of next week â a week prior to the market. She even suggested advertising the market at the screening. Josh announced this to the class. The next day Marceline changed the date of the market to the Friday of the screening.
âNo one wants to watch some old television show at the drive-in,â she told Josh when he confronted her about the change of date. âWeâre going to make more money with the market.â
âItâs not a competition,â said Josh.
âSays you,â huffed Marceline, turning her back on him and stalking off.
âWhat is her problem?â asked Pete.
Josh shrugged.
âYou know, if this was a movie, weâd come up with some sort of plan to sabotage her market so that no one will go to it.â
âThatâs horrible.â Sally stared accusingly at Pete. âWe donât want the market to fail. That would mean less money for the RFDS. We want both events to be successful.â
âWell, itâs going to be hard.â Josh sighed. âChanging the dates was dumb. Now both things are going to get less people.â
âNot necessarily,â said Sally. âI think Marcelineâs date change is a good thing.â
âHuh?â Josh and Pete stared at Sally.
Sally grinned. âIâve got an idea.â
âI have a written proposal,â said Josh, holding above his head a couple of pages stapled together in the corner.
âOh?â said Ms Wright. âWhat about?â
Josh got to his feet and came out to the front of the class. âOur two fundraisers have turned into some sort of competition.â He looked at Marceline. She glared back. âAnd I think thatâs ⦠counter-productive.â He smiled to himself for remembering the word Sally had suggested. âI reckon it makes more sense to work together.â He glanced at Ms Wright. âCooperation.â He pointed to the âClass Principlesâ sign stuck up on the wall of the classroom, which included the word cooperation.
âInstead of running two separate fundraisers,â he continued. âWe should be working together.â
âIâm not giving up my market,â Marceline blurted out.
â Your market?â Her best friend Wendy wasfrowning. âWho drew the pictures for the poster?â
âYeah,â added Mai-Ling. âAnd what about all the opal chips I got my parents to donate to sell?â
âThatâs not what I meant,â flustered Marceline.
âWhat did you mean?â demanded Wendy.
Suddenly everyone was talking and arguing. Voices rose and tempers flared.
âClass!â called out Ms Wright. âSettle down, please. This is not a zoo. Settle down, right now.â
The voices subsided.
âWe shouldnât be arguing!â cried Josh. âWe shouldnât be competing. We should be working together.â He looked out at the sea of student faces, which ranged from angry to bemused. âCooperating.â
Ms Wright nodded.
âWe were talking about it yesterday,â he indicated Pete and Sally. âWe were thinking that rather than running two separate things, we should combine them.â
âHow?â demanded Marceline.
âHold them on the same day in the same place,â revealed Josh. âIf we set up the market at the drive-in, people can shop while they wait for The Flying Doctors to start.â He smiled at the class. âAnd if we run the market all afternoon, we can tell everyone who comes to return for the screening later. We could combine our advertising. We could all work together. And Iâll bet that weâll make more money if we do things that way.â
âThat is a great idea, Josh,â said Ms Wright.
âSally came up with it,â said Josh.
âWell, Sally,â said Ms Wright, âit was a very mature and sensible suggestion.â
Sally blushed then smiled, relieved that the heat she felt