The Wild West Gang
Author: Joy Cowley
Publisher: HarperCollins, $12.95
Age group: 7-9 years
WHEN THEY WENT downstairs I lay back on my bed and kicked my feet in the air. There were a few good things about being an only child, and having my own phone by my bed was one of them.
I picked it up and dialled the Wests. Uncle Leo answered. 'Hullo, this is the city morgue.'
'It's me,' I said. 'Uncle Leo, it worked!' 'You're coming over for the weekend?' he said. 'Good sausage! I'll tell the vampires to sharpen their teeth, so I will.' He yelled away from the phone. 'Rosie? Put on your crash helmet and hide the family jewels. Mickey's on his way!'
UNCLE LEO AND Auntie Rosie were always joking, but in different ways. Auntie Rosie had a way of saying terrible things to her children but in a friendly sort of voice. Like the time Miranda let the sink overflow. 'May the fleas of a thousand dogs bit your bottom,' Auntie Rosie said.
Miranda saw my face. 'She doesn't mean it.' 'Oh yes, I do,' said Auntie Rosie. 'You wait and see, young Mickey. Nothing is worse than a Rosie curse.'
After that, I waited for her to say something funny and terrible to me, but she never did. When she saw me standing at the back door, she pulled me in, gave me a fat hug and got flour on my face from her apron. 'Mickey, darling, this is a lovely treat for us!'
• Tomorrow: A bad does of scheming
