Squishy Taylor and the Mess-Makers (6 page)

Carmeline is at the seventh-floor level now. It’s really high. The camera is sliding up alongside her at a slow, steady speed. I wish
I
was climbing the building with a camera beside me. The harness she’s wearing is almost invisible. Her safety rope goes all the way up to the roof. I guess there’s a rigging point up there.

I remember our mission. Who are all these people, and who is framing Carmeline? Could it be one of the camera operators? Where’s the Nanny?

‘
Oi, you!
’ says a familiar voice. ‘I know you.’

It’s the Nanny. She’s over by the cameras and she’s pointing directly at me. She looks really determined.

Vee sees her too and groans. ‘Oh no.’

The Nanny starts striding towards us. We’ve got two options. Turn ourselves over or run.

We run
. Of course.

I dodge around the side of the truck and under the leg of a big black tripod. There’s a row of folding chairs and I skid around them,
bumping
a table with croissants on it. Vee
thuds
after me and the Nanny is right behind her. I
knock
into a boy in an apron. ‘Sorry, really sorry,’ I say. He half-laughs as I duck away from him and keep running.

The Nanny shouts, ‘You kids, stop right now!’

I can hear the people at the fence laughing at us. I run past a row of cameras, and step on a clipboard that’s on the ground. It slides like a skateboard under my feet. I
skid
off it and keep running.

I hear a familiar dog barking beside me. It’s that puppy. He’s got a
big grin
on his face and his tongue is
lolling
out one side. He’s leaping around ridiculously at my feet, like I’ve just asked him to play a game. I want to pick him up and cuddle him, but there’s no time. I reach the building on the other side of the road, the one Carmeline Clancy is climbing. Except she’s not – she’s abseiling down, fast.

Vee and the Nanny are both trying to follow me, but somehow we’re all
tangled
up together with a
frolicking
puppy.

Two paws leap up onto the Nanny’s knees and a big
sloppy
tongue tries to lick her hand.

‘Bad dog,’ calls a voice. I turn and see Carmeline, running towards us, trailing her safety lines. Behind her, the cameras are in chaos.

A red-faced man is shouting, ‘Cut. Cut! Carmeline, what are you
doing
?’

‘Bad dog,’ Carmeline says again.

The puppy doesn’t think he’s bad at all. He thinks the Nanny loves him. His tail is
wagging
faster than a heart beating. The Nanny is totally distracted.

Now’s our chance. I grab Vee’s hand and we
bolt
for the end of the laneway. No-one follows us.

Jessie meets us at the front door to our building. She looks scared but then sees we’re OK and bursts out
laughing
. We’re breathing hard from so much running, but we laugh too, slumped against the foyer wall.

I’m kind of expecting someone from the film to turn up and tell Dad and Alice how bad we are.

What I’m not expecting is the news.

Dad and Alice are laying out food on the table when it comes on. We’re
sprawled
on the floor, trying to pretend everything is normal.

The announcer says, ‘
In breaking news, budding film star Carmeline Clancy has had her contract cancelled this evening, due to erratic behaviour both on and off film. Controversy has dogged young Clancy since her arrival in Australia earlier this week
.’

There are some old shots of Carmeline rock-climbing. Then suddenly it’s footage of the street outside our building. Luckily, Dad and Alice are talking loudly, not paying any attention, as the three of us lean in to the TV.

There’s me,
bolting
under a tripod with Vee
dodging
along behind. There’s the Nanny running through the crowd. The puppy is knocking over chairs and slipping between cameras. The film set is
total chaos
.

‘
Clancy’s security guard is blaming some cheeky fans for today’s events
.’

The Nanny comes up on the screen.

I grab Vee’s arm. ‘She’s a security guard. I
knew
she was more than just a Nanny.’

The Nanny starts speaking. ‘
This afternoon’s events were caused by some out-of-control fans who broke onto the set. People shouldn’t blame Carmeline
.’

The reporter comes back on.
‘Clancy continues to deny claims that she’s caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to her hotel room over the last four nights. The young mess-maker has been confined to her hotel room until further notice.’

I sit back on my heels and glance at my bonus sisters. Out-of-control fans. Confined to her hotel room. Carmeline isn’t the only mess-maker.

‘You know what this means,’ I say in bed that night.

‘What?’ Vee asks.

‘It’s
our
fault that Carmeline got fired,’ I say. ‘So now we really have to prove she’s innocent.’

I think about Mum’s justice work for whole countries worth of people. Proving that Carmeline Clancy is innocent feels like the least I can do.

‘How will we do it?’ asks Vee.

‘Set up a tiny video camera in the hotel room?’ suggests Jessie.

‘Get a tiny microphone and clip it on the Nanny’s coat,’ I say.

The others
giggle
and start making stupider suggestions.

‘Make X-ray glasses that see through walls.’

‘Make a truth spray and spray it on the Fancy Men so that they tell.’

We laugh so the bed shakes.

‘
Kids!
’ Dad calls. ‘We can hear you.’

I pull the doona up and shove the corner in my mouth to stop the laughs getting out.

When I’ve calmed down, I start to think about Carmeline locked in her hotel room. I think about how she doesn’t have her mum, just a scary Nanny.

The next day is Friday and we don’t have a Carmeline Clancy Plan. All I know is that we have to do
something
. At school, everyone is even meaner about Carmeline Clancy than before. I try to think of a plan, but I can’t.

When we get home, Baby is lying on the rug screaming while Dad
flaps
around the kitchen. He’s made pizza dough, which is rising in a big bowl on the bench.

‘There’s no mozzarella,’ Dad says, picking up Baby and sitting him on his hip. Dad tips the dough onto the bench and starts pushing it one-handed.

Jessie and Vee stare. Alice buys frozen pizza bases, so this is weird for them. Baby keeps crying and starts to
twist
backwards out of Dad’s arm.

Dad grabs him with his flour-covered hand and says, ‘I haven’t even started making the sauce.’

‘Want us to take Baby and go get mozzarella?’ I ask.

Dad gives me a
floury kiss
on the top of my head. ‘Squishy, that would be amazing. Wallet’s in my coat pocket.’

Vee helps strap Baby onto my front. I jiggle him and nuzzle his cheek with my nose while Jessie grabs a shopping bag.

‘See you soon, kids,’ Dad calls, as he closes the door behind us.

The shop is on the far corner, past Carmeline Clancy’s hotel. We
dawdle
near the tree, watching the Fancy Men.

Baby has my hair in both fists and is pulling pretty hard. I use untangling his fingers as an excuse to pause near the hotel. The others stop beside me.

‘Hey, look!’ Vee says, pointing.

Carmeline Clancy pushes open a window on the second floor. We’re so close, almost underneath her. She leans out, looks at the tree branch beside her, and then ducks back inside again. Not for long.

Another shape fills the window. I’m confused at first. It’s
grey
and
squirming
. Then I realise. Carmeline Clancy is lifting the puppy out the window.