Kipp The Kid by Paul Day Read Free Book Online Page B

they don’t have much going for
them. What they do understand though is greed. They see something
they want and they will take it, whether they need it or not.”
     
    “So you are going to…tempt them? With those?”
     
    “Yep!”
     
    Jane smiled a beaming smile. She liked the way Kipp
thought. For such an unassuming lad, he could be very clever and
witty and this was just another side to him she liked.
     
    “You are full of surprises.”
     
    “And do you know what? These little gems, for all
their apparent beauty, are worthless.”
     
    “What?” Jane said and then giggled.
     
    “That’s right, they aren’t the real deal. At least
not a patch on the gems up north. And this?” He now held something
that glowed gold. A piece a little smaller than his hand. “This
will fool them completely.”
     
    “Is that what I think it is?”
     
    Kipp only smiled.

 
    chapter 8: A Fool’s treasure
     
    Kipp placed the treasure inside a wooden box that
looked as old as the mines themselves. Then with a bit of hot iron
he carefully inscribed a word he hoped the boys would recognize.
Then he and Jane buried the box at the base of the chasm wall at
the far end of the chasm. They then covered it with grasses and
cacti they had dug up from elsewhere, planting them so that they
looked like they had been there for a while. Kipp then inscribed
something resembling the British Crown above it on the rock.
     
    The two of them stood back and admired their handy
work. Then they looked at each other and laughed. Jane held a hand
up to her mouth and laughed into her wrist. She noted for the first
time how dirty it was.
     
    “Do I look as dirty as you do?” she said.
     
    “Filthy,” came the sure response, before they both
broke out in laughter.
     
    They returned to the hovel and had a lively
discussion about how long it would be before the boys returned and
whether they were smart enough to at least follow the clues that
two of them had planted all around the place, especially the tops
of the chasm. Kipp knew it was only a matter of time before the
boys could not resist returning. He suspected they would bring more
than just their cameras.
     
    Kipp and Jane talked for what seemed like hours. Jane
asked him about his parents and family and cousins and he told her
almost everything. When he spoke about his dad, it was with
careless indifference. But whenever he mentioned his mother, he
softened and slowed down, turning his gaze towards the flickering
candle light.
     
    He told her how his dad had left them and how it had
broken his mother’s heart. Even though he was only four years old
he still remembered the look of utter sadness on his mother’s face,
as she read out loud the letter his dad had written.
     
    “I will never forgive him for that,” he said, then,
after a moment’s pause he turned to Jane. “What about you? I mean,
I’ve told you all about me.” For a little while Kipp was convinced
she wouldn’t open up. But just when he thought she wasn’t going to
say, she started to tell him a story that for the first time in a
very long time, would bring a tear to his eyes.
     
    “My mother was killed right in front of me,” Jane
started. Kipp was surprised at how forthright her manner was. “We
went to town and caught the city tram because I had never been on
it before. It was just before my seventh birthday. We had planned
on spending the whole day there. Dad was off working in the mines
interstate for weeks on end and he was due home that weekend for a
long overdue break.”
     
    I had gotten off the tram, but mum’s dress got stuck.
The tram driver had gotten up to help her pull the dress from the
door. She turned to thank him and because she was distracted, she
stepped off the tram without thinking and walked right in front of
an oncoming car. The force of it killed her instantly. I remember
staring at her. She was smiling as she looked up to check where I
was. I will never forget that smile. It was the