Unleashed! by J A Mawter

Author:J A Mawter [J.A.Mawter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780730444459
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter Twelve

The kids decided to visit Mr Lark to see if he could shed some light on things. He was in the kitchen, peeling apples, when they arrived. Their tangy sweetness filled the air. ‘Hoped you’d be along shortly. You’re just in time to help me make my world-famous apple pie.’

‘Apple pie.’ Bryce got a drooby look on his face. ‘My favourite!’ He ducked as Mio threw a tea towel at him.

Mr Lark tossed a peeler at Bryce and another at Mio, then dumped a bag of green apples in front of them. ‘You two get on with these. Clem, Darcy, you’re on pastry.’ He placed a bag of flour, some sugar and a slab of butter on the table, then, grabbing a recipe book from the shelf, he opened it to a well-worn page. ‘So, what’s been happening? Any news?’

With that the floodgates opened.

‘So, she’s your beagle now?’ Mr Lark gave a throaty chuckle as he pulled a bowl from the cupboard. He checked to make sure it was clean, then wiped an imaginary speck from the bottom before putting it on the table.

‘Not exactly,’ said Darcy, measuring two cups of flour into the bowl.

‘But she soon will be,’ said Clem. ‘As soon as we get our hands on her.’ She plopped the softened butter into the bowl and started to knead it through the flour. ‘Thing is, we’ve been thrown out of the place…’

‘…and told never to come back.’

‘We still want to rescue the beagle,’ said Clem. ‘But we…’

‘…don’t know how.’

Bryce stopped peeling, looked up, and grinned as he sang, ‘Everybody’s got their problems…’ Clem rolled her eyes.

‘Hit a snag, huh?’ Mr Lark laughed as he looked at the sea of frustrated faces.

‘That’s not all we’ve hit,’ said Bryce, picking up the peeler again. ‘Our intruder’s been back to The Van. Someone’s meddling with it and we don’t know who.’

‘Vandals?’ asked Mr Lark.

‘Nuh, uh,’ said Clem. She stopped kneading now that the mixture looked like breadcrumbs and looked up. ‘They left flowers.’

‘A Japanese flower arrangement,’ said Mio.

Mr Lark frowned as he carefully added cold water, one teaspoon at a time, to the mixture. ‘That’s not the first time you’ve had a visit, is it?’

‘No,’ said Mio, watching as Darcy worked the mixture into a stiff dough using a round-bladed knife. ‘They’ve been before. When they managed to undo my knot.’

‘Whoever our visitor is,’ said Bryce, reaching for another apple, ‘they know an awful lot about Japan.’

‘Maybe it’s the original owner of the dog?’ suggested Mr Lark.

Clem got a flashback: thick, fat fingers striking a blow at the dog. She thought of the intricate flower arrangement and pulled a face. ‘No way! Pretty gifts aren’t his style. He’s more likely to leave poisoned bait!’ She lifted the dough cleanly from the bowl and tore it in half as she asked, ‘Where’s the rolling pin?’

Mr Lark opened a drawer, rummaged around, then handed her an old wooden one.

In silence they went back to their jobs, Mio and Bryce peeling and Clem rolling out the pastry to line the dish.

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