How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant (12 page)

Sunday

.

Chapter 27

The house was unusually quiet on Sunday. Everyone was busy plotting.

Dawn lay sprawled on her bed with her sketchpad, scribbling and striking out, then scribbling again. Every time Kirsty tried to get into their room, Dawn threw pillows at her.

From the outside, Ben appeared less busy. He sat in the red car, watching a pair of starlings riffling through the dried leaves. But Kirsty knew that he was thinking hard – he hadn't started the engine once.

Kirsty left him alone and wandered into the living room. She sat down on the sofa. Her mind was chock-rammed-stuffed-full of the plan. Moving an elephant. An elephant. How on earth could they move an elephant? Could they go to a building site and hot-wire a JCB? Trundle it through the streets at night and drive it into the museum? Or go to the zoo and lure a live elephant out of its paddock with a trail of peanuts and get it to lift the stuffed one? Or assemble a team of circus strongmen to cart the elephant right out of the gallery?

Kirsty shook her head. All of those things would be brilliant fun, but they weren't quite right somehow. And she didn't have a clue how to make them happen. How heavy was a stuffed elephant anyway? What was it actually stuffed with? She had no idea.

Mum was in the kitchen chopping and mixing lard balls for the bird feeders. Dad was still in his room. ‘Mum,' Kirsty yelled in the direction of the kitchen. ‘Mum, what are stuffed animals stuffed with?'

‘You mean like we saw yesterday? I haven't a clue. Ask your dad. Oh no. Best leave him be. Ask a teacher tomorrow.'

Kirsty sighed. Tomorrow was too late. She needed to know right now. Who would know? She could go back to the museum and ask, but that might seem suspicious. Kirsty grinned suddenly. Of course! The internet would know.

The computer was in the front room. During the week, it usually hummed quietly in the background and she would use it to search for more films for her collection. But at the weekend, when the front room became Ben's bedroom, the computer was switched off. She pulled one of Ben's T-shirts off the monitor and an odd sock off the keyboard, then switched it on.

She sat down and started tapping questions into Google. How much did an elephant weigh? Blimey. As much as a truck. What about a dead elephant? Still as much as a truck. A stuffed elephant? Brilliant! Light as a feather. Oh no, wait. That was toy elephants. There must be a website somewhere that knew the answer. She just needed to find it. She searched ‘moving museum elephants'. Was there a company that did that? There! Arkwright's Museum Movers. ‘
Promising safe transport of all kinds of museum exhibits: jewellery, art, furniture, mummies, stuffed animals.
' Kirsty scrolled down. There was a price list with weights!

A stuffed song thrush, 20 grams: £30

A stuffed tiger, up to 70 kilos: £120

Anything larger than a tiger: price on application

Kirsty gulped. A tiger was tiny compared to an elephant. It might weigh hundreds of kilos! How on earth could they move it?

If only the elephant had its own wheels, then it wouldn't matter what it weighed, they could just push it along. An elephant on rollerblades, that's what they needed. Kirsty smiled slowly. Then an elephant on rollerblades was exactly what they would have. She switched off the computer. She had people to see.

Kirsty walked out past the broken cars. Ben was still leaning on the steering wheel, watching the birds. She knocked at the window. Ben leaned over and wound it down.

‘What?' he said.

‘I've had a great idea.'

‘Please don't tell me.'

‘Why not?'

‘I've been thinking. I don't reckon we should be doing this.'

‘But . . . Ben, you . . .'

‘Oh, I'm not saying I won't do it. I just don't think it's right. So, if I only take charge of the camera, if Dawn only knows about the alarm and if you just work on moving the elephant, and none of us knows what the others are doing, then it's like we're not really planning it. Do you see? We're not really guilty.'

Kirsty frowned. ‘I get what you mean. But I don't think you're right. First, I don't feel guilty. We're not going to hurt anyone. Second, just because you don't know exactly what I plan to do, you do know that I'm planning it.'

Ben shook his head. ‘It just has to be this way, OK? So don't tell me anything.'

‘You really don't want to know? Not even if my idea is so brilliant that you'll have to worship my genius for ever?'

‘Not even then.'

‘Suit yourself,' Kirsty said, and she strolled out on to the street.

.

Chapter 28

Kirsty walked away from the house towards the tower block that stood on the edge of the estate. The streets were quiet, but as she got closer she could hear the clatter and scrape of the boys practising on their skateboards. Good – they were there. She turned the corner at the end of the terrace. Now she could see the tower block before her. It stood by itself, with just the warehouses and the sea beyond. Today, the concrete space in front of the tower was full of boys of all different ages, flipping their boards, jumping plastic crates, falling, laughing, then doing it all again. The boy she was looking for sat on the steps in front of the entrance.

‘Hi, Danny,' Kirsty said. ‘Whatcha doing?'

Danny raised his eyes slowly, taking in her cheerful grin. ‘Are you after something?' he said.

‘No. Well, yes. I thought we could say hello and stuff first though.'

Danny shrugged. ‘Hello.'

Kirsty sat down on the cold step next to him. His skateboard was on the step below. ‘Is that yours?' Kirsty asked.

‘Yes. Why?'

‘It's nice.'

‘What are you after? It's not lessons, is it?'

‘No. But I do need a favour.'

Danny pulled his hood up and seemed to slide deeper into his clothes.

‘I just want to borrow your skateboard. Well, four skateboards,' Kirsty said.

‘Four? What do you need four for?'

‘I can't tell you. But don't worry, I won't hurt them. I won't even ride them.'

‘Then what do you want them for?'

‘I can't say.'

‘Is it against the law?'

‘Yes.'

‘Cool.'

‘So, can I borrow them then?'

‘What do I get out of it?'

‘I'll do all your English homework for two months.'

‘What if you get caught?'

‘Then having your English homework will give me something to do in jail.'

‘OK. It's a deal.'

Kirsty stayed on the step while Danny went to speak to the older boys. They muttered to each other, then they did a complicated handshake, holding wrists and slapping knuckles. She would have to get Ben to teach her that later. Finally, a few of the boys went indoors and came out carrying their spare boards. Within a few minutes, she had the four boards lined up in front of her. This was fantastic. With a few simple modifications, she would soon have a set of elephant rollerblades! There was rope in Grandad's shed. She could do it there.

‘I need to take these down to the Jubilee Street allotments. Can you help?' she asked Danny.

He grinned at her. ‘Do you think you can stay on one of those?'

‘Yes. Easy,' she said, stepping on.

‘Hold tight, then.'

Danny grabbed Kristy's hand and one of the spare skateboards; another boy grabbed her other hand and another board. Suddenly, they were whizzing down the street. A third boy, with the last board under his arm, sped behind them. She was hurtling along, the wind whipping her hair, the wheels rumbling on tarmac under her feet. She leaned and bent into each corner. This was fun!

Too soon, they arrived at the allotments, the boys grinning and out of breath, Kirsty wobbly-legged, but filled with excitement.

‘Thanks!' she said. ‘Actually, Danny, when this is done, can I have a lesson?'

Danny smiled back. ‘OK. But you'll have to do my maths homework too.'

By the time she'd finished with the boards and the bits of rope, the sky was beginning to turn dark blue. It would be night-time soon. She stretched and felt the muscles loosen in her arms and legs. It had been a great day's work. She had attached a coil of rope to the front of each board with gaffer tape, then attached a longer length to the back to tie like ballet shoes: part elephant ballet shoes, part elephant roller skates – elephant baller skates!

Kirsty tidied everything up in the shed then headed home. The streets were quiet in the growing dusk, just right for thinking things through as she walked. They had the key to get them into the lift. They had transport for the elephant. The phone would be fixed on Tuesday. Mum would phone Mr Thomas on Wednesday. They didn't have much time. But Ben was clever and Dawn was determined; she was sure they would have worked out how to get past the security. They had to. Otherwise it was all over.

She could hear Dawn and Ben arguing in the front room as soon as she reached her house.

‘No, you're the idiot!' Dawn yelled.

‘Don't call me that. You're the one who wants to do this. We're going to get into big trouble.'

‘Don't be such a baby.'

Kirsty put her key into the lock and stepped into the hall. Ben and Dawn stood in the middle of the front room, glaring at each other. They hardly noticed when Kirsty walked in. ‘What's going on?' she asked.

‘I'm not being a baby. I'm being sensible,' Ben yelled. ‘Like you should be. If you weren't so thick, you'd see that.'

Dawn looked furious; her fists were clenched and she moved forward menacingly.

‘Take that back,' she said.

‘No. You are thick.'

‘Arggh!' Dawn launched herself at Ben, knocking him to the floor. He pushed back and they rolled together, banging into the camp bed. Dawn struggled to pin Ben down. Ben thrashed his arms and legs.

‘Stop it!' Kirsty rushed forwards and grabbed Dawn's pullover, but it was no use. She wasn't strong enough to shift Dawn when she was in a rage.

‘What on earth is going on in here?' Mum marched into the room.

There was a sudden silence. Dawn stopped pushing. Ben froze. Kirsty stepped back.

‘Dawn, leave your brother alone. You should be ashamed of yourself. Someone had better tell me exactly what's going on here.'

Dawn pouted but didn't speak.

‘She started it!' Ben said.

Dawn swiped at Ben, catching his shoulder with a thump.

‘Right!' Mum said. ‘You're both old enough to know better. Dawn, up to your room. Ben, you stay in here. Wait till your father hears about this.'

‘Like he cares,' Dawn muttered, but not quietly enough.

‘Upstairs. Now!' Mum snapped.

Dawn stomped out of the room. Kirsty felt herself being shepherded out by Mum. The door closed on Ben. Mum stalked back to the living room.

Kirsty was in the hallway alone. She sat down on the bottom stair. This was awful. Dawn could stay angry for days, and she could hold a grudge for even longer. Ben knew that. Was he deliberately trying to ruin the plan? Kirsty felt cold at the thought. He wouldn't do that, would he? Although, even if he hadn't meant to, the plan was falling apart. She couldn't do it without Dawn and Ben, and now they weren't talking to each other. She put her chin in her hands. Time was running out.

‘There is absolutely no way that I'm going to speak to him until he apologises for calling me thick,' Dawn said.

Kirsty pulled herself up the ladder so that she could look at Dawn. ‘But, Dawn, it's really important. You two will be gone in the morning. We need to sort this out before you go.'

‘It will be sorted, as soon as he says sorry.' Dawn put her headphones in her ears and closed her eyes. As far as she was concerned, the conversation was over.

Kirsty felt her own temper rising. Dawn was so annoying! There was no one in the world who could be so stubborn. She was impossible. Kirsty got down off the bunk bed. Perhaps Ben would be easier.

‘There's no way I'm going to say sorry to her. She hit me!'

‘But you did call her names.'

‘She deserved it.'

‘But, Ben, if you don't speak to her this will ruin everything. Is that what you want?'

Ben didn't speak. He looked at the ground.

Kirsty felt the cold feeling again. He
did
want to ruin it! It
was
what he wanted! She was sure of it. He was going to let her down. He was going to let Grandad down. She felt tears burn her eyes. ‘I can't believe you're backing out. You've helped me so much. You can't stop now.'

Ben still said nothing.

Kirsty stared hard into his face. He looked sad and uncomfortable, but certain. ‘It's funny,' she said. ‘I always thought of Dawn as my half-sister. But you were always my brother – it was that simple. Now, I guess you are only my half-brother.'

Ben looked shocked, but Kirsty didn't stay to wait for an answer. She ran out of his room, up the stairs and into the bathroom. With the door locked behind her, she sat on the floor, her forehead against the cold enamel of the bath. She had never felt so alone.