Wandering Girl by Glenyse Ward Read Free Book Online

climbed up onto a big log and looked all around me. Far off in the distance I could see the roof tops of different farm houses spread out on the horizon. Different shades of green lay everywhere.
    â€œLovely”, I thought, as I jumped down from the log and set about searching for the turkeys and eggs. I was looking forward to a nice cup of tea and a piece of sponge cake with cream, which I had seen in the fridge.
    It didn’t take me long to find the turkeys as I heard their gobbles in a clump of grass near the river bed. They were strutting around, looking most conceited.
    All of a sudden, the quietness of the air was filled with loud gobbling noises as feathers and birds went flying in all directions. I had my stick out shooing them in the direction of the house, when out of the blue this big cheeky turkey came towards me and made a peck at my legs. I got a fright and screamed and, in reaction, brought my stick down hard across his neck. He slumped to the ground.

    My heart was still pumping flat out from the fright I got, so I went back to the house to have a cup of tea to settle my nerves.
    When I reached the house I went straight into the kitchen and put the kettle on. I made my cup of tea and sat down with a sigh of relief. “Ah, that cup of tea was just what I needed and that cream cake went down real well too.”
    There was still an hour left before midday so I thought I’d better have another go at rounding the turkeys up and locking them in the yard, then she couldn’t say anything to me when she got home. So away I went again. They were all in the same spot where I had hit that turkey. It was still on the ground. They all scattered when I went to poke that big cheeky one with my stick.
    It didn’t move and a dreadful thought crossed my mind. “What if the bird is dead? It is my fault. I killed it. Oh gosh, what’s going to happen now? How am I going to explain this one to her, when she gets back from town?”
    Being brought up in a strict environment I was never allowed to tell lies; but since I had been working there for her, I found myself really good at it. So I told myself I’d think of something to tell her.
    I still felt disheartened about the whole affair. I left the turkeys to roam around. I’d get them another day. “The only way to get rid of the dead one,” I thought, “is to bury it!” So I ran as fast as I could back to the old shed, got the spade and ran back to the river where the turkey lay.
    I dug a big hole and chucked it in, covered it all up, put some bushes over the top to hide all the evidence, then went back up to the house, washed all the sand off and put the spade back where I got it from.
    I felt real horrible. I had never done anything like that in my whole life. I walked slowly into the kitchen and glanced at the clock on the wall. The time was showing eleven thirty. I didn’t feel like eating as I had lost my appetite thinking about that unfortunate turkey. I wished I had never set eyes on it. I sat down on the chair in the kitchen with a feeling of emptiness. I was beginning to let my emotions get the better of me, feeling homesick.
    At least if there were other kids around, with whom I could share a laugh and a joke. Maybe if I had one of my mates with me, the episode of the turkey wouldn’t seem so bad. We could look on the funny side of it and have a good laugh.
    Tears welled up in my eyes. I just let them splash down onto the floor as I cried uncontrollably. It was such a long time since I had a good cry. All of a sudden the phone rang. I jumped up and pulled myself to my senses.
    I washed my face at the kitchen sink and dried my eyes. The phone was still ringing, so I went into the dining room and then I suddenly remembered that she didn’t want me to answer the phone.
    I stood in front of it, not knowing what to do. I just stared at it till it stopped ringing. Then I went back into the kitchen feeling a lot