Forest Secrets Read Online Free Page A

don’t be surprised if I do win it. I’ve got plans.’
    I smiled and said, ‘You’re full of surprises, Snook Kelly. I won’t bother to ask what’s on your mind. It’s bound to be something out of this world anyway, so c’mon, let’s go and do something useful like ask Sam for one of those entry forms. I’ll help you fill it in.’
    Walking home and licking the chocolate ice-creams that Sam had recommended earlier, we looked over Snook’s entry form. Pointing to a section near the bottom, he read out aloud, ‘It says here that the photos are to be about the West Coast. It said that on the poster too. That’s where my plan comes in. I’m gonna take photos of the wild animals that live around here.’
    â€˜Yes, you could,’ I said, surprised that Snook’s idea was a sensible one. ‘And you wouldn’t have to go very far, either.’
    â€˜No, I wouldn’t. There’re lots of wild animals out there. The gorge would be a good spot and it’s only a couple of kilometres out of town. So would Snaky Creek and Mucky Lagoon. There’re wallabies, wombats, quolls, devils and lots of other animals out there; there’d be different types of birds too. I might even get a photo of one of those rare ones like the orange-bellied parrot. Whatcha think?’
    â€˜You never know what you’ll see out there, day or night. You could come across anything. Has your camera got a flash by the way; you’ll need it for the nocturnal animals? There are lots of those.’
    â€˜No problem. The digital Mum and Dad gave me for my birthday has one. But I do have one major hurdle to get over … the $10 competition fee.’
    â€˜Don’t worry. We’ll come up with that somehow,’ I said, not really knowing how we were going to do that. ‘But right now you could have a more urgent worry.’
    â€˜Oh?’
    â€˜Yes, I think so. Just as we were leaving Sam’s, I saw Quenton Quigley and he was making a beeline for the shop clutching a $10 note. I’ll bet you anything you like that he’s going to enter the competition too. I wonder if that was what he was talking to Gloria about earlier today, and I wonder if he’s got the same idea as you – about winning it and then asking her out to dinner.’
    â€˜He’d better not have. Gloria’s my girlfriend, not his.’
    â€˜You know what, I think you should talk to Gloria. Let her know how you feel. From what you’ve told me, she might just be wondering where she stands, especially after today and last night.’
    As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted saying them. Bringing up last night was the last thing I wanted to do. I was about to apologise when Snook, looking a little sheepish, said, ‘Yeah, okay, I know what you mean. I’ve been an idiot. The next time I see her I’ll apologise. I’ll tell Gloria that I’m her boyfriend, not Quigley. I’ll tell her that I’m heaps better than him.’
    I smiled to myself. Snook was going to need some coaching lessons before talking to Gloria about boy-girl matters. I could see that.
    For the second time that day, Snook and I were sitting in the lounge room. It was nearly six o’clock. The television had been switched off and for the past thirty minutes I’d been drilling Snook on the dos and don’ts of boy-girl etiquette. I was no expert, but I figured I knew more about the subject than Snook. It was proving to be hard work, like wading through mud. ‘Stop squirming and looking at the ceiling, Snook,’ I said for the umpteenth time. ‘It’s not easy trying to turn you into a gentleman.’ I was only joking of course, but all the same I think I was getting a tiny bit exasperated with the whole exercise.
    â€˜What are you on about? I am a perfect gentleman.’ Snook pointed to Shadow who was curled at my feet as usual.