chapter 3
Tucker for the garden
The next day, Yirra gets ready for school quickly, ties her hair in pigtails on each side of her head and goes to leave the house. Demon follows her with her blue cap in his mouth.
“You’re a clever dog, aren’t you boy? I would’ve got in trouble if I went without my cap.” On the way to school Yirra ignores Kilarlia, who is singing to herself. She is busy thinking about the garden and is looking forward to choosing plants with the other kids.
As the big blue bus pulls out of Yarra Road, all the kids cheer and Demon runs alongside it. Yirra feels sad leaving him. And what if he ends up in the pound?
“We should’ve brought him with us,” Mary says, rubbing Yirra’s shoulder.
“He’s one of us,” Matt says, smiling at Yirra.
“You’re all being silly, he’s just a dog!” snaps Judy.
“You’re really mean sometimes, Judy. When you say things about Demon it hurts Yirra’s feelings,”
Mary says, glaring. Mary and Judy have a lovehate friendship.
When they get to the community nursery Aunty Shirley calls out, “Everybody off!”
They pile out of the bus and start looking around at the seeds and plants, trying to decide what they want for their Harmony Garden.
“I’ll have the bush banana plant, cos they make the best smoothies,” Matt says, carrying his plant to the council staffer.
“Figs are the best, I reckon,” Yirra says. “I love them when they’re baked. We have them with ice cream and bush honey for a treat sometimes.”
“Look,” Mary whispers, nodding her head in the direction of a Koori fella who’s wearing khaki
clothes, big sunnies and has his hair tied back in a ponytail. “Who’s that?”
“Hi kids, I’m Clarence the ranger, and I’m going to help you with the garden. You need to be aware about what you plant and what you eat. Some berries are toxic, so you can’t just eat anything.”
“Can we eat the wombat berry?” Judy asks.
“Yes, the orange berry has black seeds and they’re safe.”
“We can eat cranberries, I love the juice,” someone yells from the back.
“They’re not native to Australia!” Judy yells back.
SAMPLE
“No, but Native Americans first used them, many years ago, and they’re Aboriginal people too, so I reckon you can have them in your garden,” says Clarence.
“Clarence is really clever, don’t ya think?” Mary’s cheeks begin to glow.
“I reckon he’s a cool dude!” Matt likes him too.
“I’ve heard him tell stories before and he can rap and dance.”
“What about some tomatoes, they’re a fruit too you know?” Mary changes the subject before anyone notices she has a crush on Clarence. She used to like Jarrod, but he’s hardly ever around now that he goes to high school.
“Tomatoes are rich in calcium, potassium and phosphorous,” Judy starts to brag. “And they’re good for migraines and headaches, like if a dog can’t bark properly and just makes a weird noise all the time.” And she throws a glare at Yirra.
“What else do you want to grow?” asks Aunty. “What about native spinach? The Dharawal call it Warrigal greens.”
“Warrigal greens?” the new kid John asks.
“Warrigal is the Dharawal word for ‘dingo’ and they would roll around in the plant to scratch themselves. It grows wild out at La Pa.”
Yirra says, “I’ve seen Demon doing that but I just thought he was playin’ up.”
“Ewww, spinach makes you fart,” someone whispers, loud enough for everyone to hear and they all laugh, even Clarence and Aunty Shirley.
“My mum calls it poor man’s spinach,” Yirra says, hoping Matt notices her.
Clarence says, “It’s really good for you; just make sure you cook it first. Now, who wants to plant a lilly-pilly?”
No one puts their hand up but Judy says, laughing, “What about you Mary? It’s sweet, just like you.”
Mary blushes and takes the plant from Clarence.
“Yeah, and it’s delicate and spongy like you too, Mary.” Judy thinks she’s funny.
“Maybe you’d like a tea tree,” Mary says to Judy. “The oil can kill nits.”
The kids all laugh and start to scratch, even Clarence. Judy’s annoyed and grabs a plant off the shelf.
“That one is a lemon-scented tea tree which is also a natural citronella, so it’s good for keeping mozzies away,” Clarence tells the class.
“Yummo!” comes a moan from John. “Can we have one of these Illawarra plum trees, please, can we?” he asks, and Principal Paul nods yes.
When they get back on the bus the kids are busting with excitement, clinging to their plants and talking about the garden. No one can wait to get started on the project.
At home that night, Demon sits on the back step sheepishly, with a cricket ball and a kite next to him.
“Demon, where did these come from?” Yirra looks at the damaged kite and the hard red ball.
“Hey, what’s this?” Jarrod says, picking the ball up and tossing it in the air. “I hit this for six out at the oval the other day and couldn’t find it. And when Kilarlia and I were flying the kite yesterday it was so windy the string broke and we lost it. It just spiralled away and that was that.” Jarrod bends down and gives Demon a hard rub and hug.
“My dog is good at finding things, eh?” Yirra says proudly. “Let’s take him for a walk. Will you come, Mum?” Yirra hopes her mother will bond with Demon and not get so angry with him all the time.
“Well, I do need some exercise. Just a quick one.”
Jarrod, Kilarlia, Yirra and their mother walk to the Sucko, also known as Yarra Bay. Demon runs ahead of them, but stops at every street corner and waits to cross the road.
“See Mum, Demon even knows how to cross the road properly.”
Rachel doesn’t say anything. They arrive at the beach and Demon takes off, running fast, stopping and turning in circles, running some more then rolling on his back in the sand until they all catch up.
“Stop it!” They hear a cry from a young girl up the beach. Two teenage boys all in black have stolen her frisbee and are throwing it to each other while the girl and her friend try to catch it.
“Give it back, that’s ours!” the other girl screams, but the boys just keep laughing and teasing them.
“That’s cruel,” Jarrod says. “I’ll go sort them out.” He runs towards them yelling, “Hey, leave those kids alone!”
But Demon is ahead of him. He speeds up and leaps into the air, grabbing the frisbee with his
mouth mid-flight then walking over to the girls and dropping it. They pat and hug the big husky.
“I’ll deal with you at school tomorrow,” Jarrod yells after the boys, who have run off laughing.
“Who are they?” Yirra’s mum asks, concerned.
“New kids at school, from England, they’re in my class, they’re twins,” Jarrod says, a little puffed.
“But they’re always in trouble, and they’re sent to the headmaster’s office nearly every morning,”
Jarrod says, doing the inverted comma signs with his hands. “They say school here is boring.
But they never do any work so that’s why they’re bored.”
“He’s our hero,” the young girls walk over to Yirra with Demon.
“Mine too,” Yirra smiles towards her mother.