Bear in the woods, p.15
Bear in the Woods,
p.15
Suddenly, Loretta burst through the bushes. For the first time since they’d met her she looked slightly dishevelled. Her hair was mussed, there was a mud stain on her jodhpurs and she was panting. ‘You’ve got to help me!’ she cried.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Fin, secretly hoping that it was bad enough so that when he solved the problem Loretta would be impressed, and yet not too bad so it was actually something he could easily heroically solve. Preferably something that required shortness so Joe couldn’t heroically solve it first.
‘Just come quick,’ pleaded Loretta. ‘They’re deporting Ingrid!’
Fin was right to fear another family member coming to Loretta’s rescue. But it wasn’t Joe. Dad took off sprinting, smashing his way through his own Daphne hedge.
The scene that met them on the Viswanathan’s driveway was certainly dramatic. There was a Department of Immigration van and two federal police cars parked at angles to block the driveway. Ingrid was being led out of the house in handcuffs by two burly officers.
‘What’s going on?’ demanded Dad.
‘Stand back, sir,’ said the senior officer. ‘This is a Department of Immigration situation. If you are a party with a concern in this matter, you can phone our hotline for more information.’
‘I will not!’ declared Dad, striding over to stand next to Ingrid. ‘I will not allow you to take this woman until I know what you’re accusing her of.’
‘Sir, it’s a simple matter,’ said the senior officer. ‘She is being deported because she has not got the proper visa.’
‘That can’t be right,’ protested Loretta. ‘Daddy had our lawyers sort out all her paperwork. They cost $800 an hour so I’m sure there were no mistakes.’
‘Yes, well, that may have been the case,’ said the senior officer. ‘But her visa has since been cancelled.’
‘You can’t do that!’ protested Loretta.
‘It’s our duty to do that when we discover a visa application was falsified,’ said the senior officer. ‘And that the applicant in fact has an extensive criminal record.’
‘Is that true?’ gasped Loretta, before remembering to speak Swedish. ‘Är det sant?’
‘Ja,’ said Ingrid.
Loretta looked heartbroken.
‘Jag var dum,’ said Ingrid. ‘Jag litade på Maynard.’
‘Is she calling us dumb again?’ asked April.
‘No, she’s calling herself dumb,’ said Loretta. ‘For trusting someone called … Maynard?’
The Peski kids glanced at each other.
‘I won’t allow this,’ said Dad. He was shaking, although it was hard to tell whether he was shaking with rage or his almost constant state of fear.
‘Dad,’ said Joe, putting his hand on his father’s shoulder. ‘There’s n-nothing you can do. You don’t want to get in t-t-trouble with the authorities.’
Dad turned on Joe. ‘No, a citizen must stand up against tyranny.’ Dad’s actions then immediately contradicted this when he dropped down onto one knee at Ingrid’s feet.
‘Oh my gosh!’ exclaimed Loretta. ‘Is he doing what I think he’s doing?!’
‘What?’ asked Fin, failing to pick up on the iconic body language.
‘Is he going to clean her shoes?’ asked April. Her brain wasn’t processing the situation either.
‘Ingrid,’ said Dad. ‘Will you marry me?’
‘She doesn’t speak English, you nincompoop,’ said April.
But Ingrid wasn’t listening, she was looking into Dad’s watery eyes. She smiled a small smile – which is a great show of emotion for a Scandinavian person – then surprised everyone by saying in perfect English, ‘Yes, Harold. I will marry you.’
‘Wow!’ said Joe.
‘She speaks English! said Fin
‘You know what this means?!’ exclaimed Loretta, grabbing Fin and April in a hug. ‘You’re getting a new mum!’
R. A. Spratt is the author of The Peski Kids, Friday Barnes and The Adventures of Nanny Piggins. In her previous life she was a television writer. Unlike the Peski kids, R. A. Spratt never fights with her brother, but only because he moved to Tokyo to get away from her. R. A. Spratt lives in Bowral, NSW, where she has three chickens, two goldfish, one dog, a husband and two daughters.
For more information, visit raspratt.com
Books by R. A. Spratt
The Adventures of Nanny Piggins
Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan
Nanny Piggins and the Runaway Lion
Nanny Piggins and the Accidental Blast-Off
Nanny Piggins and the Rival Ringmaster
Nanny Piggins and the Pursuit of Justice
Nanny Piggins and the Daring Rescue
Nanny Piggins and the Race to Power
The Nanny Piggins Guide to Conquering Christmas
Friday Barnes: Girl Detective
Friday Barnes: Under Suspicion
Friday Barnes: Big Trouble
Friday Barnes: No Rules
Friday Barnes: The Plot Thickens
Friday Barnes: Danger Ahead
Friday Barnes: Bitter Enemies
Friday Barnes: Never Fear
The Peski Kids: The Mystery of the Squashed Cockroach
The Peski Kids: Bear in the Woods
PUFFIN BOOKS
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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
First published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2019
Text copyright © R. A. Spratt 2019
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
ISBN: 9780143788843
Cover design by Tasha Dixon
Illustrations by Erica Salcedo
Internal design and typesetting by Midland Typesetters, Australia
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R.A. Spratt, Bear in the Woods
