My Friend the Enemy by Dan Smith

Author:Dan Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Australia

DAD’S SHED

It was a long time since anyone had been into Dad’s shed, and now I stood at the door, staring at the padlock. It was thick and heavy. A dirty silver colour, with a single bead of something brown that had once been a sticky liquid but was now as hard as a stone.

‘Me da’ was the last person to come in here,’ I said. ‘Prob’ly the last person to touch this lock.’

I had been with him that day, the last time he came into the woods, so he could give the shed a fresh coat of creosote to protect it from the weather while he was away.

‘Where’s the key?’ Kim asked.

‘Right here.’

The shed stood on a base of slats that kept it a few inches off the ground to stop the damp from getting in, and when I slipped my fingers into the space just below the door – as I had seen Dad do many times – I cringed at the thought of what creepy-crawlies might be lurking under there. Spiders and woodlice and earwigs. But I didn’t feel any of those things. What I felt was cold and hard and metal.

I stood up and held out the key.

‘Go on, then,’ Kim said. ‘Open it.’

There were a few spots of rust, and I had to force the key into the lock. Once it was in, though, it turned easily and the clasp popped up. I slipped it from the latch and put it into my pocket. Then I took a deep breath and opened the door.

The right side of the hut was shelved from ceiling to floor. The other side had a short bench built from unplaned wood, and there was a chair and a stool. Dad used to sit on that chair, with the door open, smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of tea. I would sit on the stool and eat a biscuit. We didn’t always say much, but I liked being with him.

There was a strong odour of damp wood and dust and creosote and paraffin. It was a smell that made my chest tighten with memories of Dad. I swallowed hard and tried not to think of him sitting on that chair, opening a packet of cigarettes and holding out the card for me to add to my collection.

‘You all right?’ Kim asked.

I took a deep breath and stepped inside.

‘What’s that?’ Kim said, pointing to the heater on the bench.

I went to it and put a hand on it. ‘To keep the shed warm,’ I said. ‘Burns paraffin. One of me da’s jobs was to stop people stealin’ the birds, so he used to come out at night if there was poachers about.’

‘Did he stay out all night?’

‘Sometimes, like. I used to try to get ’im to take me with ’im, but he always said it wasn’t much of an adventure sittin’ in the woods all night.’

‘I bet it would be great fun.’

‘He said he’d let me when I was older. I’m

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