Selby Scrambled by Duncan Ball Read Free Book Online

least not since the leash law was passed.’
    ‘Wrong,’ Denis Dorset said, calmly turning on his laptop.
    Suddenly a photo appeared on a big screen at the front of the court. It clearly showed Selby running down the main street of Poshfield.
    ‘Here is the proof,’ Denis Dorset said. ‘See the date code on the photo? That’s one month after our wonderful leash law was passed. Look at that monster’s face. Look at the hatred in his eyes, the bare teeth ready to tear the flesh of some innocent Poshfield person.’
    ‘I was scared, that’s all!’ Selby thought. ‘Old shark-mouth was right behind me nipping at my tail! You just can’t see him because he’s not in the photo.’
    ‘I’m stunned,’ Mrs Trifle said.
    ‘Maybe he’s not the sweet and innocent pet you think he is,’ the judge said.
    ‘That’s it,’ Selby thought. ‘I’m gone. Dr and Mrs Trifle will have to pay a fine. But if I tell them the truth I’ll give away my secret. It’s not fair to the Trifles but it’s better if they pay the fine. I’ll make it up to them somehow.’
    ‘I find Selby, the dog, guilty,’ the judge said, rapping his hammer again.
    ‘Okay,’ Dr Trifle sighed. ‘What’s the fine?’
    ‘According to this new law there is either a ten thousand dollar fine or ten years in prison.’
    ‘Prison? For a dog?’ Mrs Trifle exclaimed. ‘Is this a joke?’
    ‘This is not a joke, Mayor Trifle. And the one who decides which it will be is Mayor Dorset. I am sorry but I don’t make the laws. The Poshfield Council does that.’
    ‘But-but-but you can’t put a dog in prison!’ Dr Trifle cried.
    ‘Oh yes, I can,’ Denis Dorset said, rubbing his hands together. ‘And I will — unless you do us a favour.’
    ‘And what might that be?’
    ‘Give the town of Bogusville to Poshfield.’
    ‘Why, you sneak! You passed that law and you caught Selby just so that you could take over our town, didn’t you?’ Mrs Trifle said in a very cranky voice.
    ‘Come, come, Mrs Trifle, you’re just angry because you didn’t think of it first. Bogusville is a perfect place for us to dump our rubbish. Our sewers will empty into Bogusville Creek and we’ll send our poor people — not that we have many — to live in Bogusville. Poshfield will be the nicest town in Australia and, perhaps, the world.’
    ‘Hey, that dirty guy!’ Selby thought. ‘He can’t get away with this!’
    ‘That’s outrageous!’ Mrs Trifle yelled. ‘The people of Bogusville would never let you turn our town into your rubbish tip and sewer!’
    ‘Is that your final answer?’ Denis asked.
    ‘It certainly is!’
    ‘My advice to you, Mrs Trifle, is to convince your council to go along with the Poshfield Plan. If they don’t agree, then it’s bye-bye to your dog for a long, long time. I’ll give you till tomorrow to decide.’
    The judge rapped his hammer again.

    ’Take the dog to prison,’ he said. ‘Bring him back tomorrow for sentencing.’
    Selby lay on a bed in his cell at Poshfield Prison.
    Across from him was a big man covered in tattoos and snoring loudly.
    ‘What’s to become of me?’ Selby whimpered.
    As he looked up through the bars on the window to the stars above tears rolled down his cheeks.
    ‘It’ll be ten years till I see the Trifles again,’ Selby mumbled. ‘I’ll never see their kind and loving faces again, except when they come to visit —
if
they come to visit. They must be so angry with me. I wish I could tell them what really happened.’
    ‘Hey, you! Shut up!’ the man said. ‘I’m trying to get some sleep.’
    ‘Oh, no!’ Selby thought. ‘He heard me!’
    The man rolled over and looked at Selby.
    ‘I’ll just pretend I didn’t say anything,’ Selby thought. ‘He’ll think it came from the next cell.’
    ‘Hey, dog,’ the man said, ‘what’s your problem?’
    Selby closed his eyes and lay perfectly still.
    ‘Dog, I’m talking to you. What are you on about? You’re not fooling me. I know you’re