the conditions is that you will learn about them. I’ll teach you; we all will. You learn what an incredible species they are, just like humans. This is important. I’ve bought a book we can learn from.”
“I cannot look at pictures of them!”
“OK, but you’ll have to listen. This is a condition of the agreement, Ellis.”
Denny looked down at his notes and read from them, his voice more formal than he had wanted it to be.
“Spiders are incredible creatures, Ellis, and everyone concerned wants you to understand that. For instance, the hunting spiders that have agreed to spend the winter in the garden, they have a thing called glycerol in them and it’s an antifreeze, like we put in the car radiator. It’s so clever, they have antifreeze in their bodies and in their eggs too, so that’s how they can survive the winter out there. Some of the others will build themselves nice warm sleeping bags with their own silk.”
“That’s clever,” Ellis conceded.
“Very clever,” agreed Mafi.
Denny continued, “I have told the spiders how nervous you are of them. As I said, they were very sorry to hear it.”
“They really said that?”
“They did,” Chrissie said.
“Part of the agreement, though, is that you think about all the dangers they face and all the creatures they are frightened of. As you learn about this, I’m sure that the last thing you will want to be is another one of the animals harming them every day, don’t you think?”
Ellis didn’t respond. He didn’t want to give any ground without being sure what he was agreeing to.
“Did you know that spiders stroke each other, Ellis?” Mafi asked encouragingly.
“They eat each other too,” he responded.
Denny intervened. “Well, that’s true, yes, but not often. Not most of them. It’s a complicated business, but … where was I?” He returned to his notes. “Yes, that’s it … I’m sure you don’t want to join the long list of things that harm spiders, do you, Ellis? Starlings and robins like to eat spiders, so do the blue tits we encourage with the monkey-nut strings. Frogs and toads eat thousands of spiders. Spiders are under attack from all these things all the time, Ellis, and they have to live somewhere.”
Ellis’s face lit up. “We could dig a pond in the garden and have frogs and toads in it, loads of them.”
“No fear!” Mafi said.
“That would just drive the spiders into the house,” Chrissie said.
“Then have the frogs in the house.”
“Mafi hates frogs,” Chrissie countered.
“Even if Mafi loved frogs, we’re not having them inside our house,” Denny said.
“But Dad,” Ellis said.
“Yes, Ellis?”
“Wait a minute.” Ellis didn’t know what he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to lose the initiative here. “Oh, yeah, what about putting toy frogs all around the house, like scarecrows, to scare the spiders back to the garden?”
Chrissie shook her head. “Ellis! Spiders don’t see frogs and think, ‘Oh shit! A frog.’ They sense them by smell and sound. A toy frog isn’t a frog to a spider.”
Ellis turned to his dad. “Is it OK to say shit?”
“No, it isn’t. You’re getting confused, Ellis. There’s no point having frogs inside the house to scare off spiders that have only flocked inside because they’re scared of the real frogs you’ve put in the garden pond. Especially when we have a better solution here in front of us.”
“I don’t think spiders ‘flock’, Dad,” Chrissie said. “Sheep flock. I can’t believe spiders and sheep share the same word for group-movement.”
Ellis was confused now. He had no clear image in his head of this truce thing so it wasn’t real to him.
Denny leant across the table, closer to his son.
“Ellis, this agreement isn’t foolproof. By that I mean that there are bound to be moments when you come into contact with spiders. When that happens, you come to one of us and you accept that it was just an accident, that they
“I cannot look at pictures of them!”
“OK, but you’ll have to listen. This is a condition of the agreement, Ellis.”
Denny looked down at his notes and read from them, his voice more formal than he had wanted it to be.
“Spiders are incredible creatures, Ellis, and everyone concerned wants you to understand that. For instance, the hunting spiders that have agreed to spend the winter in the garden, they have a thing called glycerol in them and it’s an antifreeze, like we put in the car radiator. It’s so clever, they have antifreeze in their bodies and in their eggs too, so that’s how they can survive the winter out there. Some of the others will build themselves nice warm sleeping bags with their own silk.”
“That’s clever,” Ellis conceded.
“Very clever,” agreed Mafi.
Denny continued, “I have told the spiders how nervous you are of them. As I said, they were very sorry to hear it.”
“They really said that?”
“They did,” Chrissie said.
“Part of the agreement, though, is that you think about all the dangers they face and all the creatures they are frightened of. As you learn about this, I’m sure that the last thing you will want to be is another one of the animals harming them every day, don’t you think?”
Ellis didn’t respond. He didn’t want to give any ground without being sure what he was agreeing to.
“Did you know that spiders stroke each other, Ellis?” Mafi asked encouragingly.
“They eat each other too,” he responded.
Denny intervened. “Well, that’s true, yes, but not often. Not most of them. It’s a complicated business, but … where was I?” He returned to his notes. “Yes, that’s it … I’m sure you don’t want to join the long list of things that harm spiders, do you, Ellis? Starlings and robins like to eat spiders, so do the blue tits we encourage with the monkey-nut strings. Frogs and toads eat thousands of spiders. Spiders are under attack from all these things all the time, Ellis, and they have to live somewhere.”
Ellis’s face lit up. “We could dig a pond in the garden and have frogs and toads in it, loads of them.”
“No fear!” Mafi said.
“That would just drive the spiders into the house,” Chrissie said.
“Then have the frogs in the house.”
“Mafi hates frogs,” Chrissie countered.
“Even if Mafi loved frogs, we’re not having them inside our house,” Denny said.
“But Dad,” Ellis said.
“Yes, Ellis?”
“Wait a minute.” Ellis didn’t know what he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to lose the initiative here. “Oh, yeah, what about putting toy frogs all around the house, like scarecrows, to scare the spiders back to the garden?”
Chrissie shook her head. “Ellis! Spiders don’t see frogs and think, ‘Oh shit! A frog.’ They sense them by smell and sound. A toy frog isn’t a frog to a spider.”
Ellis turned to his dad. “Is it OK to say shit?”
“No, it isn’t. You’re getting confused, Ellis. There’s no point having frogs inside the house to scare off spiders that have only flocked inside because they’re scared of the real frogs you’ve put in the garden pond. Especially when we have a better solution here in front of us.”
“I don’t think spiders ‘flock’, Dad,” Chrissie said. “Sheep flock. I can’t believe spiders and sheep share the same word for group-movement.”
Ellis was confused now. He had no clear image in his head of this truce thing so it wasn’t real to him.
Denny leant across the table, closer to his son.
“Ellis, this agreement isn’t foolproof. By that I mean that there are bound to be moments when you come into contact with spiders. When that happens, you come to one of us and you accept that it was just an accident, that they
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