia and Gregorio had no real aunties and uncles in Australia, Claire's Mum was the closest she had to an Aunty so she asked her if she would be her Sponsor for the Confirmation.  Once that was settled, Nadia decided she could call Claire's Mum Aunty Vanessa - at last she had an Aunty.  The other big decision Nadia had to decide on was a Confirmation Name.  When she was Baptised her Baptism Name as Liliana after her Grandmama back in Italy, and Fr Tham said she could use that name again if she wanted to, but secretly Nadia had a heroine she wanted to be inspired by.  She had read a library book about Joan of Arc and then she got the DVD out and as far as Nadia was concerned she didn't need stories of super-heroes on TV that weren't real.  All she needed was stories of people like Joan.  But she was also inspired by a book they had in school about Mother Mary MacKillop.  Nadia was appalled by how badly she was treated, but inspired by her passion to teach poor kids.  So she asked her Mum what she thought about having two names - Mary Joan - for her Confirmation Names.  Eula thought it was a lovely idea and simply suggested she ask Fr Tham if it is okay.  Fr Tham of course approved the choice of such inspiring names.

During the school holidays Nadia and her fellow Confirmees were all invited to a special retreat.  This was like a camp, really except that they did lots of religious things to do with her Confirmation.  One of the groups of nuns had made a special Holiday Retreat House on the Coast and they were able to go there - not far from home but away enough to feel like a holiday.  Each girl had a room of her own with her own toilet and shower - it was luxury.  They arrived just before lunch time and after they settled into their rooms they had a fabulous lunch - all laid on.  Then Mrs Dunbar took them into the gardens of the Retreat House where there was a special prayer walk.  It was the stations of the cross, and at each spot they had a seat and a sign up with the prayers to say at each station.  It all ended up in a kind of man-made cave that was supposed to be the tomb where Jesus was buried.  They all walked through this with Mrs Dunbar and she said that they could use this little prayer walk whenever they liked.  Maybe they would like to do it together, but maybe they would like to do it on their own sometime - a special time for them to be alone with God in this beautiful place.

Every day the Nuns would ring bells to say it was time for prayer in the chapel and the Confirmees were all expected to join in.  The first prayers were before Breakfast.  Seven thirty was much later than nuns normally  began their day but it was a Holiday Retreat House for the nuns, so a little grace sounded reasonable.  The girls all appreciated it - they were all beginning to get into that teenager night-owl phase where they were no longer morning people.

One of the things that Mrs Dunbar said she wanted them to really focus on during this retreat was the idea of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit.  "Confirmation was all about the coming of the Holy Spirit - that is what the Bishop lays his hands on people for - and when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives we are all given gifts that help us in our spiritual life in God", she said.

So, in the mornings, before midday prayers, they would talk about these gifts of the Holy Spirit, and then in the afternoon, Mrs Dunbar gave them lots of creative activities to do that might help them discover or express what those gifts might be.  It was a bit like school, but much more fun, especially because Mrs Dunbar, even though she seemed quite stuffy when they first met her, was really great fun - like a granny aunt.  She was old enough to be their grandmother, but she was fun like an aunty.

After they ahd done all these things, Nadia was even more convinced that her choice of Confirmation Names was right because she knew she wanted to be serious about God like Joan, but she also felt she wanted to teach poor kids like Mary, and from all the things they did about the Gifts of the Spirit Nadia felt she had signs of the gift of teaching.   This was so cool.  It really made Nadia feel like now she knew what to do with her life.

On their last day, Fr Tham came for lunch.  They were all very happy to see him and they wanted to tell him everything they had learned.  After lunch he said Mass for them and the nuns who were there on holiday and then they came home.  It had been the best!

The Bishop was now here.  The big day was looming and on Thursday after school, they all had to go the the St Michael's Church for the rehearsal.  Nadia really liked the church.  Something about it reminded her of Italy - except that her memories of Italy really were just from the photos her Mum and Dad kept from when they lived in Napoli.  It was a long narrow church with high walls and every window had a picture in it.  There were seven windows along each side and they made pictures of the Stations of the Cross so they were there all the time.  Behind the Altar there was a big window in three parts that told the story of St Michael of All Angels and his heavenly battles.

When they all got to St Michael's for the rehearsal, the Bishop was very nice.  He asked them questions about the stuff they had learned with Mrs Dunbar and then he just wanted to know about the children and why they had chosen to go ahead with Confirmation.  He spent some time telling them how important this sacrament was and that this made them like adults in the church now - "a very important step in growing up", he said.  He then asked Fr Tham to go through the service so that they would all know what to do.

Everything would be a bit like normal Sunday Mass, except that the Confirmees and their Sponsors would come in like a Procession with Fr Tham and the Bishop.  When they got to the Altar, they were to bow and then go with their family members and Sponsors to special seats in the Mary Chapel near the organ.  Fr Tham said that after the Homily from the Bishop, he would ask the Confirmees and their Sponsors to all come forward.  The Bishop would stand in the middle right in front of the Altar and he would ask them all questions that they had to say yes to.  Then each person would be confirmed, and the Bishop would ask them and their sponsors to come right up to him.  He would ask each of the girls what names they wanted to use for their Confirmation, then the girls would kneel down on the cushion just in front of the bishop, their sponsors could put their hands of the girls shoulders, and the Bishop would put his hands on their heads and say the prayer and they would be Confirmed.  Then the Mass would carry on and the girls and their families and Sponsors would be the first to have communion.

After Fr Tham had finished explaining this, the Bishop then asked all the girls what names they had chosen and why.  He seemed really impressed with Nadia's choices and wished her well as she grew up with those names to inspire her.  Then Fr Tham explained that the girls were going to do something special in the service as well - doing a little liturgical dance before the Gospel is read.  The Bishop was delighted, and said they should show him how it went.  They all giggled a bit with shyness, but they settled down while the flautists got their flutes.  They had been practicing this for weeks at school, but this was the first time they had done it in the Church.  The firat thing they had to get right was to start in front of the Altar while Fr Tham was getting the Gospel Book from the Bishop.  They would then dance in front of him to about the middle of the church, and wait there while he incensed the Gospel Book and then read the story.  When he finished the flutes would play again and they would repeat the dance back to the Altar.  Thankfully they were all planning dresses for their Confirmation that would float around nicely as they did their dance.

The Big Day finally arrived.  Nadia was more excited than she thought she had ever been before.  Her Mum was so proud of her when she put on her Confirmation dress.  Nadia liked to please and she knew that everyone was pleased as she went for her Confirmation.  Even Greg seemed happy that she was doing this now.  They all tumbled into the car and got there early despite Nadia's assurances that they would be late.  When she got there, Mother Superior was fussing around over a whole group of kids from school - in uniform.  Then she realised they were the school choir and they were to be a surprise for everyone because they had special songs to sing right at the beginning of the Mass and while everyone was coming for Communion.

Everything went like clockwork until just before Communion when one of the boys in the choir fainted.  There was a little kerfuffle but he just went and sat with his Mum and the choir carried on without him.  At the end of the service the Bishop asked Nadia and her friends to come out the front.  He said a special Confirmation Blessing for them and then asked everyone to clap because now they were fully members of the Church.  Then the Bishop said the big blessing for everyone and asked the newly confirmed members of the Church to lead him out of the Church - what an honour.

Outside everyone was very excited - and relaxed now that it was over - and as soon as they said goodbye to each other they all departed to six different Confirmation Parties in and around Quarabup.  It was certainly going to be a quiet time in the village that Sunday afternoon because nearly fifty percent of the village's population was at one party or another.

The de Luca's made up for their lack of blood relatives in Australia by gathering into their group of friends surrogate aunts, uncles and cousins for their children, and the best time was had when Eula and Alfeo did the catering, drawing on their exquisite Neapolitan cuisine to tempt everyone's palates. There was no shortage of food and the wine for the grown ups was especially good.

Maggots on the Prowl

Maggots McGee was a nasty piece of work.  Something was missing in him.  He could not imagine anyone getting the better of him and he would make sure of that at any expense.  And payback was his first rule in life.

Aaron was his favourite target - bully boys have many targets, but they always have a favourite.  Aaron was not a regular guy.  In fact he was worse - he was gay, a Nancy Boy which Maggots was determined would be Aaron's nickname - and that justified every nasty attention Maggots gave him.

Three weeks ago, Maggots had a go at Nancy Boy at a disco.  He wasn't very successful - Aaron seemed to brush it off.  Then as they were all going home, Maggots saw Nancy Boy and his mates walking home so he decided to do a hoon right near them but he misjudged his wheelie and crashed into a water main that spouted a geyser and wrecked his beloved ute.  He knew that Nancy Boy didn't actually do anything - but it was all his fault that Maggots had been humiliated in front of his own mates as well as front of Nancy Boy.

Maggots was determined to find a way of humiliating Nancy Boy as payback for his own humiliation.  The question that would need some considerable thinking was - what would be the best way to go?  Without his car for a while, Maggots had a bit more time on his hands and he wanted to make the most of this terrible situation.

Maggots had heard a whisper that November 21 was Nancy Boy's birthday.  He called a conference of the Gang to discuss what they might do.  After laying out the need for revenge, he simply asked if anyone had any bright ideas of how they could mess up Nancy Boy's birthday.

"Well I reckon we orta get him on Friday night and just bash him to pulp!"  Red Dog was always straight to the point.  There was nothing subtle about him, and for Red Dog few things were more enjoyable than a good old bashing - especially when it was four on one.  "He generally goes to the flicks with one of his poofta mates, doesn't he?  Why don't we just get him then?"

Cammo wanted something with a bit more of a sting in the tail.  "Why don't we do a bit of graffiti around that shop he works in - you know, paint it up a bit with Nancy Boy stuff.  We could do it all in pink, like."  Well at least his brain was trying to be creative, but that could only eventually lead back to them a charges for criminal damage.  They had been around the PCYC long enough to know that being too obvious was not a good idea.

"Yeah! Well I would just stick something up in a real obvious place to make sure everyone knows he bats for the other team.  He never seems to advertise - so maybe we should do some advertising for him!  That would fix him."  Stale Ale was no more subtle than Red Dog.  He just wanted to hit him where it hurt.

"I'm warming to this idea of pink something.  We've got a few days before we need to do anything.  Maybe we can do him slow!"  This brought peels of laughter from the others 'coz Maggots was always threatening to do someone "real slow" but they never could see had what he did counted as slow.

Without his car, Maggots was back to his old treddly - a once famous dragster bike.  His dad had kept it from when he was a kid - he was so proud of it.  The frame was orange and the seat was white, and the high handle bars made it stand out among his mates bikes.  At first Maggots thought it was just a case of his dad being a cheapskate and not buying him a new bike, but then a bloke stopped him in the street one day and told him hea had just bought one on eBay for $1200 - and it wasn't half as good as his was.  Maybe his dad was cooler than he thought.  He also found that the right guys around seemed a bit envious of his bike - so it was still cool, even thought it used to be his dad's bike.  Sometimes all four of them would take their treddlies to the skate park.  Some kids had boards, some had scooters and some used their bikes to do tricks.  The park had three sections and it was generally easy to keep the midgets in one area and school kids in the middle, leaving the more extreme part for the big kids.  Thy saw not incongruity driving up in their cars to the park and taking the boards, scooters or even bikes from the back of the car and start up skating.

Out of the four of them, Stale Ale was the ace at the skate park.  He could make his bike do amazing things - jumps and turns that wrench at your guts, they are so sharp.  Maggots was a bit of an oaf, really, and so he just did the typical back and forth rolls to keep it looking like he was busy and knew what he was doing.

One of the good things about not having the car was that Maggots did't have to worry so much about the booze bus.  This meant that they could take a six-pack down to the skate park, no probs.  The grog of choice was JD's and Coke in pre-mix cans.  They were about the same as a stubbie of beer but they tasted better.  so they would do some pumping in the skate park and then rest awhile under one of the trees drinking a brew.  It was during such a break that the germ of an idea sprang to life.

"You know what we should do for that Nancy Boy?"  Maggots had come up with the idea himself.  "I saw someone's place last week with all them pink flamingos over the lawn because it was their 50th birthday.  I reckon we should just borrow  a few of them and stick them on Nancy Boy's lawn - with a special birthday wish for Nancy Boy."

"Where are you gunna borrow them from?"  Cammo, as second in charge to Maggots, often tried to be practical.

"They come from that garden shop, down near the Market, don't they?"  Stale Ale obviously kept his eyes open about some things.  "But you have to pay for them, don't you?  You know, like hire them."

"I reckon we just borrow some of them - if they put 50 out for some blokes birthday we could just borrow 17 and stick up in the front yard of Nancy Boy's place."  It seemed so easy to them all, that it was a done deal as far as they were concerned.  The next challenge was to see if there would be someone else's birthday just before the Nancy Boy so that they could pinch some.

As a stoke of luck, the day before Aaron's birthday, an order had been place for 50 Pink Flamingos to adorn the front lawn of Shire President, Sam Malone.  His new wife Nicky thought it would be a great treat to surprise Sam with.  In her mind, 50 was the mark at which a man looked more and more like he had achieved something worthwhile with his life.  She hadn't anticipated his reaction.- which was to fly into a rage about it being so public and that he didn't want people to know - they would write him off.  He rushed out into the garden and flung the flamingos here there and everywhere.  Then he got into his black Caprice and stormed out of the garage making as much noise as he could.

Nicky was flabbergasted.  She thought she knew him and that he would enjoy a bit of fun.  "What will he think of me now?"  she thought and began to cry.  "Oh no!  I've done the worst thing.  He'll never forgive me"  She got so wound up herself that she jumped into her little white BMW and drove out of the village - not sure of her destination - just wanting a quiet place to think things over.

Maggots was riding by just after this, and surveyed the scene.  The garage door was still up so clearly both cars were out.  The flamingos were in a state of mayhem.  This was his big chance - but you can't just carry off 17 flamingos on your bike - people might notice.

He raced over the Cammo's place and told him the deal.  "Do you reckon your dad would let me borrow his ute to pick em up?"

"Well it won't take long, will it?  He's gone out in the other car and won't be back till after lunch.  Let's go!"

So, Cammo and Maggots drove boldly into Malone's drive way and calmly put as many of the flamingos as they wanted into the back of the ute.  If anyone had seen them they would have just though they were picking them up for the Garden Shop - except that they didn't pick them all up.  Then they took them back to Maggot's place and put them in the shed.  A night of work lay ahead of them.

They all agreed to meet at Maggot's place about 9pm.  They would hang around till the folks cleared off to bed and then they went to see if they could carry the flamingos while riding their bikes - nah!  That wasn't going to work.  "We'll just make a couple of trips."   Thankfully, Aaron's house was not more than a couple of hundred yards away.  Each boy could carry one under each arm and still manage to steer their bikes.  They eventually got all the flamingos over to Aaron's house and set them up very quietly in the front yard.  Then with some pink spray paint they wrote all over the lawn "HAPPY BURTHDAY NANCY BOY"  They stood back and surveyed their handy-work with some pride.  "That'll do!"  said Maggots, and they all made their various ways home.

The next morning, Aaron's mum went out to get the paper and couldn't believe it.  Her first reaction was to want to get rid of it all before Aaron saw it.  Then she thought, he could probably cope with this.  He was no longer afraid of people knowing he was gay, so she began looking more closely to see if she could work out who was behind this.  Best talk with Aaron about it, maybe, so she went inside and called him.

His eyes nearly popped when he saw all the flamingos, and thought his Mum had done it.  Then he was the writing on the lawn.  "That's bloody Maggots and his mates.  You've gotta admit Mum, it's pretty creative - especially for Maggots.  What do you reckon we should do?"

"Well I suppose that's up to you.  Maggots is always out to get you - but you always seem to wriggle out of his clutches, which I think is great.  Do you reckon we can turn this one back on him?"

"Well I reckon the Sarge would love it!  He reckons Maggots is all bluster - because he really hasn't got a brain.  Maybe if we told him, he could have a bit of fun at Maggot's expense.  That's why I never worry about him.  I think it's best to laugh him off - no satisfaction in that for him."

"Let's call him now - see what he thinks."  Aaron's Mum had no idea where her boy got his resilience from.  She was just glad that he was able to stay free from all that negativity that most gay kids get caught up in and that too often leads them into bad places.

Aaron said he would like to make the call.  "Sarge?  This is Aaron.  Someone has had some fun in my front yard over night.  You might like to come over and see what they've done.  No harm really, but you might have an excuse to call on Maggots again. ...  Want to come right now?  Great, see you soon."

It was barely ten minutes later when the cop van pulled up outside - and when the Sarge got out he smiled and just started laughing.  "Are you telling me Maggots did this?" the Sarge asked as Aaron came out the front door to greet him.  "If he did this, he has gone up a step in my estimation of him.  Bloody, hell.  I never thought he could think up one like this.  Are you sure its him?"

"Well, no-one else in the village calls me Nancy Boy.  It's such a give away, really!  But its the best one I've seen him do - and he thought it would make me mad.  Where do you reckon he got the Flamingos?"

"Now there's the coincidence!  Nicky Malone rang in yesterday afternoon all distraught, like, because half the flamingos she had ordered for Sam's birthday yesterday had been lifted while she was out.  At first she thought Sam might have done it because he hated the flamingos.  Then when she talked to the Garden Shop about it they said they would just keep the $200 deposit she had paid and send her a bill for the rest.  She was not happy!"

"Suppose these are the ones.  Should I call the Garden Shop and ask them to come and get them?"

"Nah!  I'll do that!" said the Sarge as he clearly tossed an idea around in his mind.  "What say I call Tony Cassidy and see if he would like a story for the Tribune first.  Pictures of the great art work - I might even be able to arrange for the artist to be included in the picture - and maybe a story about the futility of bullying.  Maybe the little thug is more afraid of being exposed for what he is than he thinks you are of being exposed as gay.  Let me do this.  I will make sure he sees me as the avenger here, not you, but it's too good a show to pass up."

Blue Lagoon

Sam had noticed some increased boating activity on the Inlet but thought little of it.  It was the beginning of the high season and people came from all over the state to holiday in and around Quarabup, and every second SUV that arrived in town was either towing a runabout or had a tinnie ties to its roof.  At the height of the season they resemble worker ants around a nest - travelling back and forth across the inlet from one favourite fishing spot to another, looking for that elusive King George Whiting that may have been trapped in the inlet over the summer.

There were some boats, however, that seemed to travel differently around the inlet.  They weren't like the other fishing boats either.  They seemed to be trawling systematically from north to south banks of the inlet as if looking for every hole and weed bank that could shelter fish.  The crews were also a bit different from the usual holiday crowd - a mix of young adults and older folk, but definitely not in holiday mood.

One day, while Sam was filling up at Mike Faragher's garage he overheard a bloke with one of these boats explaining to Mike that they were from one of the Universities up in Perth.  That would explain it - geography students practicing marine mapping and echo-sounding and the like.  That would also explain why there were five or six similar boats and crews - a whole lot of students in the class.  Sam thought no more of it.

What he did notice in the Tribune was a trickle of letters to the Editor challenging the Council to withhold any approval for the Canals project until they could prove it would not hurt the fragile eco-system of the inlet.  One of the letters was from the chairman of the local fishing co-op, Bernie Tucker.  Bernie was not known for being outspoken, so it was something for Sam to take note of.  Who would have gotten onto him to do that?  Maybe his members.  Maybe others.  Soon the usual suspects from among the ferals started chipping in.  Springtime Kestrel wrote a wonderful piece - you've gotta give it to these people sometimes, when they wax lyrical about stuff.

"Sir, I think it is about time the residents of Quarabup stood up for the welfare of our Inlet.  We all know the Canals project is going to be an eyesore and it will have a serious detrimental effect on the birds and fish that people from all over the state come to see.  We don't want out little village to become a satellite village of Mandurah where canal developments have destroyed essential wetland habitat for unique migratory birds.  The same thing could happen here for our birds.  We want to urge Council to undertake a proper and scientific assessment of the impact the proposal could have on the Inlet."

So it came as no surprise, really, at the next Shire Council Meeting that Councillor Italiano used the indulgences time at the end of the meeting to raise a question of the CEO about what kind of environmental assessment was being required of the Canal proposers.  The Shire CEO, Mike Watson, had not been expecting this question having had much of his attention taken up lately with Council arrangements to ensure the safe and orderly conduct of whatever School Leavers activities would descend on Quarabup in the next week or two.  Each year they seemed to be getting worse, and he had been looking  at ways in which other coastal towns had been taking some initiative to prevent difficulties rather than reacting to them.  So all Cr Italiano got from him was some rather incoherent mutterings.

Sam took over when Mike was finished and tried to sweep it all under the carpet.  "The inlet," he said "covered nearly 50 square kilometres and the canals would encroach little more than one kilometre into the inlet for not more than three kilometres along its bank.  That's barely five percent of the total inlet.  There is no way this is going to have any significant detrimental effect on the inlet either in the wetlands surrounding it or in the waters themselves."

Cr Muldoon chipped in to what was looking more like an orchestrated attack than it really was.  "But what about the fishery?  I really think we are dealing with something ore fragile than you would think, and I, for one, will not be passing any planning approval for this project until we have done some sort of a survey.  Spandos has to do something as part of the proposal, but I wouldn't trust them to offer us anything other than a report that supported their proposal.  We need to do our own independent assessment."

Mike Watson, ever the peacemaker offered to take steps to see what would be needed - and how much it would all cost.  He wasn't even sure if the Council was permitted to conduct its own independent study in order to verify or challenge a proposal for a development.  The meeting closed, but it was clear that Tony Cassidy thought he had the substance for his next front page.

The next afternoon the Tribune banner proclaimed Blue Lagoon threatened by Canals.  In sensationalist language, Cassidy portrayed the Council as being "all at sea" over whether or not the Canals Project would be detrimental for the ecology and economy of the inlet.  It was clear that the developers were required to prepare and present an Environmental Impact Statement with their proposal, but Councillors were clearly cautious about the potential objectivity of that Environmental Impact Statement and were considering undertaking their own "independent" assessment as a gesture of Council doing due diligence in informing themselves before considering the proposal.

That weekend the ferals were out in force.  They had taken over a corner of the old Parade Ground, set up tents and banners, tables and handouts.  They had drummers, jugglers and other odd sorts all designed to attract people's attention.  There would be a big public announcement they said at eleven am.  In the mean time the kids were all having a go at juggling and banging drums and their parents were being coerced into signing a petition asking Council to deny the Spandos Canal proposal on Environmental grounds.

Sam's first thoughts about this were that it would at least take the spotlight of his relationship with Spandos - but then he realised if this got out of control, the whole proposal could fall over.  Not only would he lose his chance of a windfall, he would actually lose a whole lot of outlays he had already made on the strength of the proposal.  He thought he had better hang about till eleven to see what they had to say.

A Small Distraction

The front page of the South Coast Tribune screamed out the all who could read -

Main Street Changed Forever

The Headline was superimposed over a full-paged image looking straight along Main Street from The Wildflower Arcade towards the Markets.

Page three then had a still imposing headline - "Planning Committee seeks retail face-lift" - under the by-line of Tony Cassidy.  The prose was full of indignation and implied the typical skulduggery that he is always challenging Council about - that this attempt to re-open the "Supermarket" debate that was so soundly repudiated by the people of Quarabup 5 years ago must certainly be the result of some palm-greasing of personal vested interests of certain Councillors.  Such was Cassidy's reputation that even just these words were enough for everyone in the community to know that their number one shifty Shire President, Sam Malone, had to be behind it and had to stand to benefit from it - after all, didn't he own The Wildflower Arcade?

If it had been television, Cassidy would have been frothing at the mouth.  After laying out his primary accusations, Cassidy reminded readers of the history of the retail proposal five years ago, gilding for renewed scrutiny every line in that story that reflected badly on Sam Malone.  "This", he said, "was a prima facie case of corruption in the Council.  So long as Sam Malone controlled that Arcade end of Main Street he would stand to benefit financially either directly or indirectly from any approval Council might give for Coles or Woolies in partnership with Westro Regional to build some sort of shopping centre with a supermarket at the heart of it.

Of course, Cassidy didn't have a shred of evidence for his accusations.  He was simply relying on Sam's reputation and the willingness of the general public of Quarabup to buy into a conspiracy theory in the matter.  He even made it seem worse for Sam in his final paragraph by saying "The Shire President was unavailable for comment when asked about this matter," which was absolutely true even though he had called the Shire Offices at 7pm when there was no one there to take the call.

Sam could not have wished for a better response from Tony "Clark Kent" Cassidy.  It seems they knew each other very well.  Later that day there were numerous requests from his Council Officers asking him to return calls to concerned citizens and by the end of the day he had called together the Planning Committee to work on a Media Release that they could prepare to give to the paper.  Tom Knight led the discussion.  Their main purpose was to identify succinctly what one or two things needed to be said from the Council to rebut the inferences of the article.  The end result looked like this:

MEDIA RELEASE

          Regional Development Plan Review Routine

The Local Government Act 1995 expressly required Councils to review their Regional Development Plans not less frequently than five yearly.  The Council's Planning Officer was required to bring this to the attention of Councillors to ensure Council was compliant.  It is timely that this review has been raised at this point and the media claim that Councillors have vested and conficting interests in the outcome of this review are utterly false.

Chair of the Quarabup Shire Council Planning Committee said today that media speculation about the motivation behind the recent discussion of the Regional Development Plan was profoundly speculative and that all ratepayers can be assured that when the time comes for public discussion of any issues arising from the review, they will have all the usual opportunities to make their views known to Council.

Shire President, Cr Sam Malone will comply with all statutory obligations relating to conflicts of interest, should they arise in the course of the Council's consideration of the review.

ENDS

Media enquiries for further information should be directed to the Chief Planning Officer, Quarabup Shire Offices.

Sam thought there was enough of a rebuttal there to make it seem like Cassidy was on his high horse, but there was enough room for him to continue ferreting around to see if ever there might be a conflict of interest for which the Shire President might be required to abide by his statutory obligations.

The following week a PUBLIC NOTICE was published on the Council's Web Page announcing the beginning of a review of the Regional Development Plan on December 1.  Interested parties were invited to make submissions regarding proposals for future development as well as matters for public consideration in the development of the Plan.  Special mention was made of the desirability of property developers to offer suggestions that were believed to enhance the future development of Quarabup and its region.  Copies of the current Regional Development Plan were available on application to the Chief Planning Officer.

Tony Cassidy was like a hound on a scent.  He just knew that Sam Malone was at it again.  The problem was he didn't quite know what it was that Sam was at.  He was always rewarded by sniffing around - casting his trawling net wider and wider.  "Follow the money" his Editor at the Advertiser where he did his cadetship always said to him.  "Follow the money and you will find out who is driving a story."  It was good advice and it had got him close to a Walkely Award once for a story he did years ago about the proposal to establish a fertiliser plant at Quarabup - Runner Up, Best Regional Journalism.  But sometimes, when you don't have much to go on - just a pretty good hunch that Sam Malone was up to something - it is hard to get that first scent of the money.

First he tried the Lands and Titles website where you could sometimes access the names of property owners.  He checked as many of the properties in Main Street to see if Malone had quietly acquired any of the shops that were so often owned by other than the shop keepers.  Then he went to the Local Government Department's web site to check out the Register of Pecuniary Interests for Councillors.  Since the aftermath of the "WA Inc." disasters of complex interrelationships between property developers and government policy-makers at all levels of government, both MPs and Local Government Councillors have had to register all their financial interests so as to ensure they did not engage in corrupt behaviours that could lead to personal gain.  Conflicts of interest at almost any level of discussion at Council had to be declared, and Councillors were not permitted to participate in the discussion, sometimes even leaving the Council Chamber until the matter has been dealt with.  Both these lines of enquiry resulted only in confirming what Cassidy already knew.

Meanwhile, The Tribune had published the material in the Council's Media Release on page 5 the following edition.  Cassidy tried to maintain the rage and imply that things were amiss, but he knew he still didn't have a single fact to back up his story.  Even the Letters Column had a couple of letters supporting the integrity of Councillors.  He decided it was time to lie low, while he followed up a few leads.  One could never predict where the pay dirt was some times.  But he would keep looking.

Grease Monkey

Within two days of Mother Superior's conversation with Alfeo and Eula about Gregorio's possible future as a motor mechanic, Mike Faragher had intentionally come on by the Trattoria to meet Alfeo and talk things over.

"Tell me, whats Greg like, really?"  You can't get more direct than that, and it appeared Mike was a no-nonsense guy.

Alfeo thought for a moment.  He didn't want to say anything that might put Mike off.  He really thought this was the right opportunity for Greg and he didn't want to let it pass him by.  "Well, he's a good kid, really.  I know he has a bit of trouble in school, but I think that was just because he wasn't enjoyin' it.  We have lots of things to do back home with the garden and Gregorio, he does his jobs like most boys."

"What do think he really likes most?" A man of few words.

"If you're askin' me, and you are, then I would say he likes messing around with thinks in the shed.  There we gotta lots of things little machines for doin' things and actually he likes keeping them workin' like new if he can.  These are not motors or anythin' - just packin' machines and bindin' machines.  He likes pullin' apart and making sure oil is in all the right spots.  Then he puts 'em back together just right.  That's why I think this idea of Mother Superior is a good one.  What does Gregorio have to do?"

"Well next year he will have to enroll in TAFE to begin his learning there.  They do a Cert III to become a light vehicle technician.  With all the trucks and farm machinery we have down here he might want to the the heavy vehicle one.  They are very similar.  They just work away at it while they work in the garage.  In the mean time I wondered if he would like to do some work experience for a couple of weeks at the garage.  That will give him time to get an idea of what it would be like, and I can see what kind of a kid he is.  If he is still keen after a couple of weeks, I will put him on casual for over the holidays.  That way he can get used to the smell of the place before it all starts.  Have you talked to him about it?"

"Not yet.  I wanted to know a bit more so that we could talk about more than just the idea.  If he goes for it, when would you want him to start that workin' experience?"

"As soon as you like, really.  I suppose there will be things to sort out at school before he can come.  He can't just leave, can he?"

"I'm not sure.  After I have told him about it I will see what the Mother says."

"Righto then.  I'll be off.  I will look forward to hearing from you."  Mike thanked Alfeo for the coffee and made his way back to the garage.

Over dinner that night, Alfeo raised the idea for Gregorio to think about.

"Mother Superior came to see us the other day to talk about your work at school."  Greg's jaw dropped and he almost knocked over his drink.  "Oh, sorry.  I didn't mean it like that," said Alfeo, trying to recover the situation before Greg got ratty.  "She said you seemed pretty bored with school, and maybe we could look at something else for you."

"Oh yeh!  What would that be?  Aren't I supposed to stay at school till I'm 17?"

"Well, yes and no, according to the Mother.  She wondered if it would a good idea to get you an apprenticeship - that's like being in school while you have a job."

"How do you get an apprenticeship?  I thought they were hard to come by."  Greg's tone was bordering on sullen, but there was just enough curiosity there for Alfeo to press on.

"Well, she knows Mike Faragher through church.  He said he needed to start off a new apprentice next year, and asked if she knew any boys that might be worth a go.  That was about a week before you got suspended, and then she started thinking about you.  She reckoned you weren't a bad kid.  Maybe you were just bored.  So she came and talked to us to see if we thought it would be a good idea.  It's really up to you, but we think it might be a bit of a win-win for you - get you out of school and get you a job that has got a future - and some money of your own!!  What do you think?"

"Well the money would be good, although the guys at school just want to go up north for the mining - plenty of money and you don't need any qualifications.  How long does it take?  What do you have to do?"

"Mike came to see us this morning and he said you could either go for light vehicles or heavy - cars or trucks and tractors - and that you do some stuff at TAFE while you work at the garage.  A Cert III I think he said."

"That sounds good - they were trying to get us to do a Cert II in design and tech at school, just so we would have something.  This would be much better.  So I would be a motor mechanic?"

"Yeh, if that's what you want to do."  Alfeo looked at Eula hopeful that this was a sign of him wanting to give it go.

"Well, when would I begin?  Do I have to finish school this year?"

"We could talk to the Mother about that.  She seemed to think if you wanted to give it a go, it could be arranged to start sooner.  Mike suggested you do a couple weeks of work experience to try out working at the garage and see how things work in the workshop.  He said if you wanted to keep on going he could take you on as a casual over the holidays and then they could get the apprenticeship started when TAFE starts next year.  What do you reckon?"

"I want to do it.  Yeh, I reckon that would be great.  I would get to muck around with cars and then I would have a qualification.  You always said we wouldn't get anywhere without a qualification.  Well I reckon that would be great."

Alfeo was almost happier than Greg seemed to be.  Here was his boy taking his forst step towards being an adult, making a life of his own, claiming his future on his own terms.

"Well, if that's what you want to do, I will call the Mother tomorrow and see what she thinks we need to do next.  I really don't know if she will say it will be best for you to finish Year 11 and get a school certificate for that, of whether you might as well get started as soon as you can.  We'll see, huh?"

Greg had another day of suspension, so he wouldn't see his mates at school till after the weekend, so as soon as he finished his dinner he was off to his computer to tell his mates on Facebook.

As far as he was concerned the deal was done.  He would do his work experience and he would stay on for the holidays and then we would start becoming a mechanic.  All of a sudden Greg's future has substance.  Before this it was just full of possibilities - and he never knew which he wanted to choose - but here was a chance to do something that he knew he would like. He even started thinking about getting his own car.  What sort would he be able to get. He had to get his driving license first, but that wouldn't be hard, and he would be getting money.  The future looked good.

The next day, after he done all those chores that got the day started at the Trattoria, Alfeo rang the school to see what would be a good time for him to see the Mother about Grgorio.  The teachers would be going back into their classes soon, so he could come now - maybe by 11am.  Alfeo always felt strange when we went to the school.  Somehow he felt like he was kid again and that the teachers were all much bigger in his mind than they really were.  It was even more so when he had to see the Mother.

Within a few moments she came by offering Alfeo a coffee.  He agreed and someone went to get one as he liked it.  Alfeo sat down in the chair in front of the desk, expecting the Mother to sit behind her desk, but she took a chair next to his.  "We met Mike and we have talked to Gregorio and everything is good.  Gregorio wants to have a go, but we were wondering when he could start it.  Mike said he could so a couple of weeks of work experience before he commits, and even then he would just start him as a casual over the holidays until TAFE started - it would be a bit like a holiday job."

"That all sounds good," said the Mother.  "I am glad that Greg liked the idea. It was just a hunch on my part, but obviously a good one."

"You women, you have good hunches sometimes.  Eula is always having hunches - and mostly they are good.  If Gregorio does this, when would he be able to start?"

"Well, it seems to me it would be good for him to finish his Year 11 and we could give him a certificate of completion, but there are only five weeks to go.  What about if he comes back for the week next week while we organise the two weeks of work experience to count as school work - he can get two points for that - and then I think we can just add up all he has done and make the certificate out of that.  Do you think he would like that?"

"I am sure he would like that.  After we finished telling him last night it was all he could think about.  He told all his mates on Facebook, so I think it is a done deal in his head.  I had an uncle who was a mechanic - back in Italy.  I never thought one of my own kids would be the same."

Deceased Estate

Every week, Ellie found some new aspect of her job that she really liked.  One thing often led to another, but even so, she was just really enjoying her job.

After last week's rather embarrassing episode when she thought GG might have been supplying drugs, and then found out that it was simply some special orders for a man with exotic tastes, Ellie did wonder whether she had blown it a bit, but it seemed like rather the opposite.  If anything, GG seemed even more confident in her, more relaxed about how she was going.  She could really put her finger on it to clearly explain why she felt like that, but there was not doubt in her mind that there was no negative vibes as an outcome of last week, and that somehow she had won some respect - respect that maybe she didn't deserve.

When Ellie took the morning tea into GG's office he said "Ellie, I've got a job for you.  Do you think you're up to it?"

"I won't know till you tell me what it is, will I?"

"Well that's true enough.  What I was wondering was whether you could go through all the books at old Jenkin's house and pick out what you think is worth putting on the shelves.  His daughter Margaret called me earlier and asked if we were interested in her Dad's old books and if we could do something of a valuation, or at least identify any books that were worth selling.  She wants us to start today, and I have got my Lodge to prepare for this evening and so ..."

"Well, you know how much I love books, but I am not sure if I know enough yet to know what we could sell."

"You've been picking things up pretty well, Ellie, and I suppose you need to start somewhere.  How about if we set it up so that you do the basic work today, and tomorrow morning I follow you through the house and see if you have left any treasures behind.  That would be good for both of us.  I could also check through what you have chosen, as well, and see if you chose rubbish.  Its the best way to learn, you know - jump right in."

"If you think it is time for me to have a go, then by all means I will.  Would I be able to drive your little van down there?"

"Of course - so long as you put your little P-plates on properly."  Ellie had passed her final stage of learner driving back in September and she really liked being able to drive, but as yet she didn't have her own car.

"What time do you think I should go?"

GG reached over his desk and got a piece of paper with a phone number on it.  "Ring Margaret and see when would suit her.  I said that we would do it, and I would get back to her to arrange a time."  Ellie did that as soon as she got back into the shop and it was agreed that she would be there as close to 1pm as she could.  She knew where the old house was - just up on the hill overlooking Main Street, Roe Street she thought it was called.

When it was time for lunch, Ellie was glad to catch Candy so they could eat together at the Trattoria.  What did Eula have for the punters today?  Some of the other shops in town had started using those rather thin French rolls, called Parisiennes - Eula thought they were just diet versions of a good panini.  Anyway because they were narrower, it took less ingredients to make them good, so she thought she would have a try.  Chicken and avocado always went down well with the locals, but some were more adventurous, wanting flavours that were part of Eula's Neapolitan signature at La Trattoria.  One that had taken off quite well was prosciutto with grilled egg plant, sun-dried tomatoes and capers.  Ellie stayed in safe territory today asking for a chicken and avocado Parisienne, and a cappuccino, of course.  It was a constant delight to her since leaving school that she didn't have to eat school canteen food.

Candy was full of stories to share, but Ellie soon got onto her good news for the day.  She was pleased to have been trusted with what was an important job.  They made plans together for their weekend.  It was likely to be a good weekend for taking in the beach.  Plenty of the boys will be trying to show off their prowess.  Hopefully the waves will cooperate.

She got back to the shop at a quarter to one, in time to get the keys for the van, find her little red P-plates and get them attached front and back to the van, and then drive to the old Jenkin's place.  Mr Jenkins had been born in this house more than ninety years ago, his parents having bought the house in 1898.  It wasn't new then and it was one of the few Victorian-style mansions left in Quarabup.  It had wide verandahs on two sides and several large buildings around it to ensure it is not forgotten that if was built in the days of carriages, stables and staff quarters.  Built on an acre of land, it had lovely gardens now and was a regular Open-Garden for the community to come and see it in the different seasons of the year, always raising money for good causes in the town.

Margaret greeted Ellie with a wide open door as she stepped onto the verandah.  Ellie remembered the circumstances.  "I'm sorry to hear about your dad."

"He was pretty old really, and it was really hard work for him the last couple of years.  He was ready, and somehow, I am not as sad as I thought I would be."  Margaret spoke gently and with obvious pride or love for her Dad.

"Was he sick?" Ellie asked.

"No, not really.  He was simply very tired.  Everything was an effort for him these days.  He just didn't wake up one morning.  That was back in September."

"I guess it must be hard going through his things and all.  Do you have any brothers and sisters to help?"

"No, Ellie, there's just me. Would you like some tea while we chat?  I have boiled the kettle."

One thing that GG had taught Ellie was the value of a good cup of tea when there was some talking to do.  She had grown to enjoy it, really, and felt like it was rather grown up.  She agreed that it would be nice to have tea.

"My Mum got sick after I was born," continued Margaret without any sense of break in her rhythm, "and she couldn't have any more babies - which meant I was the special one all my life.  My dad was a bit of an adventurer, though.  There were times when I think he wished he could have been an explorer but of course, everything around here had been explored.  They took me out bush a lot and I am really glad about that.  Mum enjoyed it too.  I remember one time they went right out along the coast east of here.  No fancy four wheel drives like now - just a windy old Land Rover.  But my Dad built his own trailer to go behind it and he packed a big tent into the trailer and tons of other stuff.  There are lots of little rivers coming out along the coast there, and we would just find a spot, make a clearing and camp.  Sometimes we would stay a day and move on, other times we would camp in one place for a week or more."

"What did you do?"  Ellie couldn't imagine spending that kind of time alone with your parents right out in the bush - no friends, not TV or even radio.

"Dad would take me for walks through the bush, looking for native orchids.  He was really good at spotting them, even when they didn't have flowers.  He kept a little diary of the plants he spotted and he would even sketch them so that he would know what they looked like at that time of year.  And my mum would teach me how to cook.  Because I was off playing with my friends, she could show me stuff.  I loved it.

"And if we were staying for a while, my dad would rig up as big an aerial as he could between some trees and attach it to a crystal radio so he could listen to his radio serials - they were like reading books for him, except that he read books too.  That's why I think there might be some good ones, worth selling."

Ellie took this as a signal to get up and start the work she had come to do.  "Where abouts are the books now?" she asked.

"This house was always too big for us, even when I was at home, so the front room next to the lounge room has been a study-come-library for Dad since ever I can remember.  He did like his books and he was always buying new ones.  Here it is.  There are lots for you to go through.  I had better let you get on with it."

Margaret left Ellie along and she began by surveying the room to see if there was any kind of plan to the book shelves.  Her first impression was that everything was so much in order that there was probably very little that wouldn't be of value.  She couldn't imagine adding this many books to the stock in the shop, so perhaps they could send some on consignment to the various antiquarian and other bookshops in Perth.  Her real job was to see if there were any treasures hidden among the mainly good books.

Treasures were more likely to be old books - that is what antiquarian means after all - so Ellie began on a rather wade bookshelf just to the left of the fireplace.  There were some very old leather bound books with gold-leaf engraving on the spines.  She thought they might even be older than the house.  As she thumbed through these she found some old English novels - classics like Jane Austin and Charles Dickens - and these seemed genuinely old, not just modern facsimile editions.  Then she saw some that looked like they were about Australian explorers - one was a diary by John Eyre, there was another by a clergymen from the Swan River Colony, a Mr Warburton, and there was a book about the Kelly Gang.

Then she saw some books that looked more recent - cloth covered bindings and these seemed to be a collection of much later adventurers.  There was one by Kingsford Smith about his plane trip across the Pacific.  There was an earlier one by Shackleton about his journey to Antarctica.  There was a whole lot of them, and a few even had been signed by their authors.  Mr Jenkins was a real collector.

Ellie decided that there were so many good books that probably the best thing to do was make up a list of the ones she thought either might sell in their own shop, or could be passed on for sale in Perth.  It wasn't until about four thirty that she felt like she had done justice to the task, and went off to find Margaret, who was in the garden doing a little bit of pruning to get the roses flowering again.