The Half Naked Lady Playing Cards
Life in a small country town of Chapel is brutally interrupted one evening after seven young school children return home from their favourite swimming hole together.
Kate, is the only girl amongst her small group of barefooted friends.
She had been told on numerous occasions to stay away from the town's boys but Kate had defied her parent's strict instructions and now Dee would have to pay the price for their innocence, as would some of the town folk...
The seven barefoot children bunched back up again into a group as they reached the outskirts of Chapel and Kate retrieved her shoes from where she had hidden them and put them back on. Then Dee motioned to the others that they should take the back lane all the way up to the rear access of Dunn's Transport depot, and say goodbye to Kate there. This way they could avoid all the town folks questioning eyes and all the whispering, tattle tales along the main street of Chapel. Who would quickly convey what they had seen back to Kate's father, which was that Kate had been seen hanging out with the town's boys again.
The children had almost made it, having walked all the way down the back lane, passed the rear of the Chapel Hotel and the back of the open air, picture theatre, when Shawn found a shiny two shilling piece lying in the dirt and squealed out loud. Then the chemist's blue heeler dog called Trevor, started barking and several of the shop keepers and the chemist himself popped their heads out of their properties rear doors to see what all the commotion was about, out in the back lane.
Shawn was still holding the two shilling piece up to show the others what he had found, and was thinking about searching around in the dirt to see if there was anymore loose change there, but quickly changed his mind when Trevor, the blue heeler in a crazed state had reached the end of his chain, mere yards from Shawn's face and had come to a sudden, jolting halt. He was still snarling and snapping at thin air and Shawn, who stood paralyzed but safe on the other side of a chain wire fence, safe! But the crouch on his khaki shorts was now saturated in pee where he had momentarily lost control of his bladder.
The others would normally have stood there and laughed at him, only they were far too scared themselves to stand around discussing Shawn's unfortunate accident. Kate raced back and grabbed Shawn by the wrist that was still brandishing his new found coin and tore him away from the fierce stand off with the salivating watch dog.
Dee knew the cat was out of the bag now, so to speak and he ordered that they all run the last block of the laneway, right up to the back of Dunn's Transport depot, to get Kate there as fast as they could. Dee knew it really was not going to help them any as Mr Dunn had probably already heard about his daughter Kate being out in the back lane with the boys once again. Even now as the seven of them were running frenetically down the lane with the deranged dog still barking out after them mercilessly.
The seven children reached the rear gateway that led of the lane and into Dunn's Transport depot and were still running when they shouted out their goodbyes to Kate as she let go of Shawn's wrist and peeled off desperately trying to descend from running full pelt to a casual walk into her father's place of work, as if nothing untoward was going on.
"See you tomorrow!" Jay called out after her as he took up the rear of the train of running boys just behind Shawn who was still clutching the two shillings piece he had found only moments earlier and had not had the time to study the coin in any detail. Once they had reached the very end of the lane the six boys regrouped, with heads bowed down and hands on knees, as they tried catching their breath...
