| "Andy's Quest" |
| Copyright Francis Blow, 1996. |
| CHAPTER 7 |
| It was no surprise for Andy to open his eyes and find the twins near his bed. He smiled at them. "Good morning." |
| "Hi, Andy." Chrissy smiled back. "How come you spend so much time with Gail?" |
| Andy stretched and covered a yawn with his hand. "I like chess. We've had some good games. We played till nearly midnight, last night." |
| "Really?" May asked, doubtfully. |
| "Ask your mum, if you don't believe me. She told us to get to bed at eleven thirty... I wonder if Gail's still got the board set up where we left it?" |
| "Let's have a look." May offered. |
| She pulled Andy's arm until he got out of bed and was following her to Gail's room, where the door was closed. May turned the knob. |
| "Aren't we supposed to knock?" Andy whispered. |
| "Only if someone's awake." May said, and Chrissy giggled. |
| "I don't know." Andy shook his head. By then May was inside Gail's bedroom, which was dark, as the blinds were closed. Soft breathing came from the bed. The only sign of Gail was her long red hair spread over a bare arm, which clutched a toy lamb. May crept up to the bed, and Chrissy went around to the other side. With a silent signal to each other, the twins climbed noiselessly into their sister's bed, and snuggled against the older girl. |
| Andy watched, fascinated. Gail did not wake, though she did make room for the smaller girls. He could see Chrissy's face; she was smiling at her sleeping sister, and gently brushing the hair off Gail's face with her finger tips. Chrissy's eyes twinkled, as she watched her sister's relaxed face. |
| For some strange reason, Andy became sad. He was missing something, yet he did not know what it was. The three girls shared something that he had no part of. They were together, cosy and snug. He was standing alone, in the cool morning air. |
| May leaned towards Gail, hiding Chrissy's face. She whispered "Gail." |
| "Um?" |
| "Gail... Wakey, wakey." Chrissy's voice came from the other side. |
| "Morning, rug rodents. Be a darling, May, and scratch my back." |
| May's arms found their way under the covers, and Gail said "Higher...to the right... Right... Aaah! That's yummy." |
| Andy felt left out. He was not part of the family, as he had first thought. Andy silently walked back to his room and closed the door. He tossed his pajamas onto the bed, then searched his bag for underwear. Once he was dressed, Andy made the bed. He put his folded pajamas under the pillow, made sure nothing was out of place, then went out into the hall. Gail's bedroom door was still open, so he looked inside her room. The three girls were sitting up in bed, brushing each other's hair. Gail brushed May's, May brushed Chrissy's and Chrissy brushed Gail's. They made a kind of circle. |
| Normally, Andy would have thought it a funny sight. Today, it was something he wanted to be part of. He would give almost anything to have brothers and sisters to do things like that with him. Gail noticed him at the door way, and invited him in. "We can continue the game straight after breakfast." Gail offered. |
| "Oh no you don't!" Chrissy protested. "You had him for ages and ages, last night. He's playing with us today." |
| "Doing what?" Gail asked. |
| "Yeah. What?" May wanted to know too. |
| "Just play. Go to the park. I don't know!" |
| "Let's ask Andy what he wants to do." Gail suggested. "Andy?" |
| He shrugged. He did not want them to argue. "I don't care." |
| "What do you do mostly at the home?" May asked. |
| "School, then chores." |
| "Heavy duty boredom." Gail said. "What about the four of us ask Mum and Dad if we can go for a picnic?" |
| "Where to?" Chrissy wanted to know. |
| "We'll think of something." Gail sounded sure of herself. She climbed over May, to reach the floor. "Andy, would you mind waiting outside while I dressed?" |
| Andy went to the kitchen, where he began preparing the family's breakfast. Within minutes, he was joined, first by May, who was still pulling on clothes as she walked in, then Gail and Chrissy. |
| Working as a team, the four of them piled breakfast things on two trays, and carried them to Rod's and Carol's bedroom. Gail knocked. "Are you awake? We've got brekky ready!" |
| "Come in, kids." Rod called back. |
| The two grown-ups were sitting up by the time Gail put her tray across Carol's lap, and Andy put his over Rod's. Andy felt good, sitting next to Rod. He ate toast with jam, and drank coffee, while the rest talked and laughed around him. When Rod put his hand on Andy's shoulder, Andy smiled brightly. |
| Gail brought up the subject of the picnic, and several destinations were considered; everyone had a say, even Andy. A vote was taken, and the winning picnic spot was the Auburn Botanic Gardens. Carol was pleased, because she could try some of the new camera techniques she was learning; Rod liked the tranquil, Japanese landscapes, Gail wanted to see the pebble gardens, and the twins told Andy he had to see the huge carp in the pond. With the plans made, and breakfast reduced to crumbs and empty cups, the grown-ups shooed the others out, so they could dress. |
| Chrissy grabbed Andy's arm, as soon as they were finished tidying up the kitchen. "Come with me, Andy. May! Andy's borrowing your bike. Thanks!" |
| "Hey!" May began to say, but Chrissy already had Andy outside, and hurrying to the garage. |
| "Chrissy. I don't know how to ride a bike." |
| Chrissy turned towards Andy, mouth open but too stunned to talk. |
| "I've never ridden a bike before." Andy shrugged his shoulders. "Can you show me how?" |
| Andy and Chrissy were on the driveway. Andy had May's bike between his legs, and was holding the handle bars. Chrissy directed him, "I'll hold the bike steady, Andy, while you put your feet on the pedals. Now, push down with your right foot, and lift the left. Now change." |
| That was how Andy learned to ride. A few minutes later, Andy learned another important lesson. How to fall off a bike. Fortunately, Andy was on the front lawn, and only landed on soft grass, not concrete or roadway. |
| May's helmet fitted him, so, after regaining his confidence, Andy followed Chrissy along footpaths and down empty lane ways, to a fallen-down old house, where an overgrown garden of weeds and ancient trees overlooked a trickling stream. |
| "No one comes here much." Chrissy told him. "Gail says that, some nights, people park their cars on the road here, to smooch. One of her boyfriends took her here, but she didn't want to play kissey games, so she made him take her home." |
| "Why are we here?" Andy asked, hoping Chrissy did not want to play kissing games. Yuck! "I just wanted to show you our special place. May and I come here to play. Lots of little animals live here, and sometimes we get lucky enough, to see their babies." |
| "Do you? I'd like to see that!" |
| "They won't be about yet. It's too cold for babies. Gail says there should be lots of babies born in spring, but that's ages away." |
| "Why don't other people come here?" Andy was curious. It was too good a place not to have lots of other kids climbing all over it. |
| "That happens. Mostly, everyone would rather play in the park. There's not much to do here... Gail says, that when she was young, they used to find old pennies and other good stuff, but it's all gone, now. When the park opened, everyone started going there, instead." Chrissy explained. She dropped her bike and pointed to the collapsed house, where it was covered in vines. "There's a good cubby, under there. Want to have a look? But you've got to be careful of snakes and spiders." |
| "What!" Andy hesitated, then followed her, towards the collapsed timber and metal. Chrissy bent down, and pulled a plant away from a broken window. Andy squatted next to her and peered into the gloom inside. It took several seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dark. Soon, he was able to see a flat, wooden floor, covered in leaves and junk. The ceiling had fallen in, leaving only a metre of height, at the most. He would be able to sit in there, but that was about it. Almost opposite the window, was the bottom half of a door, leaning against the wall, though it was too dark to make out more detail. |
| Chrissy held her skirt bunched against her legs, and crawled into the window. Andy followed. For a moment the room went dark, as their bodies blocked the light, then they could see again. Chrissy led the way to the leaning door and peered behind it carefully. |
| "No snakes." She said. |
| "I'm glad. What's in there?" He hoped she was joking about snakes. |
| "It leads to more rooms, but you can't get into most of them, 'cos that's where the roof's lowest, and it can get really dark." |
| "Did you ever bring a torch and explore it?" Andy asked her. |
| "No. Let's go back and get one now!" |
| "Not today, okay? I've got to mow the front lawn, then there's the picnic." |
| Chrissy was disappointed, as they left, riding back the way they came. At home, Chrissy was dragged off somewhere by May, leaving Andy to get the mower out; he noticed Rod had put boots near the mower, so Andy put them on. |
| There was a small flower garden along the front of the house, and a tree, bare of leaves, near the fence, and opposite the driveway, leaving plenty of room for the lawn. Andy had too many grass clippings to fit it all on top of the already full wheel barrow, so he took off the boots and went into the house, looking for someone. |
| In the kitchen, Andy found Carol, where she was packing their lunch. "Excuse me, Carol. What do I do with the grass from the mowing?" |
| "You'll find some big, green garbage bags in the garage. We leave the bags on the footpath on Tuesdays for council to collect, along with all the other recyclable things. When you've done that, could you wash your hands and then help me inside? I'll need a hand with making the beds. It's time to change the sheets." |
| Within five minutes, Andy had disposed of the grass clippings, and was back with Carol. While Andy stripped the twins' beds, Carol fetched clean sheets for all the rooms except his. |
| Instead of them making a bed each, Carol suggested the two of them work on one bed at a time. |
| "Have you been enjoying your time with us so far?" Carol asked. |
| "It's been unreal! Everyone's so nice to me." Andy replied. |
| "I'm glad." She smiled at him. "Rod and I are very happy with the way you're fitting in with the girls. Do you have anything at all that you want to discuss? Even school work, since we've had plenty of experience with that." |
| "There's nothing that's really bothering me. It's all been so wonderful, it's too good to be true. I keep expecting to wake up and find I've been dreaming." |
| Carol asked Andy questions about his life in the home and before, while they made the beds. In Gail's room, apart from the old sheets, Carol gave Andy an armful of clothes that lay on the floor. "I love Gail, and she's a tremendous helper, but sometimes she's so careless with her things. Would you be a dear, and put these in the laundry basket?" |
| Andy did as she wanted, then re-joined Carol in the main bedroom, where they made up the queen sized bed. By the time they were finished, it was time for everyone to pile into the station wagon. |
| Rod drove them to Auburn, where he parked close to the entrance of the Botanic Gardens. Carol ordered the three girls to set up the picnic things, while she went with Andy and Rod to find the best places to take photos. Carol had a fancy camera and a three legged support for it, as well as a bag of extra bits for the camera. When she found a nice spot in front of a stone arch, she started talking to herself about "apertures" and "back lighting". |
| "Would you two boys stand just there." Carol directed Andy and Rod. "That's good. Now, Rod, put your arm over Andy's shoulder. Andy, fold your arms. Smile!" |
| Andy thought she would only take the one photo. As it turned out, Carol took four more of Andy and Rod, then set the camera timer, so she could appear in the sixth picture with them. |
| "Don't you think we should be getting back to the girls?" Rod suggested. "They're likely to send the cavalry searching for us." |
| "Very funny. Okay, let's go back." |
| Lunch was a barbecued chicken and salad. The weather was warm enough to make it enjoyable. There were cans of soft drink, and small cakes to have with coffee. When most of the food was eaten, Rod took the things back to the car, while everyone else went walking around the gardens. Gail and the twins had remembered to bring plain slices of bread, so they could feed the carp. Carol took photos of everything in sight. |
| Andy thought it was marvelous. The gardens were beautiful and very relaxing, and he was not the only one who could have spent hours watching the huge koi carp swimming and feeding in the pond. There were large beds of gravel that had been raked into artistic patterns; Gail said it was soothing to study the shapes in the gravel. |
| Before it was time to go home, Carol took a family photo of them all together. She and Gail stood either side of Rod, while in front were the twins, with Andy between them. Andy was laughing when the camera flashed at them, because Chrissy was tickling his ribs. |
| Andy sat between the twins on the way home. A tickling contest developed, that was quickly getting out of hand, until Carol put a stop to it. Even when the three in the back seat had been forbidden to touch each other, the giggles and laughter went on, more quietly. |
| At home, May brought out a football, and everyone except for Carol joined in a game of touch footy. It started as a boys versus girls game, but the three girls cheated. Gail would block her father, leaving May and Chrissy to out-manoeuvre Andy. It took little time before Rod started tackling Gail, then helping Andy; he even went so far as to pick up an opposing player and run with them. |
| The five of them were surprised, when Carol told them to wash up for dinner. While the girls fought over the sink in the bathroom, Andy used the laundry tub to wash his hands; he was first to the kitchen, where he helped Carol serve the meal. |
| Andy and Gail went to her room after the family had eaten. The two of them continued their chess game, while the twins took turns in the shower. Once the bathroom was empty, Andy left Gail considering her next move. He carried his pajamas into the bathroom, closed the door and undressed. It felt strange, throwing his own dirty clothes onto the heap in the corner. Strange, yet comforting, because Andy knew his clothes would be clean and waiting for him in his room the next weekend. Andy soaped himself under the hot shower, and he thought that everything was going perfectly; nothing could go wrong. |
| When he was dry and dressed, Andy returned to Gail's room to find she was gone. She had moved a rook on the board, though, so he studied it before he made a counter move with a knight. |
| Still, Gail had not come back, so Andy went searching for her. The sound of her voice drew Andy to the kitchen, where Gail was talking excitedly on the phone. Gail ignored him. |
| Puzzled, and a little hurt, Andy went to the twins' room and walked through the open door. |
| May and Chrissy were playing some kind of card game on the floor. Andy watched them for a while, until he became bored. Gail was still on the phone, so he went to the living room, where Rod and Carol were watching a love story on TV. Andy watched the TV as well, though the most interesting parts were the ads. |
| An hour later, Andy went to brush his teeth, then got into bed. Saturday did not end as well as it began. |
