Read Online Fizzlebert Stump by A. F. Harrold - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: A. F. Harrold
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do that?’ Fizz asked.
There was a banging from the next room and the roaring sound of the television dipped down for a second as Mrs Stinkthrottle shouted, ‘Are you two cooking? Get on with it! We’re hungry!’ Then the telly got loud again and Kevin began to tell Fizz what he’d found out.
‘Well, last night, after I’d made them beans on toast, because that’s all I can make . . . Well, they went up to bed after locking all the doors and windows. She told me to keep on cleaning. Look, I’ve done this whole corner over here.’ (He was right, there was one corner marginally cleaner and tidier than the rest, but only marginally.) ‘Well, I had a snoop around. I couldn’t escape and I couldn’t sleep. I was too scared, yeah?’
Fizz nodded. He didn’t imagine he’d be able to sleep either, but he was impressed that Kevin had had the guts to snoop around with the Stinkthrottles asleep just upstairs. He didn’t know if he would have done that.
‘Well, I found this letter in the old woman’s coat pocket. She left it lying on the sofa. I was looking for the keys, but she must’ve taken them to bed with her. But I found this. Look . . . I reckon it must have something to do with it.’
Kevin handed him a scrunched up bit of paper that he pulled from his pocket.
‘You read that while I heat up some beans. We’d best do as she says. I’m a runaway now, and you know what happens to runaways?’
Fizz shrugged and shook his head, as if to say ‘No’.
‘Well, the police, they lock you away. Running away from your mum and dad, even if you didn’t mean to, well, that’s against the law and you’ll be put in prison. And I don’t want to go to prison. I don’t want to. She said my mum’ll hate me for running off. She said Mum wouldn’t even want to visit . . . wouldn’t come to visit me in prison. Oh . . . If we don’t do what she says, she’ll phone the police and they’ll come and take me away . . .’
Kevin looked as if he were about to cry, but Fizz put his arm round his shoulder and tried to cheer him up.
‘Look, it’s going to be alright,’ he said, not knowing if that was true or not. ‘We’ll escape somehow.’
‘But I’ll go to prison,’ Kevin sniffed, still not quite crying.
‘I don’t know,’ Fizz said by way of an answer. ‘I don’t know. That can’t be true, can it? If we could just find your mum and dad, maybe . . .’
‘But she said . . .’
‘I know, but . . .’ Fizz didn’t know what to say. The thought crossed his mind that he’d run away from the circus, from his mum and dad too. If what Mrs Stinkthrottle had said to Kevin was true, then it would apply to him too. He just didn’t know.
(Of course, the whole thing about runaways being sent to prison was just another of Mrs Stinkthrottle’s wicked lies, like the ones she’d told Fizz about the library. And besides, even if it was true, little Kevin hadn’t run away , he’d been kidnapped by the old lady, and there’s a big difference. Right now, somewhere out there, in actual fact, his mum and dad would be very worried, they’d be looking for him high and low. They might even have gone to the police, not to have him punished, but to get help in the search.)
‘Do your mum and dad know where you are?’ Kevin asked, between sniffs.
‘No. They’re still at the circus,’ Fizz said. ‘They probably don’t even know I’ve gone.’
‘At the circus? What are they doing at the circus?’
‘Well, they live there, don’t they?’
‘At the circus?’
‘Yeah, my mum’s a clown.’
‘A clown?’ Kevin looked disbelieving. ‘With the face and everything?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You’re joking?’
‘No, I’m not. That’s her job.’
‘Wow. That’s brilliant. Are you a clown too?’
‘No, I’m just a boy,’ Fizz said.
The look on Kevin’s face had changed. He no longer looked quite so scared. Now that he was distracted by thinking about Fizz’s strange life, he was actually
There was a banging from the next room and the roaring sound of the television dipped down for a second as Mrs Stinkthrottle shouted, ‘Are you two cooking? Get on with it! We’re hungry!’ Then the telly got loud again and Kevin began to tell Fizz what he’d found out.
‘Well, last night, after I’d made them beans on toast, because that’s all I can make . . . Well, they went up to bed after locking all the doors and windows. She told me to keep on cleaning. Look, I’ve done this whole corner over here.’ (He was right, there was one corner marginally cleaner and tidier than the rest, but only marginally.) ‘Well, I had a snoop around. I couldn’t escape and I couldn’t sleep. I was too scared, yeah?’
Fizz nodded. He didn’t imagine he’d be able to sleep either, but he was impressed that Kevin had had the guts to snoop around with the Stinkthrottles asleep just upstairs. He didn’t know if he would have done that.
‘Well, I found this letter in the old woman’s coat pocket. She left it lying on the sofa. I was looking for the keys, but she must’ve taken them to bed with her. But I found this. Look . . . I reckon it must have something to do with it.’
Kevin handed him a scrunched up bit of paper that he pulled from his pocket.
‘You read that while I heat up some beans. We’d best do as she says. I’m a runaway now, and you know what happens to runaways?’
Fizz shrugged and shook his head, as if to say ‘No’.
‘Well, the police, they lock you away. Running away from your mum and dad, even if you didn’t mean to, well, that’s against the law and you’ll be put in prison. And I don’t want to go to prison. I don’t want to. She said my mum’ll hate me for running off. She said Mum wouldn’t even want to visit . . . wouldn’t come to visit me in prison. Oh . . . If we don’t do what she says, she’ll phone the police and they’ll come and take me away . . .’
Kevin looked as if he were about to cry, but Fizz put his arm round his shoulder and tried to cheer him up.
‘Look, it’s going to be alright,’ he said, not knowing if that was true or not. ‘We’ll escape somehow.’
‘But I’ll go to prison,’ Kevin sniffed, still not quite crying.
‘I don’t know,’ Fizz said by way of an answer. ‘I don’t know. That can’t be true, can it? If we could just find your mum and dad, maybe . . .’
‘But she said . . .’
‘I know, but . . .’ Fizz didn’t know what to say. The thought crossed his mind that he’d run away from the circus, from his mum and dad too. If what Mrs Stinkthrottle had said to Kevin was true, then it would apply to him too. He just didn’t know.
(Of course, the whole thing about runaways being sent to prison was just another of Mrs Stinkthrottle’s wicked lies, like the ones she’d told Fizz about the library. And besides, even if it was true, little Kevin hadn’t run away , he’d been kidnapped by the old lady, and there’s a big difference. Right now, somewhere out there, in actual fact, his mum and dad would be very worried, they’d be looking for him high and low. They might even have gone to the police, not to have him punished, but to get help in the search.)
‘Do your mum and dad know where you are?’ Kevin asked, between sniffs.
‘No. They’re still at the circus,’ Fizz said. ‘They probably don’t even know I’ve gone.’
‘At the circus? What are they doing at the circus?’
‘Well, they live there, don’t they?’
‘At the circus?’
‘Yeah, my mum’s a clown.’
‘A clown?’ Kevin looked disbelieving. ‘With the face and everything?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You’re joking?’
‘No, I’m not. That’s her job.’
‘Wow. That’s brilliant. Are you a clown too?’
‘No, I’m just a boy,’ Fizz said.
The look on Kevin’s face had changed. He no longer looked quite so scared. Now that he was distracted by thinking about Fizz’s strange life, he was actually
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