Sage Cookson's Stormy Weather by Sally Murphy and Celeste Hulme

SAGE

’ COOKSONS

y m r o St r

e h t a We Sally Murphy

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SAGE ’

COOKSON S y m r o St her Weat

SAGE ’

COOKSON S y m r o St her Weat

Sally Murphy

CHAPTER 1

WELCOME TO

TOWNSVILLE

‘W

here are you going this time?’ my friend Lucy asks when I tell her I will be away from

school the following week.

‘Townsville,’ I say. ‘In Queensland.’

‘Is it near Crystal Bay?’ she asks.

I shake my head. Last year Lucy came with us when we visited Crystal Bay. It was a fun holiday, even though I was locked up in a storeroom by a mean lady called Nancy who thought I was spying on her.

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‘No, Townsville’s a lot further north than that. But Mum says it does have some nice beaches, so I’m hoping there’ll be time for swimming.’

Lucy sighs, looking outside at the cloudy sky. ‘Is it okay if I feel a teensy bit jealous?’ she asks. ‘Think of me stuck here at school, won’t you?’

I smile. ‘I’ll send you a postcard,’ I say.

‘And of course I’ll text you every day.’ She smiles back. ‘And,’ I add, holding up the pile of work our teacher Miss Patel has just given me, ‘don’t forget I won’t really be on holiday. I have all this work to get through.’

Lucy’s eyes widen. ‘How long are you going for?’ she asks, staring at the stack I’m holding. ‘Surely you can’t do all that in a week!’

It’s my turn to sigh. ‘I know, right? There won’t be much time for sightseeing in 2

between writing my narrative, and reading all about weather, and –’ I flick through the pile. As well as the writing and science work, there’s maths, humanities and so much more.

Lucy nudges me. ‘Don’t look so sad!’ she says. ‘You’ll be in another cool new place. And, knowing you, you’ll still find an adventure or two to have.’

She’s right. I travel a lot with my parents, who are the famous television chefs the Cooksons from The Cooksons Cook On. We go to lots of interesting places so that they can film for their show. Wherever they go, I go too – and, it seems, wherever I go, some sort of trouble finds me. Apart from Nancy locking me up, I’ve been accused of stealing a ring (I didn’t – and I helped find it), I’ve been abandoned in the bush with my parents (by Marco, Nancy’s boss) and 3