Warrigal's Way Read Free Page A

wouldn’t have anything to do with that rubbish tucker, and the drinks Sue’s been filling you up with?”
    Nah, it couldn’t be that, I thought. That fairy floss is neat, once you learn how to put it in your mouth. And hot dogs—what ace grub. I thought Sue was having a lend of me when she asked me if I wanted a hot dog. “Get out!” I thought. Why would anyone want a hot dog?
    She must have sussed what I was thinking by the look on my face. “It’s in a bun, you eat it,” she said. But I thought, who would want to eat a hairy dog in a bun, hot or not. But I changed my mind when she got it for me. Should have told me it was a snarler in a bun. Comes from America, Nan said. Funny people callin’ a sausage in a bun a dog, but that’s Yanks for you.
    We had a great time in the sideshows, tossing hoops, throwing darts and balls at things, shooting guns, and we won all sorts of treasures, a painted plaster parrot, an ugly little doll on a stick, and an ugly ashtray, made and painted by a lunatic, which we threw in a handy rubbish bin. We agreed at tea that night that a great day was had by all.
    Next day was Friday and Sue went to work. She was a receptionist for a denist—I told her I didn’t want to meet her boss! Nancy was still on holiday, so she and I got a bus up on the corner and went to town. We went to a big shop, where they had a man and a woman driving the lifts. It was a magic place. It was huge, and had all sorts of different things on each floor that the lift stopped at, even a whole playground, Nan told me, with swings and a see-saw, whatever that is, but we didn’t go there. We went to this great big place with lots of chairs and tables, a restaurant, Nansaid, and we got a cup of tea, and I got a pie with sauce. Man, it was good. After we left there we went to the wharf, and Nan said we were going to Manly on the ferry. We got tickets and waited on seats in a building by the water, and I saw the ferry come in, big, white and green, whirring and growling as it bumped into the wharf. A man tied it up with a rope, a set of stair things came from somewhere and people came out of the ferry and down the stair thing like chooks being let out of the hen house. We waited until everyone came out and we went on to it. Nan was pulling my hand as we were walking up these stair things, but I was trying to walk on the boards, and miss the gaps. I could see the water under it and that had me worried, as I thought I might fall through one. They were about two inches wide, and it was scary. It was great once we got on board though. We went and sat right up the front, just back from the sharp bit. The water was shining in the sun, and sort of sparkling, like the waves were dancing. I thought it was wonderful. It was a beautiful sunny day, just the day to be on the harbour. There was nearly too much to see, and my eyes were going twenty to the dozen trying to see everything. We saw this huge war boat with big guns sticking out all over the place. Nan said it was a Navy boat, but she didn’t know the name of it. There was a heap of smaller boats around it, some going and some tied up. The houses looked bright and nice—everything looked different from the sea. It was one of the greatest things that had happened to me, the feel of the boat rocking up and down, the fresh clean smell of the wind, sort of laced with the smell of the sea. I can’t describe that, except you could nearly taste it. I was sorry when we got back and banged into the Sydney wharf, and I had to walk on that gappy board thing again.
    â€œDid you like that?” asked Nancy. I could only thank her, my eyes still shining. How could you describe something as wonderful as that. So she gave me a hug, and I thought she was one of the most wonderful people in the world.
    Sue was home when we got back, and as Nan finished getting tea ready, I bombarded Sue with the tale of our adventure. We had tea