Lost Voice of the Grand Final by Hazel Edwards Page A

Egg.
    â€˜The voice must be found before Saturday’s Game,’ repeats Ben. ‘And the Coach has an even more important, speaking date the next day.’
    â€˜Sunday?’
    â€˜Yes. It’s Bird of the Year Wedding.’
    â€˜Is Carrot getting married?’ I wondered who would marry Carrot.
    â€˜No. Coach isn’t keen on any of his footballers getting married on Grand Final weekend. The Bride wanted to marry at 2pm on the Saturday. But the game is on Saturday. Now the wedding will be on Sunday, instead of Saturday. And Carrot is supposed to be the M.C. at the wedding.’
    â€˜Who decided the wedding was on the Sunday?’
    â€˜The Coach.’
    â€˜Why do the wedding party do what the Coach says?’
    â€˜Beak, the bridegroom is also the captain of the football team. They need Beak for the Grand Final. He has to help his team to win or else…’
    â€˜Who do you barrack for? The Birds?’ Ben laughed. ‘How did you guess?’
    This is a perfect job for Astrid, the hi-tech chook.
    I google ‘Voice’ and then ‘Lost’ and then ‘Birds Coach’. Next, I find a Voice-Coach.
    I’ll have to visit the football training ground. And talk to Carrot. Maybe this time, he will listen to me?

Chapter 3
Coach With No Voice
    The Birds team is training down at the oval. So I ride my Harley-Davidson motor- cycle down to watch them. Put on my helmet, just in case.
    A low flying bird dropped on my Z-com last time. Good luck or what?
    Fans are cheering, and it’s only a practice. Hundreds of them crowd around the fence. They wave streamers, balloons and posters with their favourite players. Beak is very popular with the chicks.
    The Assistant-Coach yells a lot. The footballers run up and down. The runner goes out on the field with messages about tactics. The ball is thrown around. They pose for photos. They sweat a lot. They autograph fans, on their hands, or their legs or write squiggly names on bits of paper.
    Carrot stands near the goal. He is signalling to the Assistant Coach who is too busy to notice. Carrot is turning tomato-coloured. The Runner goes on field a lot.
    How can I find out the facts from Carrot? I try sign language first. Then I realise. He’s not deaf. Just voice-less.
    Carrot thinks he’s special. And now he isn’t. But he can HEAR people. They just can’t hear him.
    So I put my Z-com screen under his beak. ‘Tap.’
    I ask a question. Then he pecks an answer.
    Carrot is a bad speller. His ‘score’ becomes ‘sore’ and ‘ham-string injury’ becomes ‘ham-bone.’ Voice becomes ‘vice’.
    I can mind-read, but I get lost in Carrot’s murky mind which is all full of ‘I’. No room for anything else.
    â€˜Open your beak. Let’s look at your throat.’
    I wasn’t sure what I was looking for.
    â€˜D’you think you should go to the hospital?’ See the Eye, Nose and Throat doctor?’
    He shakes his head.
    â€˜Carrot, where did you talk last?’
    He keys some places: Sports Centre, Talkback Radio, TV Studio panel, Speakeasy.
    Carrot’s List might be useful.
    So I use my Z-com map to find the places on Carrot’s List.
    I’m going to solve the mystery of the Lost Voice.
    On my way home, I visit the Lost Property Office at the Sports Centre. On my Z-com map, that’s the closest place from Carrot’s List. Umbrellas, shoes and sports gear fill the room. But no clues to a lost voice.
    I read Carrot’s List again. What is a Speakeasy? A café? A bar? A fast food place? Judging by the name, you should be able to speak easily there.
    Time to check the henhouse. It’s the gossip centre of the yard. The hens know everything.
    â€˜Do you know a place called the Speakeasy?’ I ask.
    â€˜Yes, we decided NOT to go there for a hens’ night out before the wedding. We don’t drink homebrew. Cluck Cluck