Daughter of the Regiment by French Jackie

Author:French, Jackie
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2014-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

chapter eleven

Monday

‘Harry!’

‘In here!’ Harry peered out of the main shed. It was Angie. She wore jeans and an old T-shirt that Spike had outgrown and her riding boots. She was alone.

‘Where’s Spike?’

‘He went fencing with Dad.’ She shrugged. ‘He says to tell him if anything interesting happens. Hey, I thought you’d be looking at the hole!’

‘I was earlier. There’s no one there. I just came in here to get some chicken wire. I told Dad I was extending the chook run. It’s a good excuse to be down there all the time.’

Angie nodded. ‘Mind if I go and look?’

‘No, sure. I’ll be over there in a minute.’

Harry hauled out the old netting from the back of the shed and considered it. Dad had rolled it up properly so it wasn’t tangled, and it still looked in fairly good shape. Good enough for another chook run at least.

Harry dragged it over to the chookhouse, narrowly avoiding Magic Mary, who was hopping from one foot to another in front of the shed.

‘You want to go in and lay your egg under the truck again do you?’ asked Harry. ‘Okay, off you go. I’m finished in there now. But I’m still going to collect it this afternoon, no matter where you lay it.’

Magic Mary ignored him. She disappeared under the truck.

Harry left the roll of wire outside the chookhouse and peered in.

‘See anything?’ he asked.

Angie shook her head. ‘Just a kookaburra. It’s sitting right up on top of the big red gum across the creek. And another bird flew right past the hole—it was too close to see what it was.’

Angie looked back through the hole again. ‘The creek looked nice back then, didn’t it? Sort of peaceful.’

Harry nodded. ‘Call me if you see anything,’ he said. ‘I’m going to start digging a couple of post holes so it looks like I’ve done something.’

Angie nodded. ‘Need a hand?’

‘No, I’m right.’

It was hot digging holes. Harry finished the fourth one and stuck his head back in the chookhouse.

‘I’m going down for a swim,’ he said. ‘Want to come?’

‘Didn’t bring my bathers.’

‘Doesn’t matter. Wear your T-shirt. It’ll dry soon enough.’

Angie hesitated. ‘Okay,’ she said finally. ‘I don’t suppose anything’ll happen while we’re gone.’

‘We can’t watch it all the time,’ said Harry. ‘Not when we’re at school or at night. It’s just luck really that I’ve seen all I have.’

Angie nodded. She blinked as she came out into the sunlight. ‘Wow. You don’t realise how dark it is in there. Don’t the chooks mind?’

‘Nah, they like it that way. They like to lay someplace dim. Like Magic Mary. She always lays under the truck. And Moonlight’s got a nest in the lavender.’

‘That’s a pretty name,’ said Angie.

‘Mum chose it,’ said Harry. ‘When Moonlight was a chick she was sort of pale yellow—a real moonlight colour. She’s pure white now though. She’s the only Leghorn we’ve got—I got her egg up at the Show. It was laid by the Champion Hardfeather Fowl. There she was sitting with an egg at the side of the cage, so I asked if I could have it.

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