Geri Novél: Girl Mystic, chapter four

A children's story

Chapter Four

Secrecy, at any Cost

Next morning, Geri, knocking softly on Box’s bedroom door, whispered, “Box, are you awake?”
“Hmm, what is it?” he mumbled sleepily.

“I said, are you awake?”

“What time is it?” Box asked, rubbing his eyes.

“It’s half past six.”

“Half past six, are you sure?” Box asked, unwilling to believe that even she would consider awakening him at so early an hour. Reaching for his glasses on the bedside locker, and then grabbing hold of his watch, Box gazed sleepily onto its face, to see if it really was that early. Staring in disbelief he saw that it was indeed six thirty.

“Yes, I am sure,” said Geri, slightly louder. “Now are you getting up or do I have to send off for that lizard?”

Jumping out of bed, putting on his dressing gown and slippers, Box unbolted the door. Bang, bang, bang the bolts slid back from their nighttime position. The door, creaking slowly open, revealed the sleepy face of Box, Geri’s tall and whimpishly thin cousin.

“What’s the problem,” he asked, yawning and scratching his head.

“There’s no problem,” she replied casually. “We have to get started.”

“But it’s Sunday,” he protested, “and I always have a lie in on Sundays.”

“Not anymore, you don’t,” she said. “Or, at least, not until our work has been done.”

“But we have to buy supplies,” he protested once again, “and the electrical shop isn’t open until tomorrow…”

But it was useless him complaining, he was simply wasting his time trying to put Geri off, she wanted to get started and nothing would dissuade her from it, absolutely nothing. And then, he thought, she really might have that lizard stashed somewhere nearby, mightn’t she? So agreeing, he said, “All right, but I want some breakfast first.”

Okay, I’ll see you downstairs,” Geri replied, and with that she dashed off down the stairs.

Scratching his head, Box wondered what he had done to deserve a cousin such as Geri.

“Here you are,” said Geri, pointing to a plate on the table, when Box finally arrived in the kitchen.

“What’s that?” he asked, sitting down and inspecting the plate with some interest.

“A fry-up, of course,” she replied, pushing it closer. “That’ll keep you going…”

Box was puzzled, for there was no smell of cooking in the kitchen – none at all, but he said nothing, he knew better than to ask her such ‘Muddling’ questions.

“And keep the noise down,” Geri warned, “we don’t want to be waking up the old cronies.”

Old cronies? Oh, you mean mum and dad,” he said with a laugh. “Y’know, I used to call them that, a while back.”

“You did?”

“Yep, it’s a funny old world, isn’t it?”

“It sure is,” Geri replied, as she thought of all the other Muddles in Antediluvian Gardens, and all of them probably at stupid as each other.

When he had finished eating his breakfast, and it was a surprisingly good fry-up, Box asked what was first on the agenda…

“Secrecy,” Geri replied, again in a whisper.

“Pardon?”

“I said secrecy is the first thing on the agenda,” she repeated. “You must keep everything we do secret from your parents!”

Box gulped. “Everything?” You see, up until then he had no secrets hidden from them.

“Yes, everything,” she insisted. “And not just them, but everyone. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, I suppose so – but it won’t be easy.”

Geri, however, ignored this comment.

“Where are we going?” Box asked, following Geri out the front door.

“Somewhere private…”

Geri walked, Box followed.

After buying a pen and a notepad from the local newsagents, Geri led the short distance to the park. After climbing over the locked gates, Geri chose a spot on the grass where they could sit. “Sit down,” she ordered.

“Here?”

Yes.”

It might still be damp…”

“SIT!”

Obeying her, Box sat down upon the grass, and then he watched as his troublesome cousin scribbled her thoughts down into the notepad. It took her a while to do this, a good while. Bored, waiting for her to finish, Box nonchalantly watched the sparrows scurrying ever closer, hoping for a handout of some food scraps they might have.

When Geri was finally finished recording her thoughts down into the little notepad, she handed it to Box, and said, “Take a look and tell me what you think of it.”

Box studied the notes with interest – all two pages of them. Then turning to a new page, without saying anything about her notes, he asked for the pen. Geri gave it to him. Writing feverously, Box recorded his own thoughts and ideas into the little notepad, filling page after page with ever more complex ideas. Every now and again he would pause for a moment to refer back to his cousin’s scribbles, and then start off again as he worked his way through to the final design. When he was finally finished, Box had filled fifteen pages with notes, and another two with a list of the materials that he would need for the task.

“Here,” he said, returning the notepad to Geri. “Now you take as look…”

Geri studied the plans, saying nothing. And when she had seen enough, she said, “It might as well be in double-dutch for all that it means to me, but I trust you, cousin, so lets gets on with it.”

Box grinned; he loved a challenge and this was most certainly a challenge. The grin suddenly disappearing from his face, Box looked terribly worried.

“What’s wrong?” said Geri, confused by his change of emotions.

“Money!” he replied.

“Money, what about money?” Geri asked.

“We need some – loads of it,” Box groaned. “That lot will cost us a bomb.”

“Leave the matter of money to me,” Geri replied calmly. “You just concentrate on getting the work done.”

Next day, Monday, Geri and Box set off early for town and the electrical supplier located therein.

“I can’t imagine what has gotten into those two,” said Mrs Privet, pulling back the curtain, watching Geri and Box step up to the bus. “One day they are mortal enemies and the next they are bosom buddies.”
Sitting at the kitchen table, studying the remains of his son’s fried breakfast, Mr Privet asked, “Any more where this lot came from?”

Town was busy. Geri hated town. There were far too many Muddles in them for her liking. “Which way?” she asked, narrowly avoiding a youth speeding past her on a motor scooter.

“This way,” said Box, pointing up the hill.

It was a long walk up that hill, to where the best electrical supplier in town happened to be located, and unaccustomed to such walking Geri’s legs soon began to ache. “Why couldn’t they have built their shop at the bottom of the hill?” she complained. Then remembering that it was Muddles she was talking about, she laughed, saying, “No, don’t bother answering that.”

As they stepped into the old shop, the bell over the door jingled signalling their arrival. An ancient man standing behind a dusty old counter studied them over the top of his equally as dusty spectacle lenses.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“I certainly hope so,” said Geri.

“Box handed the man their list of requirements.

“Hmm,” he said as he made his way through the long list, “a most unusual mixture of items… What is it you that said you were making?”

“We didn’t,” Geri snapped.

“We’re making a transmitter,” Box lied, thinking this approach better than his cousin’s confrontational one.

“A transmitter, you say,” said the man, pushing his grimy glasses up to the top of
his head. Geri wondered how he had ever managed to see through them at all.

“Yes, “ explained Box, “but it’s only an experiment, nothing big, you know…”

“You really need a licence, you do know that?”

“We do, but it’s only an experiment for school, and a temporary one at that.”

Hmm,” said the man, taking out his order book that he began writing into, “In that case I suppose it’s all right.” When he had the copied Box’s list, he stepped through a doorway leading to the rear of the shop and then he disappeared from sight.

Relieved that they were getting their supplies, Box turned away from the counter and studied the electrical advertising posters sticky taped to the walls. Geri stared out the window, bored.

After waiting for a good twenty minutes, they heard the sound of footsteps signalling the return of the old man. Puffing and panting he emerged through the doorway carrying two cardboard boxes, one under each arm, loaded with electrical items that he plonked down heavily on the counter. A cloud of fine dust rose high into the still air. Geri coughed.

“There you are,” he said, “everything you were wanting. Some of these things were hidden way back, hadn’t sold any of them for years. Thought I never would. Just goes to show, doesn’t it?”

“Thanks,” said Box. “How much do we owe you?”

“I have the bill in here somewhere,” he said, rummaging about in one of the boxes. “Ah, here it is.” He handed it to Box who almost fainted when he saw how much it amounted to.

Snatching the bill, Geri said, “Give that to me.” She quickly inspected it, and then without flinching as much as an eyelid took out a small purse from her shoulder bag and searched for the money. “There you are,” she said, offering three golden coins to the man, “and you can keep the change.”

Inspecting the coins, he said, “Are you sure? These are worth an awful lot more!”

Without saying another word, Geri opened the door and instructed Box to carry the boxes. Grabbing hold of them, and struggling under their weight, he followed her out from the shop, asking, “Where did you get those coins from?”

Chapter Five

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© Gerrard T Wilson 2008