Writing for Fun
August 2017
The holidays - Sue Barker
It was the third week of the summer holidays and Alex and Maisie were bored, bored, bored, so bored they almost cleaned their bedrooms . . . almost. They had been away to Menorca with mum and dad and had great fun but now they were back home and there was nothing to do. They sat under the tree in the front garden, partially hidden from nanny, who was looking after them this sunny Friday.
Nanny had got side tracked and was clearing up all the mess they had left strewn all around the lounge. Maisie suddenly dug Alex in the ribs, 'Look there's old Mr Stinkmaster going out.' Obviously Stinkmaster wasn't his name but this is the nickname given to him by all the children in the street. Ben had told Alex that Mr Stinkmaster had hairs growing out of his nose and a big hairy wart on his chin. Ben was the only child on the street brave enough to get that close to the ancient old man to see these gross things and Mr Stinkmaster's clothes were always dirty and very wrinkled a bit like an elephant's skin Alex thought.
Alex was roused from his daydreams in which he was winning the surfing championship, his winsome smile faded away. 'Oh Maisieee,' he cried, 'so what if he's going out?' But Maisie had noticed that Mr Stinkmaster, or old Stinky as he was now being called, had a strange shaped parcel under his arm.
'I think we should follow him, he may be doing something naughty,' said the little girl with the big imagination. They dashed in to nanny and asked if they could go to the sweetshop and did she need anything. 'Ooh what thoughtful children you are, I could do with a loaf of bread, and some of my favourite toffees.' She gave them some money and they dashed off as fast as their legs could carry them. Maisie was always lagging a little behind but old Stinky was still in sight.
Ben was playing in his front garden when they ran past. 'Whatcha doing, Al?' he asked. Alex quickly explained they were being detectives on a very special mission. Ben asked if he could come too. They didn't really want him to as Ben was rather big and lumpy and not the sort of kid to blend into the background but they were kind children and said ok.
The three of them sidled along the alley, this was the really dangerous part; if Stinky looked back he would see them for sure. Luckily he didn't, he was striding along with his oily thin hair flapping in the wind and downwind of him was a dangerous place to be; Stinky definitely stank. They crept to the end of the alley, Alex slunk round the corner trying to look the picture of innocence and just caught sight of their target going into an old decrepit house.
He ran back to the others, what were they going to do? Ben, ever the brave one, suggested that they went to the house and crawled down the path leading up to the front window. Although they were afraid, no-one wanted to be the scaredy cat so they crept up the path, towards the ugliest house they had ever seen. The paint was peeling off every surface but fortunately the grass was very long and they were well hidden. Maisie was too short to see through the window and Ben was too round to go unnoticed so it was left to Alex to bob up and check out what was happening.
He could not believe his eyes, Stinky and a very old hairy lady were sitting opposite each other on chairs that looked like they belonged on a rubbish dump. The windows were quite dirty but Alex could just make out that they were looking at the contents of the package. Alex's eyes widened at the sight, he looked like a bush baby and his mouth was a large O shape. He fell down quickly and just stuttered and muttered. No-one could make neither head nor tail of what he was saying. 'Calm down and start again,' said Ben.
Alex was pointing towards the window and gulping. Finally he said, 'He's giving her money, bundles and bundles of money, there must be millions.'
This made no sense to the children, firstly if Stinky was rich why didn't he have nice clothes and a nice house? If he was wealthy why was he giving the money to the hairy old lady? Finally where did Stinky get the money from? It was indeed a mystery. The thing they were all in agreement of was that they were going to have to solve this puzzle. They went home and agreed to meet in the morning with a plan of action.
Alex hardly slept with excitement. Maisie was exhausted and fell asleep immediately and snored the night away. Early on Saturday morning they got up and Mum & Dad were happy to let them go to Ben's as they had the food shopping to do. I was agreed they could go as long as they were back for lunch. They trotted off to their friends, Alex didn't have much of a plan and Maisie's idea of putting a note through Stinky's door saying 'We know what you're up to' was a non starter.
Fortunately Ben had been thinking, he already had on his scouts uniform and he grabbed some biscuits from the tin. 'Let's knock on Stinky's door and say we are selling biscuits for charity, then when he goes to get some money we can try and snoop around.' Well, thought Alex it's the best idea so far.
They gingerly approached the grubby glass front door and knocked; finally they heard footsteps. 'Who is it?' demanded a very stern voice.
'Er, hello I'm Ben from down the road and I'm selling biscuits for charity.' After what felt like an hour, they heard lots of bolts being opened, the door opened a crack and there he was in all his stinking glory. He really did have long hairs growing out his nose, and a hairy wart. Alex felt a bit sick but managed to pull himself together. Maisie gave a little squeak of fright. Stinky said 'You'd better come in then, hadn't you? While I find some money.' The trio bravely entered, in the gloom, the wallpaper was hanging down like a half peeled banana. The only thing they could see that wasn't covered in dirt or grime was a suitcase in the hall. There was no time to examine it as Stinky was back and opening his flea-bitten wallet. The children almost threw the biscuits at him in their panic to get out. No-one was going to believe them that they had been in the Stinkmaster's house, even though it was only for five minutes.
They ran as fast as possible to get away, their hearts pounded and they were shaking. They decided that they weren't brave enough to do any more detective work this holiday. They were just going to go back to enjoying being bored, safe but bored.
In the last week of the holidays nanny came round to look after them. They overheard her speaking to mum before she left for work. The two women were looking at the local paper. Granny was saying 'Well, who would have thought it? Someone down your road has won the lottery. The paper said that they wanted to remain anonymous but that the money was shared with a sister and the rest was going to go to charities. What a kind person, whoever could it be?'
Alex looked at Maisie and they shared a secret smile. They really hoped that Stinky kept some money for himself to decorate the house, buy soap, and possibly some wart removing cream.