Sage Cookson's Ring of Truth by Sally Murphy and Celeste Hulme

SAGE

’ COOKSONS

f o g n i R uth Tr

The COOKSON'S

Cook On

The COOKSONS ’

Cook On

Sally Murphy

1

SAGE ’

COOKSONS

f o g Rin th Tru

For my family, who always believe in me.

First published in Australia 2016

by New Frontier Publishing Pty Ltd ABN 67 126 171 757 48 Ross Street, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia www.newfrontier.com.au Text copyright © 2016 Sally Murphy Illustrations copyright © 2016 New Frontier Publishing Illustrations by Celeste Hulme This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers.

All rights reserved.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Creator: Murphy, Sally, author.

Title: Sage Cookson’s ring of truth / Sally Murphy ; illustrations

by Celeste Hulme.

ISBN: 9781925059748 (paperback) Series: Murphy, Sally. Sage Cookson.

Target Audience: For primary school age.

Subjects: Bakeries--Juvenile fiction.

Motion pictures--Juvenile fiction.

Cooking--Juvenile fiction.

Other Creators/Contributors: Hulme, Celeste, illustrator.

Dewey Number: A823.4 Cover illustration and design by Celeste Hulme

SAGE ’

COOKSONS

f o g Rin th Tru

Sally Murphy

CHAPTER 1

‘L

ucy! Your mum’s here,’ my mum calls up the stairs.

‘Already?’ Lucy pulls a face. ‘I

was hoping she’d be late.’

I glance at the clock and smile. ‘She is!’

We’d been having so much fun together that we didn’t notice how late it was. We’d been talking, and listening to music and surfing the net, and laughing and doing all the things that we don’t get to do together when I’m away.

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‘Lucy!’ Mum calls again.

‘Coming!’ Lucy calls back, then turns to give me a hug. ‘Have fun on Harmon Island,’ she says.

‘I will,’ I say. I really enjoy travelling so often, and there’s always something interesting to do and see at the places we go. ‘But I’ll miss you,’ I add.

It’s true. Lucy is my best friend, and the only thing I don’t like about travelling with my parents is being so far away from Lucy.

‘I’ll miss you too. Just stay out of trouble.’

Lucy twists a strand of hair as she talks. ‘You gave me such a fright last time.’

She gives me a last quick hug before she runs downstairs. I hear the front door close as I turn to the open suitcase on my bed. I had better start packing.

It wasn’t just Lucy who got a fright on my last trip. When the chocolatier Marco 2

stranded my parents and me deep in the bush, we were really lost. There were moments when we didn’t think we’d ever get out. It was lucky that I had managed to get a text to Lucy before our phone reception cut out. It was Lucy who had raised the alarm that led to us getting rescued.

Thinking about this reminds me to pack my phone charger and slip my phone into my pocket. It took a lot of convincing for Lucy and I to be allowed to have mobiles to keep in touch. Of course, since it was those phones that helped us out of trouble on our last trip, my parents have stopped worrying that I’ll use it too much. Well, maybe they still worry a little bit. That’s what parents do.

I whip my phone back out of my pocket and open a new text message.

Miss you already.

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I think for a moment then add: Will bring you back something yummy.

As I turn back to my packing, my phone buzzes.

Miss you too. More chocolate?

I smile. Lucy and I have the same tastes in food, as well as lots of other things. When I’m home we go rollerskating, watch movies and talk for hours. When I’m away we like to read the same books, or look at the same websites so we can talk about them in emails or texts. And, of course, I get to share my travels with her so she can enjoy them too.

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CHAPTER 2

I

’ve never been to Harmon Island before. That’s one of the great things about having parents who are television

cooks. We get to travel to so many different amazing places. Just a few weeks ago we were in Newhaven, in Australia’s South West, tasting chocolate. Now we are heading down to Harmon Island, off Tasmania’s coast.

I look around my messy bedroom. My wardrobe is open and a couple of drawers 5

have clothes spilling over the top. ‘Mum!’ I call down the stairs. ‘What should I pack?’

Mum comes upstairs and stands in the bedroom doorway. She frowns a little when she sees my almost-empty suitcase and my very untidy room.

‘We have to leave for the airport in half an hour,’ she says, looking at her watch. ‘I thought you were going to pack before Lucy got here.’

Oops. Mum is right, but even before Lucy arrived we were busy chatting via text message. Of course I can’t tell Mum that.

She might remember that she wasn’t keen on us having those mobile phones.

‘Sorry,’ I say, and I mean it. ‘But I’m nearly ready.’

Mum shakes her head as she watches me throw jeans, shirts, jackets and underwear into my suitcase in one messy jumble. Then 6

she reaches over and tousles my hair. ‘Just as well I love you, Sage Cookson!’

She sees my schoolbooks sitting on my desk. ‘And don’t forget your schoolwork.’

Just because I get to travel with my parents doesn’t mean that I get out of schoolwork. This is a short trip, so my teacher Mr Thompson has set me some homework to do. When we go on longer trips we sometimes take a tutor along to keep me up-to-date, or I spend some time in the local school wherever we are based.

‘Be ready in twenty minutes,’ says Mum as she heads off to collect her own luggage, which I know will be packed already.

I quickly finish packing then throw on my favourite outfit for travel: jeans, colourful t-shirt and warm jacket. I slip into my walking boots, pat my back pocket to make sure my phone’s there, then head downstairs.

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In the car on the way to the airport, my parents chat about filming schedules and ratings and other television stuff. Sometimes it seems there’s no getting away from their work.

On the plane, I laugh when I see The Cookson’s Cook On, their show, listed in the viewing menu on the screen in front of me.

Normally I would choose something else to watch but I realise this is the latest episode, the one they filmed after we were rescued from the bush near Newhaven.

I decide to watch it.

There are no scenes featuring the amazing chocolate that Marco had made before he got it into his head that Mum and Dad were his competitors and had to be stopped at all costs. Instead there is a visit to a vineyard, an interview with a lady who makes yummy lavender-flavoured ice-cream and, at the 8

end of the episode, a clip from the judging of the local cooking competition, where Mum and Dad were guest judges.

I smile when the camera pans across the crowd and I catch a glimpse of myself on the screen. Usually I stay well away from filming. Mum and Dad are the famous ones, not me. Then I catch a glimpse of someone else: Nancy, Marco’s assistant. I remember seeing her at the judging, even though she shouldn’t have been there.

I shudder. I am still convinced that Nancy had something to do with Marco trying to get rid of us.

As I take the headphones off, Dad looks across at me. ‘What’s the matter, Sage? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

I point at the screen. ‘Just watching the latest episode.’

Dad smiles. ‘Did you like it?’

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I shrug. ‘It was okay. It’s just …’ I don’t know how to tell him how I felt seeing Nancy there in the final scene.

‘It’s okay,’ Dad says. ‘We all have some bad memories to deal with.’ He pats my shoulder.

‘But we got out of it alright, didn’t we?’

I try to smile. ‘I guess we did,’ I say.

Just then there is an announcement.

The plane is getting ready to land. As we straighten our seats and tighten our seatbelts, the conversation trails off. I try to shake my thoughts of Nancy and Marco as I get ready for our new adventure.

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