The Crunch Campaign (8 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

‘Bad news,' said her mum, poking her head around Katie's bedroom door.

‘What?' She'd had enough of her mum's news.

‘Georgie's sick. She says she's got stomach cramps – Liam thinks she's all right, but isn't sure about taking her to the concert.'

‘Bummer.' A smile crept across Katie's face. ‘So
Play School
and pizza are off? What a shame!'

‘Maybe not –'

‘Well we can't take a sick kid out in public, can we? What if she throws up everywhere?'

‘I don't think she's that sick – Liam says there's no fever or anything. But, Katie, we were wondering – I mean,
I
was wondering if you could mind Georgie here? It would be great if you would. Liam really doesn't want to disappoint the boys and Georgie will just watch TV while you do your homework.'

‘What about Mrs Parfitt? Can't she look after Georgie? She's her grandmother.'

‘Normally she would, but she's visiting her brother in Melbourne. It'll be fine, Katie, and I know you didn't really want to go to the concert.'

Katie wished her mind could speed up. She fumbled for words. ‘I – I – I don't think I can. I don't know anything about little kids!'

‘They're not much different from big kids. Why don't you get Lorraine to come over? She's great with little ones.'

‘Lorraine's – ah – going out.'

‘You'll be fine. And we won't be late, I promise. Katie, love, I really appreciate you doing this for me. So does Liam. Silly, but I'm quite excited about going to a
Play School
concert. I never got the chance to do that sort of thing with you. I was always too busy working.'

As her mum left the room, Katie felt herself getting angry. She'd never thought about things like missing out on kiddie concerts before. Why should Liam Parfitt's kids get her mum's attention? It wasn't fair.

‘Katie!' her mother called. ‘They're here!'

Katie mooched out to the front steps and watched Liam Parfitt lift Georgie from her booster seat. She didn't look that sick. Katie was a faker from way back and knew one when she saw one.

‘Thanks heaps for this, Katie,' said Liam, as they climbed the front steps.

Katie watched a plane passing overhead as her mother and Liam kissed.

‘Oh yuck,' said Georgie, ‘I'm going inside.'

Vanessa and Liam laughed.

‘What will I do if she's really sick? Like if she throws up or something?' said Katie.

‘Call me on my mobile,' replied Vanessa, a hint of frustration in her voice.

‘I think she's fine,' said Liam. ‘We'd better get going – we need to park and getting this lot anywhere takes forever.'

Katie groaned silently, picturing how life was going to be from now on, but her mother just smiled. Katie wondered why falling in love made people turn into idiots. The car backed out the driveway and she was left staring into the brown eyes of this soon-to-be stepsister. She turned on her heel and headed back into the house.

‘Where's the stupid phone?' she said as she flung cushions and bits of the Sunday paper around.

‘I don't know,' said Georgie, standing in a corner of the lounge room.

‘I didn't ask you!'

‘I'm the only one here.'

‘I wasn't asking anyone. I just wish my idiot mother could leave the phone on top of something, for once in her life.'

‘I think she's nice.'

‘Yeah, well, you haven't known her as long as I have.'

Georgie watched as Katie tore the room apart.

Then the phone rang. Its
buuurrrr,
buuurrrr
came from the front of the house, from Katie's room.

‘Aaaaaaagh! Stay right there!' she pointed at Georgie.

It was Dominic calling. ‘Good news,' he said. ‘Joel's in.'

‘Yeah, well, I'm out.'

‘But why?'

‘My mother's gone out with Liam and left me with one of his kids. Apparently she's sick.'

‘Erk. She's not vomiting, is she?'

Katie smiled. It was nice to know Dom's mind worked along the same lines as hers. ‘Nah, I think she's faking.'

‘How old is she? Can you leave her?'

‘Don't think so – she's only four, I think.'

‘FIVE!' Georgie bellowed from the hallway.

‘Five,' said Katie, ‘and an eavesdropping brat.'

Dominic thought for a moment. ‘Maybe Lorraine will stay with her and the rest of us can go to Rocklea.'

Katie had thought of this, but that wouldn't be fair. ‘No, it's my problem; I'll have to stay. But you guys go. Just come over the minute you get back.'

‘But, Katie – there's no point in going without you. There has to be someone else who can mind her.'

Furious tears stung Katie's eyes. ‘No, it has to be me.'

Suddenly, Georgie pushed open the door and hurtled into the room and onto the bed. Her eyes were wide and her lips were white. She wrapped her arms around Katie's neck and clung to her like a limpet.

‘Dom, hold on. Georgie –
off!
What's the matter with you?'

‘There's a scary lady in the house!'

Katie grinned. ‘Dom. It's okay. I think I've found a babysitter.'

Katie knew if she asked Nancy to babysit Georgie she'd say no, so she didn't. Instead, she cooked Georgie a ham and pineapple pizza and made her a caramel milkshake.

Georgie looked suspicious, ‘Why aren't you having dinner, too?'

‘I've got to go out for a while. I'll have mine when I get back.'

‘But who will look after me?'

Katie held Georgie's shoulder and led her down the narrow passageway that ran behind the back deck. She pointed at a peeling brown door. ‘My auntie Nancy is in there. Just knock if you need anything.'

Georgie froze. ‘The scary lady?'

‘She's not that scary, really. She looked after me heaps when I was little.' Katie didn't add that she'd always been terrified herself. She pushed the little girl back towards the kitchen. ‘Look, I'll get you a bowl of ice-cream and put the TV on. You probably won't even need to see her. Just forget she's here. You only need to call her if the house is on fire or something.'

‘I don't want to stay with her,' said Georgie firmly. ‘My dad said
you're
looking after me.'

‘I
am
looking after you. I'm not leaving you alone. I'm leaving you with a responsible adult.'

‘But she yelled at me.'

‘She yells at me all the time. That's why I keep out of her way – and you should, too. It's a lesson you need to learn.'

Finally, Katie got Georgie settled on the sofa. She looked small and frightened. ‘Come on, be a big girl. Nothing's going to happen and Nancy's there if you need her.'

‘C'mon, Kato!' Joel was down in the front yard. ‘We're off to Rocklea-eeeeeeeeeeee!'

Katie patted Georgie on the head and tried to ignore the little girl's stare.

She ran down the steps, and the others were waiting for her.

‘Right, explain what you're wearing as we walk, Lorraine.' Katie laughed. ‘It could take a while and we're in a hurry.'

‘Well,' said Lorraine, ‘I didn't know whether to dress undercover – to make out I work at the fruit markets, or in a way that would get us noticed. We want people to talk to us, right?'

Katie hadn't thought things through in that much detail. She hadn't thought through much at all.

‘So I went with a bit of both.'

‘You went with a bit of everything, you mean,' said Joel.

Lorraine was wearing a black dress – very businesslike, with a vest made of yellow hi-vis fabric, like the ones road workers wore, except Lorraine's fitted quite snugly. On her feet was a pair of black work boots with dayglo orange socks.

‘Where's the pom-pom?' Joel pointed at the black beanie on top of her head.

‘You really have no idea about fashion, do you?' Lorraine said haughtily. ‘There's nothing worse than overkill, so I cut it off.'

Katie sometimes enjoyed their bickering. It was as much a part of summer as cicadas and cane toads were. It put her in a happy mood – she was also excited. Being away from the house – especially leaving Georgie behind with Nancy – felt fantastic. But there was work to be done, even if she hadn't planned exactly what.

Dominic seemed to be reading her mind. ‘I think we need to talk more about what we're going to do on this little excursion than what Lorraine's wearing,' he said.

‘You're right,' Lorraine chirped. ‘Fashion should be a part of the event, not the event itself.'

‘Who said that?' Clementine was impressed. ‘Some famous designer?'

‘Yes. Her name is Lorraine Crabbe.'

Joel ran ahead and turned to walk backwards. ‘Quiche, this isn't about you. Dom asked a serious question and I want to know the answer. What are we doing going to the Rocklea markets on a Sunday night? I've got better things to do, you know.'

‘No you don't,' said Katie. ‘You don't do anything better than Mosquito Advertising stuff. Look, all we're doing is finding a client. We want to find someone who's big in the strawberry business and tell him –'

‘Or her –'

‘Or her, thank you, Lorraine – that we want to do some advertising for them and ultimately all the fruit and vegetable growers of Australia.'

‘Why would they agree to that?' Joel kicked a plastic bottle along the footpath.

‘Why wouldn't they?' said Clementine. ‘It's not like they do much now.'

‘They haven't got any money.'

‘Exactly!' said Katie. ‘And that's what I'm going to talk to Clara Whiting about on Tuesday. I want to take her a plan, and the more people we've got on board, the better it'll sound.'

‘I dunno. My dad says Clara Whiting is hopeless. Says she hasn't had a good idea since she was elected.'

‘Well, maybe we're going to give her one.'

‘That's my problem, don't you get it?' Joel stopped. ‘Dad wants to see Clara Whiting get chucked out at the next election. If he finds out I'm involved in making her look good, I'll be in major trouble.'

They stood still near the entrance to Toowong station. A train was pulling in.

‘So you think our idea's that good?' said Katie quietly. ‘You think it could make a difference to who's elected?'

Joel ran a hand though his floppy curls. ‘I didn't say that, but I ran it past my dad in a general way. He said it was the smartest thing he'd heard in three years. But he said Whiting wouldn't have the guts to make it happen.'

‘So why are you here?' said Lorraine.

‘Dad was cleaning out the garage and I didn't want to help. Come on, let's get on that train.'

The doors closed, then opened again five seconds later. A man in a Queensland Rail uniform stepped into the carriage. ‘Excuse me.' He smiled at Katie. ‘I believe you forgot something.' He was holding the hand of a little girl. It was Georgie.

‘We can't take a little kid to the Rocklea markets at night, Kato,' said Joel. They were standing up, just inside the doors. ‘You'll have to get off at Taringa and take her home.'

‘No,' said Dominic, ‘that's ridiculous. We need Katie. This is her show.'

‘Get Quiche to do it. She's the professional babysitter, isn't she?'

‘Stop being so mean, Joel,' said Lorraine. ‘Georgie might be little, but she has feelings. You never wanted to come in the first place because you were scared of what your daddy might say.'

‘I'll take her home,' said Clementine. ‘Someone has to.'

‘Guys, guys, be quiet for a second.' Katie needed to take control. ‘We're on our way now. There's no point in anyone turning back. We're just going to pretend Georgie isn't with us. Simple. She'll be absolutely silent the whole time, won't you?

Georgie's mouth was set in a straight line.

Lorraine bent down to talk to her. ‘Don't worry if Katie seems a bit tooshy. She gets like that sometimes. Here, you can hold my hand.'

‘Lorraine!' snapped Katie. ‘Don't be nice to her. She has to learn.'

It was getting dark when the train pulled into Sherwood. They hopped off and walked towards the exit signs. Katie took long, purposeful strides and the others matched her pace, so did Georgie, although she had to take three steps to Katie's one. Katie glanced down at her – at least she was dressed sensibly in shorts, t-shirt and a red hoodie. There were sneakers with velcro straps on her feet.

The buildings at the fruit and vegetable markets were made of corrugated iron and concrete. Row upon row of long sheds without walls. There were also huddles of shipping containers under them – some refrigerated. Cold air chilled their legs as they walked past. And everywhere were trucks and vans and people. The people were carrying boxes and shouting at each other, but the vibe wasn't angry, just busy. It was like there was some kind of race to get the fruit and vegetables where they needed to be, as though something disastrous would happen if the bananas ended up somewhere instead of the avocados. Katie felt her pulse quicken – she liked the markets. It seemed the sort of place where things happened.

‘Right, we need to find the strawberries,' she said, pulling Lorraine out of the way of a forklift truck loaded with watermelons.

‘That should be easy,' Lorraine almost had to shout. ‘We just have to follow our noses. Strawberries smell delish.' Against Katie's orders, she was holding Georgie's hand tightly.

‘I'm allergic to strawberries,' said Georgie. ‘They give me a rash. I can't eat them.'

‘Well, we're not here for dinner, so don't worry about it,' snapped Katie.