Benjamin dove by Friðrik Erlings

Author:Friðrik Erlings [Friðrik Erlings]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Meadowside Children's Books
Published: 2006-09-27T16:00:00+00:00

13

The three of us sat on the swings at the Ground, occasionally glancing through the fence at the foundations where Grandma Dell’s house used to be. I had told Roland and Manny about my visit to her that afternoon, and now we sat mute and pondering.

Roland stood up, picked up a pebble, threw it in the air and let it fall into the palm of his hand.

‘If only there were something we could do,’ he said, squeezing the stone in his fist.

‘What?’ Manny sighed.

‘I don’t know,’ Roland said. ‘But the way I see it, this is a true challenge for the Order.’

Manny gave him a confused look.

‘You’re saying we should pick up our swords and fight her nephew?’

‘No,’ laughed Roland. ‘This situation calls for a different kind of fight.’

‘I have no ideas,’ Manny said, with a shrug.

‘What if…’ Roland began, and then paused for a moment. ‘What if we took up a collection for her, you know, clothes, furniture, even...’

‘Money!’ Manny said suddenly and jerked up on the swing.

‘Money?’ I said, and looked at Roland.

He was waiting for the pebble to fall in his open palm. He caught it and clenched his fist around it, looking at us with a big smile. In a flash the same thought shot through our minds, like a million light bulbs being switched on at the same time. Our eyes burning with excitement, the words blurted out of our mouths.

‘To build a house!’

‘A new house!’

‘Loads of money!’

‘Loads and loads!’

We leapt to our feet, talking faster than we could form the words, almost shouting at each other in excitement.

‘We’ll go to everybody in the neighbourhood!’

‘Yeah, and the streets beyond too!’

‘And we could sell something too! Like, I don’t know!’

‘Like cookies!’

‘And fish for cat food!’

‘And collect bottles and cans!’

‘We’ll get all the kids to help us go door to door!’

‘And save up tons of money!’

‘And put it all in the bank!’

‘Heaps of money!’

Suddenly the problem was solved. It was so easy, almost too easy, now we knew what to do. We ran across the Ground, jumped over the fence and walked around the old foundations. We could almost see the new house rise up, right before our eyes.

‘We have to collect money to buy timber and nails, and tiles on the roof...’

‘And we have to get carpenters...’

‘And buy paint...’

‘And windows...’

‘And glass...’

‘Kitchen sink...’

‘Bathtub...’

‘And all the pipes...’

‘And doors, don’t forget doors...’

‘Maybe it’s impossible,’ I said, and sat down, deflated. ‘It all costs so much. I mean – a whole house! It will take years!’

‘Yes, but if we just begin,’ Roland encouraged me. ‘If we only start this thing, who knows what will come our way! Of course we’ll succeed. We must! We will, that’s all!’

We bounced the idea back and forth while the sun moved slowly over the clear sky. We felt we had already begun Operation Resurrection, walking around the foundations, imagining the new house and how much we’d need of this and that.

We were so busy talking that we didn’t notice Jeff until he was standing right next to us.

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