Gullaweer (eBook)
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EPUB
2015
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1. Auflage
182 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-943612-30-7 (ISBN)
182 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-943612-30-7 (ISBN)
A drought that never ends, a hidden realm, an evil lurking behind the face of innocence; time is running out for the people of Goonaderra in country Australia, and the only one who can save them is a lonely ten-year-old girl who's afraid of the dark. Ellie Johnson didn't ask for The Gift. She doesn't even know how to use it. With the help of one potty-mouthed old man, an aging magpie with an attitude problem, and a dying race of invisible beings, how can she ever hope to defeat a man with the power to destroy an entire world? Who will live? Who will die? And will Ellie's annoying little brother ever stop saying that green ice-blocks are made of boogers?
The Old Man and the Magpie
Ellie burst into the kitchen, shaking and pale. Mrs Johnson, who’d been washing the dishes, turned at the sound.
“Mum!” cried Ellie, pointing wildly behind her in the direction of her bedroom. “The…the…the photo. F-floating!”
Mrs Johnson made stop signals with her hands. “Slow down, love!” She looked down at the damp patch on Ellie’s pyjama pants. “Is that wee?”
Ellie was too terrified to feel embarrassed. She took a deep breath and told her mum what she’d just seen.
“Ellie, photos do not float of their own accord. You must have imagined it.”
“No, I didn’t! I’m positive I didn’t!”
Mum laughed dismissively and grabbed a tea towel to wipe her hands. “Well, there’s no other sensible explanation,” she insisted. “If anything, it might have something to do with that stumble you had yesterday. Didn’t you think you saw some writing on a tree‥?”
Ellie’s eyes widened in surprise. “How’d you know about that?”
Mrs Johnson stroked Ellie’s face gently. “Jimmy told me before you got up.”
Ellie was outraged. “He had no right!” she spluttered. “That was for me to tell you, not Jimmy!”
“Don’t be upset with him. He cares about you.”
Ellie looked dubious.
“Anyway,” Mum continued, ignoring the look on Ellie’s face, “it’s my rostered day off. How about you help me with the shopping? Truth be told, I’d like to keep an eye on you, just to make sure you’re okay.”
“What about school?”
“They can do without you for a day. Now, for goodness’ sake, go and change into something dry before you start to smell.”
*
After breakfast, Mr Johnson was given charge of the two boys, and Ellie and her mum clambered into the car. They trundled slowly down the track, braking at the bottom gate so Ellie could get out and open it. Ellie waited while Mum drove through before closing the gate and getting back into the car. They turned left onto the quiet country road and began the drive into town.
The trees slid by Ellie’s window, which she wound down to sniff the fresh morning air. Instead, she caught the stench of dead animal. The drought meant there was more and more of that nowadays and it made her sad.
Ten minutes later, they entered the town of Goonaderra. As well as the hospital where Mum worked, it had a pub, a police station, a pool, a bank, a sports oval, and a derelict movie theatre. There was also O’Reilly’s Hardware & Variety Store, and a small milk bar with free Wi-Fi. Ellie would have liked that last bit more if her parents hadn’t been too broke to buy her a laptop, let alone her own mobile phone.
They passed Mr Ferguson plodding along the side of the road, his long grey hair waving around like he’d stuck his finger in an electrical socket. He wore a blue singlet, khaki shorts, and a pair of battered work boots with knee-high socks. At his side strutted his only friend, an aging magpie called Madge.
Up ahead, a herd of cattle blocked the road, forcing Mum to stop the car. While they waited for the animals to cross, Mr Ferguson ambled up beside the passenger-side window.
Ellie glanced over and smiled shyly. Mr Ferguson stuck his tongue out and made a farting noise. Ellie was glad she had the window up, considering the amount of spit that landed on it.
Mum shook her head. “Try not to let him bother you. They say he’s not quite right in the head.”
Madge fluttered up to perch on the old man’s shoulder. The bird peered through the window curiously. Ellie kept her head down and wriggled a little lower in her seat but she couldn’t resist a peek. The bird cawed insistently in Mr Ferguson’s ear before hopping onto the bonnet of the car and tapping furiously on the windshield with its beak.
“Hey! Shoo!” yelled Mum. She reached across Ellie and wound down the window. “Mr Ferguson, please, we can’t afford to replace the glass on this thing.”
But Mr Ferguson didn’t seem to hear Mrs Johnson at all. Instead, he was staring at Ellie with an astonished look on his dark-brown face.
“Mr Ferguson!” Mum repeated, louder.
He shook his head. “Wha…? Oh, yeah. Madge, get off of there.” The bird ceased its tapping and fluttered back onto Mr Ferguson’s shoulder.
The cattle made it to the other side of the road and her mum stepped gently on the accelerator, leaving Mr Ferguson and Madge to their own devices. Mrs Johnson drove for two more blocks and pulled up outside O’Reilly’s, parking at an angle to the kerb.
“Morning!” the shopkeeper boomed, as they entered the enormous, dimly-lit store.
“Morning, Bob,” said Mrs Johnson. “Where are you hiding the hammers?”
“Good timing,” he replied, leading Mrs Johnson past the stationery section and the shelves filled with potting mix and seeds, to a display stand at the back of the store, “they just came in this morning.”
Ellie wandered over to the small selection of humorous gifts that Mr O’Reilly kept near the cash register. She was just wondering who in their right mind would want a coffee mug with boobies on it when a prickly feeling on the back of her neck caused her to turn. There, standing in the doorway, was Mr Ferguson.
“They know who you are,” he said bluntly. “They say you’ve got to stop being scared.”
Ellie glanced around her. “Are you talking to me?”
“Just giving you a message. Not the first one you’ve had either, or so I’ve been told.” He flicked Madge a meaningful look.
Ellie was gob-smacked. There was no way he could know about the scribbly-gum, was there? But before she had a chance to ask any questions, Mr O’Reilly stepped out from the shadows. “Stop harassing my customers, Ferguson.”
Mr Ferguson turned his attention to the shopkeeper. “Just here for some nails, Brother. Simmer down.”
“We’re out of nails.”
“Are ya? How ‘bout a hammer?”
“All out.”
Confused, Ellie looked from Mr Ferguson to Mr O’Reilly. “But you just told Mum…”
“Keep out of this, Ellie,” snapped Mr O’Reilly.
“Geez,” said Mr Ferguson, with a distinct twinkle in his dark eyes, “no nails, no hammers…What sort of a hardware store’s he running, d’you reckon?”
Mr O’Reilly glared. “If you don’t like it, you can go elsewhere,” he said, shoving Mr Ferguson roughly in the chest.
“Hey, get off me, you baldy-headed nong!”
But the shopkeeper wasn’t letting up and shoved the old man again, this time even harder.
Ellie watched in dismay as Mr Ferguson stumbled and crashed to the ground. She took a step forward to help him up but he waved her away. He looked over at his magpie friend. “Get him, Madge!”
With an angry warble, Madge launched herself at Mr O’Reilly, landed smack-bang on top of his head and sank her claws in.
“Ow! OW! Get this mangy bird off of me! Get it off!” yelled Mr O’Reilly, dancing around on the spot, desperately trying to dislodge the furious magpie.
Mr Ferguson was laughing so hard, Ellie thought he might crack a rib.
Mrs Johnson came running out of the store and surveyed the scene. “What on earth is going on here? Mr Ferguson, call off your bird, this instant.”
“Me? O’Reilly started it!”
“Mr Ferguson!”
“Oh, alriiight,” he replied. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. Come on, Madge.”
Madge cocked her head, eyed Mr Ferguson and cawed.
“Sorry, Madge, but that’s enough fun for one day.”
And so, with a final peck at Mr O’Reilly’s scalp, Madge reluctantly fluttered down and landed at Mr Ferguson’s side.
“I’ll get you for this!” yelled Mr O’Reilly, covering the top of his skull with both hands. “Just you...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 15.6.2015 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy |
| Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction | |
| Kinder- / Jugendbuch | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-943612-30-7 / 1943612307 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-943612-30-7 / 9781943612307 |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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