Chapter Three: Mischief

"Can you pass me a cup, Jody?" Thalia asked that Friday morning at the breakfast table. It was an Inset day for everyone else.

Jody ignored her request, staring moodily into her cereal. Tyler sighed and passed a plastic tumbler.

"A'right, see yous," said Bailey, his football in his hands.

"Can I help you practise?" Harry asked.

"No, he'll just be a big fat show off like he was yesterday," said Jody moodily. She had gone into town with Bailey after school the day before.

May-Li sent Bailey into town with a shopping list, and Mike placed a large pan of vegetables on the table.

"Not for breakfast, no way!" Billie complained.

"Not vegetables again!" Tyler exclaimed. "I swear, I'm turning into a carrot." He held out his arm, which he'd coloured orange. "Look at my skin!"

"That's felt pen, you turnip," said Johnny, setting everyone off laughing.

"I love vegetables," Floss declared.

"Good," said Mike, "because those are for lunch and those are for tea."

Everyone started to moan again so Mike added, "It's your vegetable patch, kids. Waste not, want not." He turned to where May-Ali was piling vegetables into boxes. "What are you doing?"

"Sharing our surplus," May-Li explained. "We can leave them outside for the neighbours to take."

Jody and Tyler exchanged a look and Thalia knew exactly what they were thinking. "Can I help?" she asked. They both stared at her.

"Help with what?" Johnny asked.

"Uh, give out the veg, of course," Thalia said quickly.

"Yeah, we'll help too, May-Li," said Jody.

"That's nice of you," said May-Li. "I'll set up a table in the front garden for you."

"Thanks, May-Li," said Tyler. He ushered Jody and Thalia out into the living room. "So you're both in?" he asked.

Jody and Thalia exchanged a look. "Yes," they both said in unison.

Half an hour later and the vegetables were out on a table in the front garden, and people were starting to gather.

"How much do you think we can sell them for?" Jody asked. "Fifty pence or a pound?"

"A pound," Tyler confirmed, taking the turnip from her.

"A pound?" Harry repeated. "What are you doing?"

"It's our farm shop," said Tyler.

"Why give away stuff when you can make good cash?" said Jody.

"So, a pound?" Thalia clarified.

"Yep," said Tyler, placing the turnip back into the crate.

"Come and get your veggies!" Jody shouted. "Fresh picked this morning!"

"Look, you've got to big them up," said Tyler.

"Yeah, they're not just veggies," Thalia agreed.

"I am!" Jody protested.

"No, more like this," said Tyler, then yelling, "Organic, farm fresh, bursting with flavour! Come and get your veggies!"

Thalia laughed. "You're not going to get fresher than these!" she added.

Harry and Floss watched them with interest. "Can we help?" Floss asked.

"You two can be our assistants," said Jody. "Fifty pence an hour."

Floss and Harry grinned and exchanged a high-five.

Bailey came walking up to them, complete with a black and white dog on a rope for a lead.

"What's that?" Jody asked.

"It's a horse," said Bailey sarcastically. "What'd you think it is?"

"Whose is it?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, where'd you get him?" Thalia asked, crouching down to stroke the dog.

"I thought you didn't like me," said Bailey shortly.

"I don't," Thalia responded. "But the dog's pretty cute."

Bailey scoffed. "Well, he's no-one's. I'm just lookin' after him for the minute."

"What's his name?" Floss asked.

"Mischief," Bailey replied.

Suddenly, Mischief grabbed a carrot from the crate on the floor and took off towards the house. Thalia tried to grab him, the rope lead sliding out of her hands, and raced after him, Bailey in tow. They stumbled into the back garden, where some of the kids were putting out the washing. Mischief ran up to Ryan, who stepped backwards, the clothes basket in his hands.

"What, you scared of a dog?" Bailey accused.

Ryan dropped the clothes basket, grabbed a pair of pants, and threw them at the dog.

"Oi, they're mine!" Johnny protested.

"What is that animal doing here?" May-Li demanded, coming around the corner.

"Ask Bailey," said Johnny as Mischief kept barking.

"Loo rolls, bin bags, scourers," said May-Li, counting off the things on her fingers. "I do not remember putting dog on that shopping list." She looked at Thalia. "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"No," Thalia replied, raising her hands in surrender.

"Get inside," said May-Li. She glanced over at Ryan. "I'm going to have to wash those pants again," she muttered.

"I can help put the rest out," Thalia offered, gesturing to the washing, really wanting to know why Ryan was scared of the dog.

May-Li sighed. "Thanks, Thalia," she said, walking into the house. "We are not having a dog."

"So," said Thalia, rolling up the sleeves of her jacket and picking up the clothes basket, "How come you're scared of Mischief?"

Ryan raised his eyebrows, putting the pants back into the basket.

"The dog," Thalia clarified.

"I'm not," said Ryan, shaking his head slightly.

"Right," said Thalia, making it clear she didn't believe him.

"I can finish this myself," said Ryan sharply.

"But-"

"I don't need your help," he interrupted.

Thalia pushed the basket into his arms, marching off inside where the others were gathering in the kitchen.

"Do you know what? I had no idea Bailey even liked dogs," said Mike, busy chopping carrots.

"Well it doesn't matter," said May-Li, "because we're not keeping him, OK?"

"Why not?" Bailey asked as he came in. "I told this bloke I'd try and find him a home."

"Which bloke?" Mike asked.

"His owner died," Bailey explained. "He was gonna go to some dogs' home."

"Do you know what? You're going to have to tell this bloke that it's not your problem," said Mike.

"Why?" Thalia asked, leaning against the counter.

"You were going to let Frank keep Shadow," said Tee.

"Yeah," said Johnny. "At least this one's got the right number of legs."

"Well, we'll have to look at the options," said Mike.

"What options are those?" May-Li objected.

"I mean, we'll just have to see," said Mike with a strained smile. "Now that you're all in here, you can help with lunch!"

Thalia quickly escaped into the hallway. She suddenly frowned when she spotted Ryan walking past in his red shirt, and darted behind the bookshelf. What was he up to? She heard the crackle of a crisp packet as he neared the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Thalia stepped out, folding her arms across her chest.

"Why do you care?" Ryan asked, giving her a puzzled look.

Thalia's eyes narrowed but all she did was watch him walk up the stairs. She shook her head and went back out into the front garden.

"Where've you been?" Tyler demanded. "Take any more time out and you'll be getting less of the profits."

"Alright," said Thalia, "Sorry. Had a lot of customers?"

"Loads," Jody replied. "What happened to the dog?"

"Bailey wants to keep it," said Thalia, tucking a piece of red hair behind her ear. "And-"

There was a sudden piercing scream that came from the house. On instinct, Thalia jumped up and ran towards the noise.

"Hey!" said Tyler. "What happened to no more time off?"

"Sorry!" Thalia yelled, running into the house. She raced up the stairs to find the others peering into Carmen's room.

"Get. Him. Out!" Carmen shrieked, pointing towards the black and white dog that was chewing up her pillow.

"He hasn't touched any of my stuff," remarked Kaz, Carmen's roommate.

"Oh really? I wonder why," Carmen snapped.

"Bailey, I told you to lock him in your room!" Mike exclaimed.

"I did!" Bailey protested.

"Trust Bailey to get a psycho dog," Ryan muttered.

"No, Bailey, I'm sorry, but he is going to have to go to the dogs' home," said Mike. "Today."

The next day, Thalia walked into the kitchen around lunchtime wearing a pair of pale blue jeans that belonged to Carmen and another of Jody's t-shirts, only this one was plain grey.

"Thalia, could you take these bin bags out the back, please?" May-Li asked.

"Sure," Thalia replied, picking up the black bags and heading into the garden. Bailey was outside, chasing after Mischief. He looked exhausted already.

"Need any help with that?" Thalia smirked, dumping the bags into the outside bin.

"None from you," Bailey shot back.

"I thought he was going," Thalia called.

"Not if I train him," Bailey replied. "Can you go? You're wastin' my time."

"Alright, Master Dog Trainer." Thalia placed her hands together and bowed, laughing, and headed back inside.

Over the next few days, Bailey was hard at work trying to train Mischief, despite the others laughing at him. Thalia sank into the sofa, reaching for the remote, when one of the twins handed her a slip of paper.

"You are invited to a dog show," Thalia read. "Garden. Three o'clock." She turned to the other girl. "Thanks."

Later that day, they had all gathered in the garden for the dog show.

"Where are Jody and Tyler?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, and Floss and Harry," May-Li added.

"I'll go find them," Thalia offered, heading into the front garden.

Harry and Tyler were dealing with a woman at the front table, whilst Jody and Floss hung around a little further away. Eventually, Tyler came back to the others.

"What did she want?" Jody asked.

"Said we were doing fraud," Tyler replied.

"And that we could go to prison," said Harry.

"Come on, we're going to miss the dog show," said Thalia.

"Have you quit on our farm shop?" Tyler asked.

"Well, um..."

"It doesn't matter," said Floss. "Come on, Harry!"

They all went back into the back garden to watch Bailey's dog show. And at the end, the decision was made to keep Mischief.

A few days into the half term, Thalia was woken with the piercing sound of a rooster. Her eyes snapped open and she rushed out into the garden to see what was going on.

"Guys!" she exclaimed, seeing the chicken in the shed. "What have you done?!"

"Turn the chicken down!" Tyler shouted over the noise of the chicken and heavy music blasting over that.

"Everyone can hear it! Turn the chicken down? It's not music, Tyler!" Jody yelled.

Mike and May-Li came into the garden and Tyler quickly shut everyone inside the shed. "Turn it down! You're going to wake the neighbours!" May-Li told him.

"Lovely day. Just starting my morning fitness routine!" said Tyler on the spot. Thalia stared at him as he started doing star-jumps.

"It's a bit like being back at Glastonbury!" Mike laughed.

Suddenly, there was the loud sound of the rooster crowing.

"Was that... a chicken?" May-Li asked in disbelief.

"Oh, no that's just my phone," Tyler explained with a forced laugh. "Got it set to farmyard animals!"

"What?" Mike said.

"Yeah, it goes like 'moo', and 'baaaa'!" Tyler continued jumping through a strained smile. "And a 'neigh'!"

The rooster crowed again.

"That- that's very piercing!" said Mike.

"That's it now!" said Tyler. "Got to go!" He went inside the shed and slammed the door.

Thalia stood there, her eyes wide. "That's very..."

"Yeah," said Mike.

"I would say it's not usually like this," said May-Li with a wry expression, "But it is."

Thalia shook her head and went back inside, suddenly cold in her pyjamas. On her way in, she bumped into Bailey.

"Watch it," he said, but it lacked its usual spitefulness.

"What's up?" Thalia asked, frowning.

Bailey sighed. "It's Mischief," he admitted. "He's gone missing."

"Missing?" Thalia repeated. "No way." She had grown a little bit attached to that dog.

"Yeah, well he has," said Bailey. "Why would you even care? You've only been here five minutes."

"Maybe I'd rather have that mutt hanging around here than you," Thalia replied with a smile.

Bailey chuckled slightly, before returning to his serious expression. "I just need to find him, a'right?" He pushed past her into the garden.

Thalia sighed and went upstairs to have a shower and get dressed. When she came back down, her red hair damp and wearing a clean set of clothes, Bailey was coming back from the vet's.

"How's Mischief?" Tee asked immediately. From what Thalia could tell, Tee had been waiting anxiously in the hall for a while.

"Not now, Tee," said Mike quietly.

"Bailey," said Billie, "We found this so you can remember him." She held up Mischief's collar.

Bailey took the collar, examined it, and his expression hardened. "Thanks," he muttered. He burst into the living room with the twins, Tee and Thalia in tow, marching up to the pool table. "Mischief didn't escape," he said, dangling the collar in the air. "Someone took this off."

"What you on about?" Johnny asked.

"His collar," Bailey repeated, showing that it wasn't clipped together. "Who let him out of the shed?"

"Must've been itchin' on a pair of scissors or somethin'," said Ryan.

"I never said it was cut," said Bailey. There were several exchanged glances.

Mike came into the room. "What's up?" he asked.

"It was you," said Bailey slowly, meeting Ryan's gaze. "Because you were scared of him." He clenched his jaw and went for the other boy.

Mike quickly broke this up.

"Mike, the police just called back," said May-Li, popping her head round the door.

"Right," said Mike, taking hold of an angry Bailey, "Out."

"You got rid of Bailey's dog?" said Johnny, staring at Ryan in disbelief. Ryan just smirked. "That's harsh," Johnny added, going around the other side of the pool table.

Thalia, meanwhile, met Ryan with an icy gaze. "How could you do that?!" She stepped forward and went for him, determined to finish what Bailey couldn't. She pushed Ryan onto the floor, raising a fist.

"Hey!" said Johnny, pulling her off him. "You don't need to-"

Thalia struggled against Johnny's strong grip. "Get off me!"

"What Ryan did was wrong, but you don't need to hit him," said Johnny, looking from Ryan to Thalia with disapproval.

Later that day, when Thalia had managed to calm down, she went back into the almost-empty living room. Only Johnny, Carmen and Tee were there.

"Hey, big man. Who're we playing?" Ryan asked, sauntering in.

Johnny sighed and put his pool cue down.

"Mature," said Ryan. "I get it."

"Uh, mature isn't hurting an innocent creature," said Carmen pointedly, as Johnny sat by her on the sofa. "If you were scared, why didn't you just say?"

"Read my lips," said Ryan. "I. Wasn't. Scared."

"Thalia," said Johnny gently, "Maybe May-Li needs help in the kitchen?"

Thalia rolled her eyes but, realising he was just trying to get her out of another fight, followed his advice and headed into the kitchen. But not without giving Ryan a frosty glare. She found Tyler and Jody in the kitchen, busy chopping vegetables.

"What happened to the farm shop?" she asked, wincing as she realised Kaz was in the kitchen too.

"We got found out," said Tyler glumly. "We have to give all our profits back, and make veggie soup from the leftovers."

"Oh," said Thalia.

"Yeah, oh," said Jody. "You're lucky you pulled out before Trading Standards got on the phone." She paused. "Any news about Mischief?"

Thalia immediately scowled. "There's a heavy vet bill."

Jody didn't respond, but just stared down at the veg she was chopping.

"Right, I'm collecting for Mischief's vet bill," Johnny declared as he came into the kitchen.

"Floss, I need those vegetables for soup," said Kaz, gesturing to the vegetable people Floss was making.

"It's Johnny's body!" Floss objected. She turned to Johnny. "Fifty pence, please."

"Aren't you supposed to give me money?" Johnny frowned.

"Well, if you give it to me, I'll give you it back," said Floss reasonably.

"Alright," said Johnny, handing it over. Floss dropped the coin back into Johnny's paper collection bag.

"Thirty quid," said Tee generously, putting in her money.

"A few shopping vouchers," said Carmen. "Sorry, it's all I've got."

"This is peanuts," said Ryan. "If you want to make decent money, you need a good plan."

Carmen scoffed. "Like you'd care," she said.

"Yeah," Tee agreed. "It was your fault he got run over in the first place."

"Fine," said Ryan, "I was only trying to help. I'll keep the money for myself."

"Wait," said Johnny. "What money?"

"If you can't see it, I'm not going to say," said Ryan.

An hour later and he, Johnny, Kaz, and Thalia were out selling veggie soup to the public.

"Get your fresh veggie soup, here for one day only!" Johnny said as people came by their stall.

"Tickle your taste buds, sir?" Ryan asked one passing man. "Two quid a cup. You're not gonna get a better deal than that."

Thalia stared at him, wondering where this complete turnaround had come from. It made her suspicious, but as long as Ryan was helping towards paying that vet bill, she didn't mind taking his help.

"Warm cup of soup on a cold afternoon, miss?" she asked a lady with a few shopping bags hanging off her arms. "Fresh veggie soup made just this morning?" She smiled as the lady paid for a cup.

"Not too bad," Ryan muttered.

"Not bad yourself," Thalia replied.

When all the soup was sold, Johnny packed away the boxes. "We'd better get back to the Dumping Ground," he said.

They were all waiting in the hallway when Bailey got back from the police station for his interview about pushing the homeless man.

"150 smackaroos," said Ryan, getting up to give Bailey the money.

"What the heck is a smackaroo?" Thalia muttered, but she smiled Bailey's surprised expression.

"We all put in," Johnny added.

"Thanks to Kaz' super chef skills," said Ryan.

"That's lovely, guys," said Mike. "Thank you so much."

"Is there anyone who hasn't made money from our veggies?" Tyler joked, making the others laugh.

"Yeah, thanks," said Bailey gruffly, "but it's not enough."

But when the homeless man handed over more donations, Bailey and Mike ran out of the door and back to the vet's.

Mischief returned to the Dumping Ground some time later, much to everyone's joy. That night, when Mischief was lying on Bailey's bed, Thalia stood in the doorway, watching the others stroke him.

"Come on, girls," said Tee, leading the twins out, "Time for bed." She pushed past Thalia with the twins in tow.

"What do you want?" Bailey asked Thalia, stroking Mischief's ears.

Thalia folded her arms. "I'm glad Mischief's back," she said.

"Yeah, so am I," Bailey agreed.

"I thought, maybe, we could call a truce?" Thalia suggested.

"Yeah," said Bailey slowly. "Sorry for having a go on your first day."

"Sorry for pushing you back," said Thalia. She went over to stroke Mischief one more time as Ryan walked past.

"Aren't you going to say goodnight to Mischief?" Bailey called.

"No," said Ryan, as if it was obvious, "he's a dog." He glanced at Thalia before adding, "Just keep him out of my face and I'll be fine."

Thalia rolled her eyes at him, turning back to the dog. She gave Mischief one last stroke before heading off to bed.


A/N: Here's chapter three! Hope you all enjoyed reading it :) Chapter Four will be up before this time next week, depending if I finish it early. Thanks for reading and please leave a review below :)

Ginger xx