The Fiche List

Chapter Eight

13. Go rock climbing

   I paused in the doorway to the kitchen and watched Mum mixing a bowl of what looked like falafel, but what I knew was not. She glanced over and smiled at me. 

“Hey honey. What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just saying hi.”
She nodded. 

“Who’s it for?” I gestured to the non-falafel mixture. 

“Jenny Duncan’s fussy parrot. Won’t eat what he’s supposed to, so he’s not getting the vitamins and minerals he needs. But he likes Cornflakes, so I’m trying to make a similar type of thing…”

Uh huh. Because that weird looking green stuff was totally going to pass as Cornflakes. But leave it up to Mum to somehow make that work. 

“What’re you guys doing today?”
“Rock climbing. We’re gonna head over to Cooper’s Cliff and climb there.” I looked around the kitchen, eyeing the trail of mess left behind Mum as she worked. I spied a collection of orange things, and walked over to investigate. Carrots, oranges, pumpkin, honey, saffron… I slapped my hand over my mouth to keep myself from bursting into hysterical laughter when I saw what else was grouped with the orange products.
Mum stopped mixing and frowned at me. Then smiled herself when she noticed that I’d noticed. She held a finger over her lips, and I nodded. 

Jase was going to throttle her when he found out what she’d just given him. 

“It’s ok, a friend of Sean’s does it and has the gear and everything. He’s going to meet us there, make sure we keep safe.”

“Cooper’s Cliff though? Why can’t you do something a little less risky?”

“Because that’s the whole point?”
A smile tugged at her lips and she turned back to her concoction. “The point was to go rock climbing; you can achieve that on a less advanced rock face.”
“There’s no fun in that.”

She laughed. “And if you think about it, climbing Cooper’s Cliff is probably safer then delivering to Macey…”

I burst out laughing. 

“What’s so funny?” Jase asked, venturing into the room. He stood with his arms crossed and an amused expression.

“Macey!” I choked out between fits of laughter. 

He grinned. “Her dog is a freaking nightmare.” He met my eyes. 

“A gargoyle!” we cried at the same time. 

“You should put more of that calming shit in her orders. Maybe even some horse tranquilliser.”
“Jason!” Mum said in mock-horror. 

“What? You know it’s true. That beast could make concrete shrivel up with fear.”

Mum rolled her eyes. “Did you like the orange biscuits?”

I struggled to maintain a neutral expression. Clever. Mum was so clever. 

My brother nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, they were great!”

“What orange biscuits? Why didn’t I get any?!” I pretended to whine. 

Mum shot me a look. I could see the twinkle in her eyes.

“Oh.” I smiled. 

Oh yeah!

Jase looked at me, confused. “What?” He turned to Mum and repeated himself.
Mum smiled, but ignored him.

“What was in the biscuits?” he asked with narrowed eyes. “MUM! What did you PUT in THEM?!” he shouted.