decide your action – to return the collection or not. If not, I shall make your suspension formal and you will have to live with the consequences. I hope that is all perfectly clear.’ He threw the pen on the desk. The cross-examination was over.
Without answering, Jars and Snook turned and quickly walked out of the room. Snook, his face now a deep plum colour, led the way past a staring Mrs Cherry, who’d been listening and probably enjoying, the shouts and bangs coming from office. They stepped out of the building into the yard. ‘At least he didn’t finish his stupid countin’,’ Snook mumbled as he swung open the detention room door.
Chapter Four
Snook, followed by Jars, stepped off the school bus, just up the road from their house in Cray Bay. ‘What a nightmare!’ Snook said as he slung his school bag over his shoulder. ‘I sure coulda’ bopped that Jim Thompson one.’
Jars, who had spent the entire bus ride trying to stop Snook from reacting to the jeers and name calling coming from some of the kids at the back of the bus, looked across at her cousin. ‘I’m pleased you didn’t. We’re in enough trouble as it is.’
‘Yeah, but it wasn’t fair what they were sayin’ about us – callin’ us crooks and thieves and other stuff. Anyway, how’d they know we were in strife? It’s queer.’
‘I don’t really know,’ Jars said shaking her head, ‘but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t that Mrs Cherry who tattled and if she did it would have spread like wildfire. She’s known as a bit of a gossip and she would have heard Twitchy’s rantings for sure. They were loud enough.’
’If it was her, she’s done a darn good job. We’re gonna be judged guilty by everyone in school before long. Probably by everyone in town, too. Includin’ Mum and Dad. It’s not fair.’
‘Life isn’t always fair.’
‘Nah, sometimes it just sucks.’
Chapter Five
After getting off the bus and leaving the insults behind, Snook and Jars began the short walk home. They walked in silence. There was nothing more to say. Not really.
As usual, Shadow, Jars’ German shepherd dog, was waiting for them by the front gate of the Kelly house. It was also where Jars now lived. Following the deaths of her parents in the Northern Territory, her aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Kelly, had taken her in. ‘G’day, boy,’ Jars said as she opened the gate. She patted his head. ‘Hope you’ve had a better day than us.’
Shadow, grinning and wagging his tail, bounced around them as they made their way across the lawn, soft and squelchy from recent rain, a common occurrence on Tasmania’s west coast. Skirting the 44-gallon drum, whose permanent home seemed to be next to the garden shed, they climbed the few steps to the front verandah. ‘So you hope Shadow’s had a better day than us?’ Snook said as he opened the door. ‘I hope so, too, but you know what? It’s gonna get worse. Dad’ll go mental when he hears about all this.’
Jars and Shadow followed Snook inside. ‘Yes, and it won’t be long till somebody tells him,’ she said to his back, placing her schoolbag on the lobby floor. ‘And that’s not all. The whole town will know soon. The schoolkids will tell their parents and their parents will tell others. The whole place will be abuzz.’
Snook crossed into the kitchen. ‘There’ll be all sorts of crazy rumours. Just wait and see. I can see the high spots now: Cray Bay’s crime wave … Desperate students steal fortune … Jewel heist by schoolies. Strike me dead, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Sixty Minutes programme turned up. But what the heck.
There’s nothin’ we can do about it. Not yet anyway.’ He opened the fridge door, and at the same time came to a decision. ‘Let’s forget Twitchy and his stupid blame games for now.’ He rubbed his stomach. ‘Yeah, let’s think of other things. Like food. All this excitement’s made me hungry. Want a sandwich? There’s some ham in the fridge that Mum left for us.’
Jars wasn’t listening. She was thinking about Twitchy and what he’d said … Send you back to the Northern Territory perhaps. Would her aunt and uncle really do that? ‘I think I’ll go watch some television,’ she said to Snook who was buttering some bread.
‘Okay, I’ll join you in a minute. Watchin’ a bit of telly’s not such a bad idea. It might do the trick and take our minds off Twitchy and his crazy accu … accu …’
‘Accusations,’ Jars said over her shoulder as she and Shadow made their way through to the living room. She flopped into an armchair and reached for the remote. She switched the set on. Something called Oggy and The Cockroaches, filled the screen.
Shadow settled at her feet and then rolled onto his back, legs in the air, tongue lolling. ‘At least you’re happy,’ Jars said, ‘but there’s no need to be so impolite about it. Why can’t you lie there like any normal dog would?’ Despite her mildly admonishing tone of voice, she couldn’t help smiling. Shadow was a sight for sore eyes, a welcome antidote to their horrendous afternoon.
She was trying to watch the show, not really getting the drift, when Snook came into the room munching a sandwich. He sat in a chair next to her. ‘That dog’s in a dangerous position.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘I mean he’s got a particularly lethal bum and when he lies like that it’s time to worry.’
‘Don’t be awful; you’ll hurt his feelings.’
‘Seriously though, what do reckon our next step is?’ Snook said, mouth full. ‘I mean how’re we gonna prove we didn’t do it?’
Jars scrunched her eyes then bit her lip. It was a worry, a real quandary. When she thought about it, there was no real way they could prove their innocence unless the real culprits were caught. But that seemed impossible. The crooks must have been invisible or close to it. It sure was strange, a real dilemma.
She turned to face Snook. ‘I guess the sensible thing to do is tell the truth. Tell your parents exactly what’s happened before someone else gives them their version.’
‘Mmmm. Sounds all right in theory, but if they don’t believe us, we’ll be in strife big-time.’
‘I guess so,’ Jars said half-heartedly, but it’s not just your parents.
It’s everyone else, too. We’re already copping it from the school, and then there’s the police and goodness knows who else will get on the band wagon. Then your parents are bound to find out. You’ll be grounded for sure. I’m even thinking your mum and dad might send me away like Twitchy said, back to the Northern Territory, or to a place for kids like me … to an orphanage.’ The last words caught in her throat and she lowered her eyes.
Snook turned to face her. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘don’t be so stupid. Why would they do something as drastic as that? Besides, we’re goin’ to prove we didn’t do it – somehow. I just don’t know how yet. All I know is that we will!’
Jars looked up. She saw the look of determination in his face, a fierce, burning intensity that told her Snook was fair dinkum. She wished she had it, Snook’s confidence, his optimism, but in her mind, she could only see the anger of her aunt and uncle when they found out. Her bottom lip trembled as she thought of the consequences. ‘ They might
