Selby Sorcerer by Duncan Ball Read Free Book Online Page B

allergy of yours didn’t last long,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘Two sneezes and you were off to sleep.’
    ‘Yes, I’ll probably never know what I was allergic to. Oh bother, I’d completely forgottenabout those silly cosmetic kits. I really don’t want to sell them.’
    ‘Then don’t,’ Dr Trifle said.
    Dr Trifle looked at the cosmetics kits and then leant down to pat Selby.
    ‘You’ll just have to
a-choo!
stand up to her,’ he said.
    ‘Excuse me?’
    ‘I said you’ll just have to
a-choo!
stand up to her.’
    ‘That’s what I thought you said. You seem to be developing an allergy too.’
    ‘Me?
A-choo!
I guess you’re right. There’s
a-choo!
something over
a-choo!
here that’s making me … it’s making me …
a-choo!’
    ‘ Sneeze,’ Mrs Trifle said, finishing her husband’s sentence. ‘Oh, no,
a-choo!,
here comes Madame Mascara.’
    ‘Don’t tell me,’ Madame Mascara said as she came through the door. ‘I see that you’ve decided to sell the kits. Good decision.’
    ‘You’re wrong,’ Mrs Trifle said firmly. ‘Speaking of seeing
a-choo!
I can barely see at all.
A-choo!
Could you please
a-choo!
hand me a tissue?’
    ‘What’s wrong with you two?’ Madame Mascara said.
    ‘We seem to be allergic to something,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something in your kits.’
    ‘Impossible!’ Madame Mascara cried, picking up the kits. ‘All of my products have been tested. There’s nothing in them that would make anyone sneeze or scratch. It’s probably that dog of yours that’s doing it. Lots of people are allergic to dogs.’
    ‘But we’ve never been allergic to him before now.’
    ‘That doesn’t mean a thing. People can suddenly get allergies,’ Madame Mascara said. ‘I’d get rid of your dog if I were you. Phew. He is a bit on the nose, if you ask me. Anyway, if you change your mind about selling these lovely cosmetics kits, give me a tinkle. My new phone number’s on this beautiful rainbow-coloured notepad,’ she added, peeling off a sheet and leaving it on the coffee table.
    ‘Get rid of me?’ Selby thought, after Madame Mascara had left. ‘On the nose? I’m a dog, for heaven’s sake, not a bouquet of flowers.’
    ‘Get rid of Selby?’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘Well, no, I don’t think so.’
    ‘It is true,’ Dr Trifle said, ‘that people can develop allergies to things that had never bothered them before.’
    ‘You mean, like Selby?’
    ‘Well, we don’t know, do we?’ Dr Trifle said. ‘Let’s do a scientific test. Come back into the kitchen.’
    Dr and Mrs Trifle stood in the kitchen for a few minutes and slowly their sneezing eased and their eyes stopped running.
    ‘Okay now,’ Dr Trifle said, ‘come here, Selby. Come on, boy.’
    ‘This is silly,’ Selby thought, ‘but I may as well go along with it.’
    Selby got up and walked over to the Trifles. They both bent down and began patting him.
    ‘You see?’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘It can’t be him.
A-choo!’
    ‘What did you
a-choo!
say?’
    ‘I said that it
a-choo!
can’t possibly
a-choo!
be him.’
    ‘That’s what I thought you said. But it has
a-choo!,
to be him! What else could it be? We’ve suddenly
a-choo!,
become allergic to Selby.’
    ‘Well, we’re not
a-choo!
getting rid of him,’ Mrs Trifle said.
    ‘Goodness, no,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘But we can’t live with him either. If we try to pat him or cuddle him or even just let him put his head in our laps then we’ll be miserable.’
    ‘I suppose we could keep him outdoors all the time,’ Mrs Trifle said. ‘Some people make their dogs stay outside. Oh, Selby,
a-choo!
you don’t know how sad this makes me feel.’
    ‘And you don’t know how sad it makes
me
feel,’ Selby thought. ‘I’m not going to live outdoors. I’d never get to watch TV or answer my emails — or anything! Besides, I want to stay here with the Trifles.’
    ‘I’ve got an idea,’ Dr Trifle said. ‘Maybe he could live with Jetty and the boys.