Читать книгу Forest Shadows - David Laing - Страница 12

As though the strategy for proving their innocence had been settled, Jars and Snook sat back into their chairs, each alone with their thoughts. There was a loud knock on the front door, followed by a familiar voice. ‘Oh no!’ Snook said, rising and throwing his arms in the air. ‘Quenton Quigley! I bet he’s come to gloat. Well, we’ll see about that.’ He strode to door and threw it open. ‘What do you want, Quigley?’

Smirking to himself, not saying anything, Quenton pushed past Snook. Then, following the sound of the television, he made for the living room. Snook closed the door and followed.

‘Boy, are you two in trouble!’ Quenton said, looking first at Jars then Snook. ‘The whole school’s talking about what you did.’

Jars couldn’t believe it. Talk about being cheeky! Barging in and accusing them straight off like that. She leaned forward in her chair ready to say something, but words failed her. She sighed and sat back in the chair.

Quenton, known by everyone who knew him as the school snitch, gossip and bully, was clearly enjoying himself. Oblivious to Jars’ annoyance, he sidled over to her. ‘You’re full of it, Miss High and Mighty. Everyone knows you and Snook took that rock collection.’ He leaned over, jabbing a finger in front of her face. ‘It seems you’re not the goody, goody you pretend to be. I reckon you somehow conned Snook into robbing Pearson’s shop.’ He straightened but continued to stand over her. ‘That wouldn’t have happened when Snook and I were best friends. We didn’t ever do anything that bad.’

Snook, who was listening and trying not to lose his cool, couldn’t take it any longer. His head jerked up. ‘Whatcha talkin’ about, Quigley?’ he spluttered. ‘Are you mad or somethin’? Best friends? You and me? You gotta be jokin’.’

‘Well, I was, until she came to stay with you. She’s spoiled things between us; she should have stayed in the Northern Territory. That’s where she belongs.’

Snook strode across the room, grabbed Quenton by the collar and spun him around. Still holding on to him, he thrust his face forward till their noses were nearly touching; then in a quiet but no-nonsense voice, he said, ‘Look Quigley, you’ve gone far enough. Leave Jars out of it. You don’t know what she’s been through.’

Jars pushed up from the chair and walked over to Snook. She placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘It’s okay, I’ll tell him.’ Her face was blank and her eyes had a sad look as she remembered. ‘I had to come here, Quenton, to Cray Bay. Uncle Jim and Aunt Irene, as well as Snook, were the only family I had. There was no place else to go, except to an orphanage. A welfare lady made all the arrangements.’

Snook jumped in. ‘Yeah, Jars couldn’t help it. She had no choice. After a buffalo smashed into her dad’s car and killed her family, everythin’ changed.’ The second he said the words, Snook looked sorry. He shouldn’t have mentioned her family, the buffalo, or the killing. But it was too late. Tears had already started to well in Jars’ eyes. They always did when the memories of that day came back to her. He bit his lip. ‘Sorry, Jars. I’m a screamin’ idiot. A complete dork.’

Pouting and looking a little taken-aback, Quenton changed the subject. ‘Yeah, yeah, I get the message. She’s sensitive. But what I really came round for was to show you something. He reached into his back pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. ‘I was looking for a book on the library shelf and this fell to the floor. It was between the pages. Like it was hidden.’

‘Looking for a book?’ Snook said, whispering to Jars. ‘More like looking for a block of chocolate.’

Jars, recovered now, couldn’t help smiling. She could just imagine Quenton sneaking a sweet, especially since his mother had put him on a diet. Not before time, she thought. All those lollies and soft drinks he was scoffing all the time would be bad for anyone’s health. Especially Quenton’s. You just had to look at him. Flab hung from places it wasn’t supposed to and when he walked, he wobbled. A diet would do him good.

Quenton straightened the sheet of paper. ‘Listen to this.’ He read it aloud:

THE TREASURE MAY BE FOUND WHERE THE MAD HATTER DRINKS AND THE RAINBOW RISE.

Snook and Jars exchanged glances. Snook shot out an arm, snatching the paper from Quenton. He showed it to Jars.

Jars read it again. Looking across at Quenton, she asked, ‘Do you know what it means?’

‘Haven’t a clue.’

‘But that’s what it is,’ she said. ‘A clue. A riddle.’

‘Yeah,’ Snook said, ‘and whoever solves it gets the treasure.’

‘Don’t get too excited,’ Jars said. ‘It obviously belongs to Mr Quigley and he obviously hasn’t solved it, otherwise he’d have the treasure. Anyway, maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s just somebody’s idea of a prank.’

‘Howdya know that?’

‘Because it was still in its hiding place. If it was real, then Mr Quigley would have done something with it.’

‘Yeah, maybe, but I reckon we could do something with it, figure out what it means. I’m gonna take a copy.’

But Snook’s enthusiasm was short-lived. The news on the television suddenly had everyone’s full attention. ‘Quick, Jars,’ he said. ‘Turn the sound up.’