Test of Wills by Deborah Goldie

Author:Deborah Goldie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shawline Publishing Group Pty Ltd
Published: 2022-05-15T23:42:56+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Will woke to the sound of excited boys. It took him a few seconds to work out why and then he remembered. Today was Saturday; the day of their weekly shower. Every Saturday, it was their cabin’s turn to march over to St Peter’s convent, strip off in the huge bathroom and enjoy the sensation of hot steaming water spraying over their bodies. After a week of intense training every morning, their bodies were on the stinky side. With twelve boys living together, by Saturday the whole cabin smelt. No amount of cleaning with cold water in the cabin’s wash house would erase this odour. Breakfast on Saturdays was always a more enjoyable experience and for some unknown reason, being clean made them hungrier.

Looking around the cabin, everyone was already up, dressed and mucking around … all except Ralph. Then it dawned on him why. Poor Ralph would be scrubbing the cabin and bathroom floors this morning. Not only would he be missing out on breakfast, but he wouldn’t be having a shower. Ralph looked forward to his shower like they all did. Being on the slightly pudgy side, by Saturday Ralph really needed a shower. The thought of Ralph’s persistent odour for another week wasn’t appealing at all to Will. By next Saturday Ralph would really pong.

Will hadn’t had a chance last night to talk to Freddy about the plan to steal some food. One was hatching in his mind. It wasn’t really stealing if you were giving it to somebody needier. They wouldn’t be able to pinch a lot at once, but small amounts, over a period of time. With Ralph not having breakfast, this would give him the perfect opportunity to begin. His bowl of porridge would be impossible to not only pinch, but to hide, but his egg and roll would be easier. The cooks or officers probably ate what was left and judging from their size, they didn’t need any more. Will knew the time to commit this crime with nobody looking would have to be timed perfectly. He hoped that chance would arise. He knew if his pop was reading his thoughts, he would make sure there was the perfect opportunity.

‘Come on Will, it’s Saturday and you know what that means. Time to rise and shine,’ said Freddy, beaming.

‘Yep,’ said Will, jumping out of his bed. This excitement was contagious. There was nothing he could do to help Ralph, so why let it dampen his enthusiasm?

‘Ralph, you need to get out of bed. Inspection is in five minutes and you don’t want to be in worse trouble.’

Will hoped a touch of reality might make Ralph move. Thankfully, it did. Kastenburger was nasty and mean; if he found one thing out of place, he could remove the whole cabin’s chance to have a shower. There was no way Will would be able to fend off a group of attacking boys. They’d show Ralph no mercy and who would really blame them?

Inspection passed without a glitch and they all left, leaving Ralph to fulfil his punishment.

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