someone who surfed.
âYou canât surf anyway,â Donny Millet had said. Everyone knew that Donny Millet was the best surferin the class and his dad had won cups or whatever you win if you surf the best. âCanât even swim properly.â
A couple of girls laughed because they reckoned anything Donny said was cool, and Mzzz Cllump explained that everyone was different and learned things faster and slower than everyone else and yadda-yadda-yadda like she did whenever anyone was getting picked on. It didnât make any difference to getting picked on except that the ones doing the picking got a bit fed-up and usually wandered out into the playground and delivered a good shove or a quick trip as well as a bit more picking.
It washed off Geezer though. He had a lazy way of smiling like heâd just thought up something really bad that just might happen to nuisances like Donny or Sumo-Pong if he could only work up the energy to do it. And, if that didnât work, he got out of the way quickly when he didnât feel like being shoved. He couldnât swim but he was quick on his feet. He didnât trip over easily either and Donny and Sumo-Pong more or less gave up. It probably helped that Geezerâs dad was a soldier. He had turned up in his soldierâs uniform one day when Geezer had to go home early. Donny and Sumo-Pong did salutes behind his backbut they stopped quick-smart when Mr Smith turned around.
Itâd be nice to have a dad who was a soldier. He was probably a colonel or something special.
Pyroâs dad worked in a bank and played rugby and did sport. Donny and Sumo-Pong wouldnât be scared of someone just because they played rugby. They didnât get it with games. They never took âoutâ without a fight. Sports days with Donny or Sumo-Pong were a trial, Mzzz Cllump said. And they were never, ever on the same team or even on the same field at the same time. She made sure of it.
Geeze wouldnât be worried about the Two Worries. Heâd just move on a seat and, if they wanted that seat too, well, heâd just keep going. Pyro could almost see the Worries getting fed up with trying to annoy Geezer and leaving him alone. Theyâd probably chase him and, if they met him on the way to the shops or something, block the path and try to shove him or twist his arm, but Geezer was pretty good at making sure he stayed in places where that didnât happen.
It probably helped having a dad who was a soldier.
Behind him Pyro could hear Auntie Mor snoring quietly and the shuffling sounds of Mr Stig creepingout for his early morning walk to buy the paper. Pyro leaned over and pulled his drawing book to him. He opened it to yesterdayâs map and was pleased that it still looked splendid. Sometimes when he opened up a yesterdayâs drawing it wasnât as great as he remembered. In fact there were a whole series of pirate ship drawings that never failed to disappoint. His mother loved them and had put them on the fridge anyway. His father said that perhaps she should just choose a couple of ships that looked like they might sail and not bubble down at the first breeze.
Pyro had agreed with him. Not out loud though.
This map was brilliant. It had undulating lines to show contours of the mountains, soft colours for the tree lines and little nipped-out coves and a colour key at the bottom to explain it all. A couple of magpie-could-be-galahs were sprinkled around the outside border but even these added a special feel to the whole page.
Now, Pyro decided as he turned to a new page, what was needed next was a place to write all the things theyâd need and all the things they were going to do in the hide-out. It would be like a log.
He smiled as he began to plan the way it would look.
San Simeon stood on the top of a sandbank and looked down at his men. They gazed up at him. They looked across to the side when Sweet Calamity wandered by drying her long,
âYou canât surf anyway,â Donny Millet had said. Everyone knew that Donny Millet was the best surferin the class and his dad had won cups or whatever you win if you surf the best. âCanât even swim properly.â
A couple of girls laughed because they reckoned anything Donny said was cool, and Mzzz Cllump explained that everyone was different and learned things faster and slower than everyone else and yadda-yadda-yadda like she did whenever anyone was getting picked on. It didnât make any difference to getting picked on except that the ones doing the picking got a bit fed-up and usually wandered out into the playground and delivered a good shove or a quick trip as well as a bit more picking.
It washed off Geezer though. He had a lazy way of smiling like heâd just thought up something really bad that just might happen to nuisances like Donny or Sumo-Pong if he could only work up the energy to do it. And, if that didnât work, he got out of the way quickly when he didnât feel like being shoved. He couldnât swim but he was quick on his feet. He didnât trip over easily either and Donny and Sumo-Pong more or less gave up. It probably helped that Geezerâs dad was a soldier. He had turned up in his soldierâs uniform one day when Geezer had to go home early. Donny and Sumo-Pong did salutes behind his backbut they stopped quick-smart when Mr Smith turned around.
Itâd be nice to have a dad who was a soldier. He was probably a colonel or something special.
Pyroâs dad worked in a bank and played rugby and did sport. Donny and Sumo-Pong wouldnât be scared of someone just because they played rugby. They didnât get it with games. They never took âoutâ without a fight. Sports days with Donny or Sumo-Pong were a trial, Mzzz Cllump said. And they were never, ever on the same team or even on the same field at the same time. She made sure of it.
Geeze wouldnât be worried about the Two Worries. Heâd just move on a seat and, if they wanted that seat too, well, heâd just keep going. Pyro could almost see the Worries getting fed up with trying to annoy Geezer and leaving him alone. Theyâd probably chase him and, if they met him on the way to the shops or something, block the path and try to shove him or twist his arm, but Geezer was pretty good at making sure he stayed in places where that didnât happen.
It probably helped having a dad who was a soldier.
Behind him Pyro could hear Auntie Mor snoring quietly and the shuffling sounds of Mr Stig creepingout for his early morning walk to buy the paper. Pyro leaned over and pulled his drawing book to him. He opened it to yesterdayâs map and was pleased that it still looked splendid. Sometimes when he opened up a yesterdayâs drawing it wasnât as great as he remembered. In fact there were a whole series of pirate ship drawings that never failed to disappoint. His mother loved them and had put them on the fridge anyway. His father said that perhaps she should just choose a couple of ships that looked like they might sail and not bubble down at the first breeze.
Pyro had agreed with him. Not out loud though.
This map was brilliant. It had undulating lines to show contours of the mountains, soft colours for the tree lines and little nipped-out coves and a colour key at the bottom to explain it all. A couple of magpie-could-be-galahs were sprinkled around the outside border but even these added a special feel to the whole page.
Now, Pyro decided as he turned to a new page, what was needed next was a place to write all the things theyâd need and all the things they were going to do in the hide-out. It would be like a log.
He smiled as he began to plan the way it would look.
San Simeon stood on the top of a sandbank and looked down at his men. They gazed up at him. They looked across to the side when Sweet Calamity wandered by drying her long,
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