Edsel Grizzler (21 page)

E
dsel sat beneath his favourite tree in the school playground and watched Kenny go slouching past, a football tucked under his arm. It probably wasn't his football – he'd almost certainly stolen it from some kindy kid who would, at that moment, be almost certainly trying to find the teacher on duty. But at least Kenny wasn't picking on Edsel, so that was something.

In fact, ever since Edsel had donated the Egg to Kenny, a kind of uneasy truce had developed between them. Every afternoon Edsel would sneak a peek across the street and see the little kids queueing for their turn in what was now known as the ‘Supa-Sampson Space Masheen', according to the new sign. It was a rather daggy and woefully pathetic name, but Kenny seemed happy, taking money from kids and shouting at them to wait their turn.

‘Edsel Grizzler, can you come to the front office?' Mrs Dean's voice came over the PA, interrupting Edsel's thoughts. ‘Edsel Grizzler, front office please.'

Mrs Dean was on the phone as Edsel came in, and he stood to one side until she hung up. ‘Ah, Edsel, we've got your dog back here,' she said. ‘He must have followed you to school.'

Edsel frowned. This was new. ‘My dog?'

‘Yeah, little Bob. He's so cute!'

‘He sure … is,' said Edsel. ‘Um … where is he?'

‘We've got him in the staff room. He's had a couple of crackers and some cheese and a bowl of water – I hope that's okay.'

‘Yeah, of course.' Edsel frowned some more, and scratched his head. ‘But how did you know his name was Bob?'

Mrs Dean rolled her eyes and grinned. ‘Because you put it on his collar, silly boy! Now, he'll have to stay here for the rest of the day but you can collect him at the end of school.'

‘Okay, that's fine. Hey, Mrs Dean, do you think I could say hello to him, just to make sure he's okay?'

Mrs Dean stood up. ‘Can't bear to be without him, Edsel? I can't blame you – he's so
cute!
Come on, he's out here.'

Edsel followed Mrs Dean into the staff room where a number of teachers were eating their lunch. They glanced up, saw that there was a student in their special, secret place, scowled and muttered under their breath, and got back to eating their sandwiches and tuna salads.

And there, by the door, was Bob, whose tail started wagging the moment he saw Edsel walk in.

Edsel got down on one knee and scratched Bob under the chin. ‘Hey, little guy, you remember me!' he said. ‘How did you get here?'

‘I guess he must have escaped from your yard and run here to see you,' Mrs Dean said. ‘I hope there weren't any big roads he had to cross on the way.'

‘I think he had more to worry about than big roads,' Edsel replied. He scratched Bob under the chin, and the little dog rolled onto his back to allow access to his belly.

‘Oh, he likes that,' Mrs Dean said. ‘He seems very excited to see you, Edsel.'

‘I haven't seen him for a while.'

‘Since this morning at breakfast?'

‘A little bit longer than that.'

‘Well, try to make sure that he stays home.' Mrs Dean leant closer and lowered her voice. ‘I don't think Mr Sullivan will be too impressed if he keeps turning up at school.'

‘No, of course not.' Edsel slipped his fingers under Bob's collar and turned it until he found the red plastic tag. It was a folding key tag, the kind you open up and slip a piece of paper into, behind the clear window. Written on the piece of paper was:
“BOB” – Edsel Grizzler's dog. Please return.

He turned the tag over. On the other side he saw more writing, much smaller:
Inside.

After glancing around to make sure that the teachers were all busy chatting over their lunch, Edsel opened the end of the tag, pulled out the paper and unfolded it. The words he read made his heart stop beating, just for a second.

Edsel, it's bad, really BAD. They've all gone crazy. All the kids have decided to try your trick. It's a mutiny, Richard's gone, and I don't know what to do next. Email me back on
fractal.flames@verdada
.

Oh, and don't use my real name. You know who I am, but I don't think the Mira do. Yet.

FF

First published 2009 by University of Queensland Press
PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia

www.uqp.com.au

© James Roy

This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any foram or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

Typeset by Post Pre-Press Group, Brisbane

Cataloguing in Publication Data
National Library of Australia

Roy, James
Edsel Grizzler – Voyage to Verdada

For secondary school age

I. Title.

A823.3

ISBN 978 0 7022 3718 8 (pbk)
ISBN 978 0 7022 4562 6 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7022 4565 7 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7022 4563 3 (kindle)