Shoestring, the Boy Who Walks on Air by Julie Hunt & Dale Newman

Author:Julie Hunt & Dale Newman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2020-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

A terrible cry filled the air when Shoestring reached for KidGlovz. I’m not sure if it came from Kid or the hound – perhaps it came from somewhere deep inside Shoestring himself.

I took flight at that moment. I wanted to get as far from the ground as possible. Not that the sky was safe – I knew those gloves could fly further and faster and higher than I could – but luckily they didn’t follow.

When I dared to look down, Shoestring was gone. The front door of the shack was open and a man was bending over KidGlovz. I flapped into a bush near the shack and listened. I’m a solid bird as you know, round of girth and sound of mind, but you could have knocked me down with a feather once I realised what had happened.

‘But where have you come from, boy?’ the man asked. ‘You must have a name.’

‘Must have.’ KidGlovz looked at the man, then turned his attention to the dog who was anxiously licking his hands. It’s ghastly the way dogs lick but I think the hound was trying to help the boy.

‘If I knew your name I might be able to find out where you live,’ the man continued.

KidGlovz stroked the dog’s ears. ‘You’re good,’ he said, vaguely. ‘Good dog. Your dog is good.’

‘He’s not my dog, he’s yours.’ The man scratched his head. ‘Maybe your dog could take you home.’

‘Home.’ This word seemed to confuse KidGlovz, but the dog wasn’t as foolish as he looked because he jumped up and wagged his tail as if he wanted to leave immediately. KidGlovz looked blank.

It began to rain so the fellow ushered them both onto his porch, which didn’t offer much shelter as the roof was full of holes. They sat on a couple of old apple boxes.

‘I had hopes of fixing up this place,’ the man remarked, as the water dripped onto his lap. ‘But it’s a bit late in the day for that.’

‘Late in the day,’ Kid repeated, parrot-fashion.

The dog looked at the boy with sad eyes and occasionally gave him a nudge as if to wake him up. But KidGlovz wasn’t asleep.

It was almost dawn. The man went inside and returned with bread and sausage, which he shared with his companions. I was feeling peckish and wouldn’t have minded a bite myself, but I stayed out of sight. After a while the dog put his head under Kid’s hand and when the boy grasped his collar he headed slowly down the street.

‘Good day to you then,’ the man said, shaking his head. ‘Let’s hope, when the sun comes up, you’ll be right as rain.’

I’m normally not keen on dogs or children but I felt for those two. They headed off, the boy with his hand on the dog’s collar and the hound with his nose to the ground. I could see the dog was trying to lead the boy back the way they’d come but he couldn’t follow the scent. When they reached the end of the street he took a wrong turn.

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