Kids into Books: Dead Man's Head

Author: Jack Lasenby

Illustrator: David Elliot, Jenny Cooper

Publisher: Longacre Press, $14.95

Age: 10+ years


"I told Dad I'd be home for lunch," Polly said. "Hooray!" She disappeared between the trees and dropped into a ditch.

The plantation was full of their gang's tracks. Leaves hid everything and Mr Whistler didn't dare follow them in there.

He waddled into the station, and a stone hit the roof, rattled off and bounced on the lines.

He puffed into the yard, shook his fist at the trees, and old Mrs Mood said, "You mustn't talk to the trees, Mr Whistler, or people will think you're loony."

She was deaf so didn't hear his reply, but Denny did. He wriggled backwards, fired another stone from his shanghai, ran along a track, under a fence, and into a ditch.

He scuttled along out of sight, crawled through a culvert under the main road, and ran down another ditch past the school.

There were yells and a whistle. He crawled through the lawsoniana hedge around the school horse paddock and joined in.