By JOY COWLEY, Illustrator TREVOR PYE
I'd seen Royce lying on his bed with his shoes on, the bottoms covered in something horrible that looked like dog sick. Auntie Rosie didn't even notice. Mum always said her sister was terrible at housework. Not that Mum could talk, with her and
Dad off on a plane, leaving me tiptoeing around the Wests' kitchen in my socks. My cousins were finishing lunch and the floor was like a minefield with crusts, lettuce, grated cheese and splodges of butter and jam. I don"t know why they didn"t let that old vacuum cleaner dog in. There were breadcrumbs stuck on my socks like hard little seeds.
"What's the matter, Micky boy?" asked Uncle Leo. "You look as though you lost a dollar and found twenty cents."
The twins, Johnny and Jeannie, stopped stacking dishes and looked at me. Royce paused with a chunk of bread and jam halfway to his mouth. Miranda put down her cup. Only Honey in her high chair went on eating.
Publisher: HarperCollins, $12.95
Age group: 8-12 years
