I Own the Racecourse! (16 page)

‘Andy!
'

‘
Oh, no
—you didn't, did you?'

‘What's up?' said Andy. He lay back and laughed again.

They carried him off to the workshop and there, in private, explained. By tightening those nuts, they said, he had forced together the rails along which ran the bogey that drew the hare; so that at that point, they said, the wheels of the bogey were squeezed too tightly by the rails and had to force their way through. They showed him, using the skateboard and two lengths of wood arranged as rails. There would be no more greyhound-training tonight, they explained gravely.

‘Don't you worry, they'll fix it all right,' Andy assured them. ‘I can show 'em which nuts.'

‘No!'

‘No, you needn't do that!'

‘They'll find the nuts, all right. But they won't be pleased.'

Andy was sober for a moment. Then he remembered the hare, teasingly luring the dogs close only to shoot away; and he laughed and laughed. ‘I never did no harm this time,' he said coaxingly. ‘Not like those trousers.'

Finally, Matt took him home for the night while the others sat on in a tired way. This was the end, they knew. No matter how adverse the publicity, no matter if every man on the grounds went on strike, those angry men in the Committee Room would have no more of Andy. His dream-castle was tottering. It would crash.

The very next afternoon, as they went down Wattle Road with Andy following, they saw Bert Hammond waiting at the corner. They hesitated, then went slowly forward. Bert put a hand on Andy's shoulder.

‘Come along, son. Marsden wants a word with you.'

‘Eh?' said Andy; and Bert drew him on towards Beecham Park while the others watched.

‘This is it,' said Joe grimly; and they went slowly on to the gate themselves, watching the solid, rather clumsy figure of Andy going with Bert towards the farther end of the big stand, where it disappeared from sight. They waited by the gate, swinging their school-bags and not speaking, for what seemed a long time.

‘Here he comes,' said Mike at last.

Andy was coming slowly back, pausing, looking about him, and coming on again. In the background, Bert stood and watched him go as his four friends were watching him come. Lost in thought and often stopping, Andy came on until he saw the group at the gate. Even then he didn't hurry, and they saw that his face was solemn and absorbed. As soon as he was close enough he began to talk in a voice that was full of awe.

‘You know what they did, Mike? Those ones that get the money—you know what they did, Joe? They bought Beecham Park. They bought it off me. Look.' He opened one hand a little and showed them some crumpled notes. ‘Ten dollars, they paid me. That's a lot more than it cost me.'

A little breath stirred the four boys at the gate. Andy looked from face to face and saw that they were impressed. ‘I had to sign a paper,' he said importantly.

‘You sold it to them, did you?' said Mike. He didn't know what else to say; but he sent his silent thanks across the racecourse to Bert Hammond, Marsden the Secretary and the Committee. Whether they had meant it like this or not, they had found a way for Andy.

‘Three dollars,' said Andy. ‘That's what they said first. They wanted to give me three dollars, like I paid the old bloke. I
had
three dollars before, I told 'em that. What do I want with three dollars when I got a racecourse already? I told 'em that.'

Terry grinned. ‘What did they say then?'

‘Oh—they talked a lot of stuff about a new stand they want—and those seats, what I did—and then they gave me
ten
dollars. That's a lot of money,
ten
dollars is. So now I got no racecourse.'

‘Never mind,' said Joe quickly. ‘We'll go up on the cliff every Saturday night and watch, just the same. You did a good deal—what are you going to do with all that money?'

Andy gave a puzzled chuckle. ‘I dunno,' he said, and followed his friends out of the gate and up the hill.

They spent the afternoon in the workshop fixing the O'Days' lawnmower. Andy sat in a corner and watched, clutching his notes. Just as he was leaving to go home he paused in the doorway. ‘Hey, Joe! Could I have a plane like yours, Joe? Is this enough money?'

‘We'll fix it for you,' Mike promised. He was thinking rather sadly that soon they would all be used to an orderly, peaceful life in which Andy Hoddel no longer owned Beecham Park Trotting Course. When Andy had gone, Mike looked slyly at Joe.

‘You were wrong. It didn't crash. You forgot that Andy wouldn't let it.'

‘Andy! He couldn't have stopped it. It was Bert Hammond and the racecourse lot.'

‘And why do you think they went to all that trouble? There was nothing else they could do! Andy
knew
he owned the place, so they just had to see it his way.'

‘Maybe. We can't tell. Can we make him a plane for eight dollars? He's got to put two dollars back in his money-box.'

Matt said, ‘I know a chap with a motor that he might sell cheap.'

‘Is it any use?' said Terry. ‘He'll only bust it.'

‘What does it matter?' demanded Mike almost roughly. ‘He's got to have things sometimes, even if he does bust them.'

 

Andy was sitting on his favourite patch of ground among the stray cats, and gazing at the quiet grounds of Beecham Park. He might have been thinking of seagulls, perhaps, or of greyhounds; of strong, dark horses whirling satin-clad drivers under the spraying lights. He might have been thinking of quiet afternoons and friendly people.

A man came striding up the stairs with a newspaper under his arm.

‘There you are, boss. Keeping an eye on your property?'

‘She's not mine,' said Andy. ‘I sold her, see.'

 

 

 

 

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