and find his friends in the morning.
In the morning Nystagmus knocked on the door of Jennifer’s house. Her dad came to the door and said, “Jennifer has gone with her mother to the bank.”
Jennifer was robbing the bank again. Nystagmus knew she went bank robbing every Saturday morning where her mum worked as a volunteer. The bank was unique: people donated to the bank and others took what they needed from it, like a blood bank. But this was a milk bank, a place where mothers who had too much breast milk donated for babies that needed it. Mrs Jennifer – that’s what Nystagmus called her – he couldn’t say her real name which was Nguyen – Mrs Jennifer helped other mums whose little babies were sick or weak to receive the precious fluid.
Jennifer knew from her mum that breast milk was precious, so precious you couldn’t buy it in any shop. It could save the life of a baby that was too little for milk from a cow. It had saved Jennifer’s baby sister when she was born too early.
Jennifer helped her mum. Her job was to wash empty bottles. But the bottles were never quite empty. Jennifer helped herself to the drops of milk at the bottom, sucking up each drop with a large syringe. She counted every drop. She needed forty-eight. She collected fifty to be sure she had enough. Then she hid her big syringe in her backpack.
Nystagmus went around to Snoth’s place and told him what he had been thinking. He said: “Jennifer’s out. Robbing that bank as usual. She’s a bank robber and no-one even knows there’s been a robbery.”
The boys laughed. Then Snoth had an idea: “There are some things we need. I’ve seen them in the Bargain Shop. I’ll just go to my money box. They will cost six dollars.”
They hurried to the shop and bought three small personal alarms. The alarms came with batteries included. “One each,” said Snoth, handing Nystagmus his.
Outside the shop, Snoth pressed the button. The noise was tremendous: an old lady with blue hair cried out, “Police! Fire! Ambulance!” A big black dog barked once and ran away, yelping; a baby in a pram cried; another lady with a round tummy and gold glasses dropped her shopping. Oranges and eggplants, all gold and black and shiny, rolled over the footpath. Shoppers everywhere hurried to the boys and asked if they were they okay.
Snoth quickly switched off the alarm while Nystagmus helped the lady collect her eggplants and oranges.
“That’s a pretty alarming alarm,” said Nystagmus.
(Why did Snoth buy those alarms? Do you think the three friends are in danger?)
Chapter Eight
Although it was still very dark outside Snoth suddenly woke up. He opened his eyes wide and listened hard: some sound had disturbed his sleep. He looked out of his window into the blackness. He saw the branches of the lilly pilly tree swing and sway in the wind. They danced madly across the window as if something was chasing them and they were running for their lives. Snoth knew that was silly: No-one chases trees; trees don’t run away. I’m just a bit nervous, a bit of a baby.
Snoth lay flat again and tried to be a sensible and mature ten-year-old. But it is not so easy to be sensible and unscared in the dark, even when you are ten.
He looked out once more. This time Snoth knew he wasn’t imagining things. He had heard something. He looked out the window. Someone was in his garden, someone tall, wearing a cape and a large floppy black hat and mirror sunglasses – in the dark! Snoth could see all these things in the blackness of night because the person in the garden carried a torch that flashed once or twice and showed the face and the clothes and those spooky glasses.
Snoth wanted to see but not to be seen. He jumped back into bed and lay still. He didn’t move in case the visitor in the dark heard him. He tried to breathe very softly. The flashlight moved from Snoth’s side of the house towards the front door. Snoth knew what to do: if he moved now the intruder would not see or hear. He tiptoed to Bruce’s bed in the kitchen. He opened the kitchen door so Bruce could hear and smell the person near the front door. Bruce ran to the door, barking furiously. Snoth ran back to bed and pretended to be asleep.
The barking went on for quite a while. Then Saba shouted: “Bruce! Be quiet.”
Bruce barked louder than ever.
“Bruce! Don’t you understand English? Shut up!”
Bruce was obviously a very stupid dog who didn’t understand English: he kept barking at the front door.
Saba came down the stairs, carrying a newspaper, all rolled up. Bruce knew Saba wasn’t bringing the paper for him to read; the newspaper was a sign he was in trouble, but still he barked and jumped and snarled at whoever or whatever was outside the door.
Saba saw the hairs standing up on Bruce’s neck. He saw Bruce’s teeth and he heard the snarling. Bruce looked like he wanted to bite the door down just to get at the visitor.
Saba held Bruce by the collar and opened the door just in time to see a black cape fluttering behind someone running through the front gate and away from the house.
On the ground in front of him Saba found a piece of pink notepaper with writing in big black letters. At the top he read the words:
THIS WILL BE YOUR ONLY WARNING. And at the end it was signed: O.V.
(It’s bedtime children. Sweet dreams.)
Chapter Nine
When Snoth showed his friends what Saba had copied from the Bible, they knew straight away it made sense.
It is not good to be alone; for if you fall, you have no-one to support you.
If there are two, you have a helper.
But a threefold cord is not easily broken.
“A threefold cord – that’s us,” they agreed.
It was Jennifer who invented their special drink. She decided the three should have a Serious and Secret Ceremony. Her baby sister drank breast milk, but she didn’t have melted liquorice with it.
Wikipedia said breast milk made you strong, and safe from germs and all sorts of harm. Mum said her little sister would have died without breast milk. And when her mum took her to the milk bank, Jennifer saw the wasted drops and she knew what she could use them for.
At first she didn’t tell Nystagmus and Snoth what sort of milk she added to their drinks. Boys can be immature about things like that, she thought.
Later Jennifer told them the milk was rare and priceless. It tasted different from cow’s milk, thinner and a bit sweet. The boys liked it and Jennifer told them the whole story.
They had to keep it secret because it was stolen, sort of. And because it was strange: only babies drank breast milk. It was exciting to have a slightly criminal recipe for their drink. And it’s full of antibodies, said Jennifer. She said antibodies were good for you.
On the Sunday morning after the night visit, Snoth waited until they had drunk the secret drink. He said nothing until they had peeled and eaten the Onions of Weeping. It was his turn to read the Threefold Cord. And after all that he spoke: I saw that spooky man. Snoth’s voice was trembly: He came to my house in the middle of the night. Luckily Bruce scared him away. He left this letter.
Snoth took the folded pink page from his pocket. His hands shook as he showed them. Nystagmus and Jennifer read without speaking.
THIS WILL BE YOUR ONLY WARNING.
You stole my cat.
Give it back.
Or else.
I know where you live. I know what your friends look like.