The Gum Tree Gang and the Mystery at the Old Queenslander (3 page)

"Krystal, there you are. I
was starting to get a bit
worried about
you. I was just about to ring the Roberts to
see if you were with Tracey. I knew her Mum might be
asleep so I waited bit longer. Did you get caught
in the
rain or what?" Mrs. Cormack unlocked
the security
door.

"No, I'm dry's a bone,"
Krystal replied, giving her
Mum a hug.
"Tracey and I found shelter and waited for
the storm to finish."

"Good. You're a sensible
girl. Kevin came home
absolutely saturated.
He just rode through the storm. I
made him
change his wet things straight away. I wish I'd
had the car today, then I could've come to pick you up.
Never mind, you're safe and dry, that's the main
thing. I
made some biscuits. There's some
on the table and in the
biscuit tin on the
bench." Mrs Cormack fussed over her
eldest
child like a mother-hen, delighted to have her
return."I think I'll make a hot chocolate drink for you
kids anyway. I just don't want you coming down
with a
cold." She opened the pantry
cupboard.

"I'll just go and change out
of my school things, then
I'll have a drink
and some of your beaut biscuits. By the
way
Mum, is it okay if Tracey comes over a bit later?"
Krystal asked.

"Sure, that's fine, as long
as you get your homework
done."

"We will. Thanks Mum."
Krystal headed for her room
towards the
front of the house.

"Phew," said Krystal,
flinging her school bag onto her
bed. She
was glad her mum didn't ask too many
questions. She would have liked to share the afternoon's
events with her beloved mum, but had a niggling feeling
that her mother would not approve of her and
Tracey
going into that deserted house, even
for shelter.

When she had changed into a
tee shirt and shorts, she
was careful to
remove the little piece of paper from her
pocket. She stared at it for a moment.

Just then her mum called
from the kitchen that drinks
were ready.
Krystal quickly pushed the note under her
pillow. She decided to wait until Tracey came over
before she studied it again.

~~~~
Chapter Six
~~~~

The Secret

The smell of hot chocolate
and freshly baked biscuits
bounced at
Krystal's nose as she came into the kitchen
area. Krystal suddenly felt hungry.

Kevin was sitting at the
table chatting to his small
sister,
Kathy.

"Hi." Krystal pulled out a
chair and sat down next to
Kathy.

"Bikkies." Kathy offered a half eaten biscuit
to Krystal. The other half was spread across her face.

"Thanks Kath." Krystal took
the soggy biscuit and tried
not to look
disgusted.

Kathy reached for another biscuit but was
halted by Mum.

"I think you've had enough
for now Kathy. We had
better leave some for
Daddy too!" Mrs. Cormack lifted
Kathy from
the table and took her to the bathroom to
wash her face and hands. Kathy tried to wriggle out of
her mother's arms but Mrs. Cormack held on
tightly.

"How come you took so long
to get home?" Kevin
asked through gulps of
warm chocolate.

"It rained." Krystal looked
at the soggy piece of biscuit
in her
fingers. "Patchy, Patchy, here puss puss," she
called out softly. A fluffy, orange, black and white
tortoiseshell cat came out of the family room,
looked around, then stretched. "Here Patchy." Krystal held
the
biscuit towards the cat. Patches came
immediately and
sniffed the morsel; gently
it took the piece in its teeth,
shook it
and put it on the floor.

"Hey, don't make a mess,
puss," Krystal told the cat as
the biscuit
was scattered into tiny pieces on the floor. Patches looked up
expecting another biscuit.

"That's all!" Krystal
ignored the cat's pleading eyes.
Patches
sat and waited a moment.

Krystal pointed to the crumbs.

The cat sniffed the crumbs,
then padded off to the
family room, her
tail held high. She sat on a little door
mat and started licking herself.

Just then the noise of
someone coming interrupted
Krystal and
Kevin's afternoon snack.

"Hi. It's me," said a voice.
It was Tracey. Her friendly
face peered
through the screened back door. She was
wearing a bright pink tracksuit.

"Hi," said Krystal and Kevin together.

"You were quick. C'me on in.
Have a biscuit."
Krystal unlocked the
screen door.

"I hurried. Did you find
out...?" Tracey's sentence was
interrupted
by a plate of biscuits pushed near her nose.

"Have a biscuit Tracey, please," Krystal
pleaded.

Tracey was about to refuse
but felt that Krystal's expression told her she really wanted her
to have a
biscuit, so she took
one.

"Ta," she mumbled as she bit
into a crisp chocolate
biscuit.
biscuit towards the cat.
Patches came immediately and
sniffed the
morsel; gently it took the piece in its teeth,
shook it and put it on the floor.

"Hey, don't make a mess,
puss," Krystal told the cat as
the biscuit
was scattered into tiny pieces on the floor. Patches looked up
expecting another biscuit.

"That's all!" Krystal
ignored the cat's pleading eyes.
Patches
sat and waited a moment.

Krystal pointed to the crumbs.

The cat sniffed the crumbs,
then padded off to the
family room, her
tail held high. She sat on a little door
mat and started licking herself

Just then the noise of
someone coming interrupted
Krystal and
Kevin's afternoon snack.

"Hi. It's me," said a voice.
It was Tracey. Her friendly
face peered
through the screened back door. She was
wearing a bright pink tracksuit.

"Hi," said Krystal and Kevin together.

"You were quick. C'me on in.
Have a biscuit."
Krystal unlocked the
screen door.

"I hurried. Did you find
out...?" Tracey's sentence was
interrupted
by a plate of biscuits pushed near her nose.

"Have a biscuit Tracey, please," Krystal
pleaded.

Tracey was about to refuse
but felt that Krystal's expression told her she really wanted her
to have a
biscuit, so she took
one.

"Ta," she mumbled as she bit
into a crisp chocolate
biscuit.

"Good, aren't they?" said Krystal, putting
the plate

back on the table in front
of Kevin, taking her cup and
heading for
her bedroom.

"Excuse us. Got things to
do." Krystal indicated to
Tracey to follow.
"Let's go." She hurried towards her
room.

Kevin stared at his sister.
"You're not allowed to bring
drinks into
your room. Remember you spilt all that
chocolate over the floor? Mum said!"

Krystal stopped a few metres
from the table and stood,
drinking her mug
of chocolate. She then stormed past her
brother and placed he

pty cup on the sink. She
strode
off to her room. "Thanks for
reminding me, dear
Brother."

"That's okay." Kevin grinning widely.

The two girls went into
Krystal's bedroom and closed
the door. They
sat on Krystal's bed.

"The note's here." Krystal
reached under her pillow
and rescued the
little white slip. "I nearly died when you
started to ask about it," Krystal continued, scolding
her
friend. "We don't know what this means
yet, if it means
anything, so don't say
anything to anyone. Keep it secret
for
now.
I
hope you
haven't told anyone, have you?"

"No. Mum was still sleeping.
Nobody asked where I'd been, actually. Matthew
did
ask me where I was heading,
so I told him.
I
left a note for Mum," she
added.
"That's good." Krystal stared at the
note again.
Both girls read it
together."The capitals and small letters seem all mixed up."
Tracey was interrupted by a knock on the bedroom
door.

~~~~
Chapter Seven
~~~~

Invasion

"Quick, hold the door,"
Krystal whispered to Tracey.
Tracey jumped
off the bed and held the knob of the door,
holding the door closed with her body weight. Krystal
quickly pushed the note under her pillow and
grabbed her
school bag. She undid the
straps and pulled out some
books, which she
threw around the bed to make the scene
look
'busy'. "Who is it?"

"Me," said a voice from the other side of the
door.

"Go away Kevin; you're not
allowed in," Krystal
responded.

"Help...Krystal." Tracey's
face was going pink. "I can't
hold the
door..."

"Let us in. What are you up
to? C'me on. I'll tell
Mum." Kevin pushed
the door.

"Let it go Trace," whispered
Krystal. Tracey stepped
back from the door.
It immediately flew open and Kevin and Matthew came tumbling into
the room.

The two girls stared and
giggled at the two boys
sprawled on the
floor.

"No wonder you couldn't hold
the door Trace; there
were two of them.
Well, you're in, now what?" Krystal
placed
her arms on her hips.

"I just thought you two were
doing something, I dunno,
sneaky," Kevin
mumbled, still on his hands and knees on the
floor.
"You are rude, pushing the door in
like that. I should
tell Mum on you," said
Krystal sternly.

"Well, we just thought you
might be planning
something to do to us -
revenge!" said Matthew, sitting
on the
bed.

"Well, it would serve you
right." Krystal stared at the
boys.

"Yes! You were mean to us
this morning, scaring us
like that." Tracey
stood next to Krystal.

"We were just having fun.
You looked funny jumping,
Tracey." Matthew
laughed. "We're sorry, aren't we
Kevin?"

"Sort of." Kevin was
smirking. "Still, I think you're up
to
somethin'. Why can't you tell us?"

"There's nothing to tell,
Smartie." Krystal glared at her
brother.

"Why did you stop Tracey
saying somethin' in the
kitchen then?"
Kevin asked.

"That's a secret...nothing
to do with you at all." Krystal
glanced at
Tracey.

"It's probably somethin'
dumb. Who cares. Let's go
Key." Matthew
rose to leave.

"It is not something
dumb.
It's very interesting

actually...please, can we
tell them Krystal?" Tracey
pleaded.

Krystal shrugged her shoulders.

“Suppose we may's
well. They'd probably find out anyway. But you
have to
be able to keep a
secret."