Riddle Gully Secrets (18 page)

Ellie twitched her eyebrows. ‘I suggested he keep quiet about his views on other worlds.'

Ash gave Twig's hand a squeeze. ‘We'll be able to go stargazing together.'

‘The job is guaranteed for two years,' said Dan. ‘Imagine that! We can just go into shops and buy what
we need – like regular people. No need to count every little cent for two whole years!'

‘After that, well, we'll have to wait and see,' said Twig. ‘I'll have to be on my best behaviour in the new job.'

‘Don't go disappearing through any portals then,' said Will.

Twig chuckled. ‘You kids finding that secret cave – it's taken the fun out of portals for me.'

‘Hey, listen,' said Pollo, ‘there's something we need to tell –'

‘And it means we can live in the old ranger's hut!' said Dan.

‘You'll have water on tap and a fridge and a toilet that flushes,' added Will, thinking too late of Ash beside him and flushing himself.

Twig beamed. ‘It'll suit us down to the ground. And I can still find fungus for the pot when it's in season.' He winked at Ash. ‘We don't want your brother missing out on his favourites, do we?'

Dan groaned.

‘And Dan can have his internet,' said Ash.

‘Yeah!' cried Dan. ‘Apparently the hut has great reception!'

‘So,' said Pollo, ‘what we wanted –'

‘Don't forget, no more than an hour a day,' said Twig.
‘There's a big world around us to look at and listen to.'

Dan rolled his eyes but his smile only widened.

‘Are you still going to do home-schooling, Dan?' asked Will.

‘That's the best bit!' cried Dan. ‘I'll be at the same school as all you guys!'

Will leaned across and gave Dan a welcoming punch. He looked shyly at Ash. ‘Maybe we can all hang out together.'

‘If I try really hard, I'll make tons of new friends,' said Dan. ‘I've memorised most of my joke book. My goal is to tell every new kid I meet a different joke.'

Will winced. ‘I understand, Dan … but –'

A grin flooded Dan's face. ‘Just joking!'

Pollo, Will and Ash spluttered with laughter. In the happy stillness that followed, Pollo and Will exchanged glances.

Ash fixed them with her large eyes. ‘There's something else, isn't there?'

Pollo looked around the group. ‘It's your old letter. On the way back to town the other day, Will noticed that the stamp on the envelope wasn't right.'

‘The writing went one way,' said Will, ‘and the picture went another.'

Pollo continued. ‘I went ahead and scanned the
letter and its envelope for the Historical Society. Then, as a bit of an afterthought, I looked up a philatelist on the internet.'

‘I'm not sure I like the sound of that,' murmured Twig.

‘A stamp collector,' said Will. ‘In this case, an expert.'

‘I sent her the scans,' said Pollo, ‘and she got back to me today.' Pollo's eyes glinted. ‘She
really
liked the envelope.'

‘The envelope?' said Dan.

‘Uh-huh,' said Pollo. ‘She said the stamp is a Flipped Lilly. The original stamp sheets had to pass through the printing press twice, but this one time a sheet got flipped around midway.'

Pollo sucked in such a big breath she seemed unable to let it out.

‘You're killing me!' blurted Will. ‘Tell them!'

Pollo could barely whisper. ‘Forty dud stamps were printed. Only five have survived. Your stamp is worth at least three hundred thousand dollars!'

‘The stamp-collecting world is going nuts!' Will yelled. He grabbed Dan by the shoulders and swayed him backwards and forwards. ‘Forget fungus! You're going to eat pizza and raspberries and ice-cream and –'

‘Woo-oo-hoo-oo!' Dan threw his head back and
hooted. ‘We can all stay together no matter what!'

He clambered onto the tabletop and began dancing crazily. Below him, Ash, Twig and Ellie sprang up and hugged each other, jumping around the verandah in a lurching circle. When the sugar bowl began bouncing across the table, Dan leapt down and joined them.

Eventually they stopped dancing and stood still, their chests heaving. They each looked up to the sky and thanked nature, the internet, fate, the cosmos – whatever forces had brought them to this moment, side by side.

Pollo pulled out her notepad – was it too soon to ask for a quote for her column? – and Will helped himself to a bit of toast and Vegemite.

THE END

An ABC radio interview with Claire Dunn which led me to her intriguing memoir of living ‘wild' in the bush –
My Year Without Matches
– was a spark for this novel. But, going back a bit, so were the Famous Five adventures I gobbled up as a kid, so Enid Blyton probably deserves some credit too.

The Fremantle Press team, in particular publisher and editor Cate Sutherland, marketing dynamo Claire Miller and CEO Jane Fraser, have again been terrific, giving moral and practical support, wise and respectful advice and, when necessary, a gentle shove.

Gail Spiers once again stepped up to read a near-final version – every writer should have such a friend on their team.

And as always I've had friends and family, especially my mum Margaret, sister Linley, gorgeous daughters Sal and Bec and wonderful, patient husband Dennis, encouraging and cheering for me every step of the way, which makes me feel lucky indeed.

—JB

Jen Banyard is a West Australian author who believes that a big chunk of wisdom lies in knowing how unknowing we can be. Or maybe that's just her excuse. Her other novels include
Spider Lies
,
Mystery at Riddle Gully
and
Riddle Gully Runaway
, all published by Fremantle Press. Film rights have been sold for the first two Riddle Gully novels.

MORE GREAT RIDDLE GULLY ADVENTURES

First published 2016 by

FREMANTLE PRESS

25 Quarry Street, Fremantle

Western Australia 6160

www.fremantlepress.com.au

Copyright © Jen Banyard, 2016

This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Cover design and illustration by traceygibbs.com

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-publication entry

Banyard, Jen, 1958-

Riddle Gully Secrets/Jen Banyard.

ISBN 9781925163988A823.3

Fremantle Press is supported by the State Government through the Department of Culture and the Arts.