OUR BRILLIANT, GUEST AUTHOR TODAY IS JOHN CLEWARTH, WHO IS SHARING TWO CHAPTERS OF HIS NOVEL, 'THE INCREDIBLE QUEST OF CHARLIE ODDIE'

Charlie’s eyes snapped open. Something had woken him and his clear blue eyes focused on a mysterious movement to his right. It was a shadow, creeping slowly in the half-light. His heart thumped. The thin canvas of the tent moved; a sharp breeze blustered, making the shape appear enormous. A scream from his left made him sit bolt upright.

“Earwig!” His tent-mate squirmed like a mad octopus, flapping at his sleeping bag and squeaking like a mouse with a sore throat. Charlie waved a hand, sending the earwig scuttling away; it didn’t object, probably thinking it would be better off out of there, away from the two crazy boys. With his other hand, Charlie pointed at the dark shape scratching at the tent canvas. But then a new shadow appeared, looming large at the front of the tent.

Charlie and Eric froze, until the shadow spoke: “Dusky! Shoo, you naughty cat!” The clawing stopped and the cat skittered off with a disgruntled meow! Both boys sighed with relief, then fell apart in fits of giggles.

“Who fancies a bacon butty?” Nanna Dawn’s cheery voice drifted into the tent.

“Me please, Mrs Oddie!” chimed Eric.

Charlie scrambled forward, yelling, “Me, too please, Nanna!” and tugged down the zip of the tent, squinting against the rising sun. Nanna Dawn stood with a tray containing two plates of bacon sandwiches, a jug of fresh orange juice and two glasses. Charlie’s eyes adjusted to the new day, and he thought that the light shone not only from the sun but from inside Nanna, too. A different kind of light; the light of kindness. Despite her being old, her eyes shone brightest of all, with the same icy blue colour of Charlie’s eyes. Nanna Dawn – she would never allow the idea of being called ‘Granny’ - passed the tray into Charlie’s outstretched hands. “Thanks, Nanna!” Charlie beamed.

“Enjoy,” she smiled, before turning away and heading back to the house where Dusky the cat sulked on the back step.

The garden was alive with smells and colours; the herb aroma and vivid green of the freshly-mown lawn, and the rainbow hues of numerous plants in the borders. It seemed the whole garden had woken up with them! The boys devoured the butties then laid back down to compete in a racing game on their Nintendos. They were a bit tired because it had taken a while to get to sleep last night. ‘Wild camping’ in the back garden at Charlie’s house had seemed a fun idea till they had turned off their torches! From that moment, every innocent creak, rustle and scurry outside the tent had turned into ghosts and monsters in the boys’ imaginations. Not to mention the many-legged nocturnal visitors fluttering around the tent and sprinting across the blades of grass.

As they played on their games, Eric chuckled, “Should’ve seen your face when your Nanna’s little kitty was outside the tent!” He made a daft noise like a squeaky lion.

Charlie’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “Yeah, whatever! Bet you thought that earwig was gonna bite your head off. It was only a millimetre long!”

“No way,” Eric replied indignantly “It was at least a centimetre long!” They both collapsed laughing.

“It might even have been a metre long!” Charlie spluttered through his chuckles.

“Yeah, earwigs can grow as long as a hundred metres. If you don’t believe me, go and check with Mr O’Clare!” Mr O’Clare was the old gentleman who lived on the outskirts of town. He was about a thousand years old, or so the children thought, and he lived in a ramshackle cottage on top of a hill. He knew everything. Some of the local youngsters had told Eric and Charlie that Mr O’Clare could see into the future. Eric’s mum said in that case, please ask him what next week’s winning lottery numbers would be.

“I bet Mr O’Clare is old enough to remember Ancient Greece; he’s probably seen an earwig that’s as tall as a bus, with one eye staring from its head, like the Cycle Pops. Remember that story from school?” Eric said, trying but failing to close one eye in a wink, and sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth.

Charlie spluttered with laughter. “Haha! Cycle Pops? I think you mean Cyclops!”

“Oh, yeah, Polysterene they called him.”

“Polyphemus!” Charlie could barely breathe for laughing.

“Yeah, that’s what I said!” Eric said, grinning. “You’d need Heracles, that Greek strong man, or somebody like that, to beat a Cyclops earwig!”

Charlie smiled and patted his friend on the back, “Well, at least you got his name right! That could be you: Eric the muscle man. Eric Lees, Heracles!”

Eric stood up and did his best bodybuilder pose, and then he kissed his biceps. “Check out the guns on me – Eric Lees, defeater of earwigs!”

Charlie had been best friends with Eric Lees for ages. Eric had been massive even at nursery school, towering above the other kids and blundering about, bumping into things like a short-sighted bull. But he had an ace sense of humour and was kind too. That’s why Charlie got along with him so well.

Once they were dressed, Charlie gathered up the tray and followed Eric out into the sunshine. Mr Telford from next door was up a ladder, washing his bedroom windows, and Charlie gave him a wave. Nanna Dawn had always said that Mr Telford thought he was Superman and that he should know better than ‘trapezing on ladders at his age’. Charlie wasn’t sure what age Mr Telford was, but he knew that he was definitely ‘old’.

The boys loaded their plates into the dishwasher and went through to the living room. Nanna’s colour scheme was unique; painted in a bright dazzling orange, interspersed with intricate black patterns – ‘just to set it off a bit’, Nanna always said. She was feeding Tyson, her screeching green budgie.

Charlie grinned, whispering to Eric, “Tyson sounds like you when you saw that earwig.” Eric gave Charlie a playful poke in the ribs with his elbow, which felt like it rearranged his ribcage, he was so strong! “Need any help, Nanna?” Charlie asked, rubbing his side and pulling a face at Eric.

“No, all good, thanks. Swingball’s in the shed if you want to play in the garden for a bit,” Nanna smiled, scattering bird seed on the floor of Tyson’s cage.

“Cheers, Mrs Oddie,” Eric said, and the two of them went back outside. The cat watched with mild interest as the boys slogged the ball back and forth to each other on its elastic tether. Dusky’s green eyes were ever alert for a bird to stalk and chase, or better still, a pesky mouse. If Dusky could have looked in a mirror he would probably have seen a great big lion looking back. If he couldn’t be King of the Jungle, he could certainly be King of the Garden!

A face appeared at the hole near the bottom of Mr Telford’s fence. Bozo, the podgy Jack Russell, had his head squeezed in the gap, yapping like a crackpot, eyes popping and pointing in different directions. One ear had turned inside-out and his chops dribbled at the prospect of biting Dusky’s bottom. The King of the Garden had other ideas. He forgot all about chasing birds; he launched himself forward, landing on Bozo’s head and batting at his lopsided ears. Yapping and yowling echoed around the neighbourhood. Nanna Dawn, in pink fluffy slippers and dressing gown, was soon on the scene to separate the squabbling

animals.

“Whoa – whoa!” a voice wavered from somewhere on high. Charlie and Eric looked up. Their eyes widened as they saw Mr Telford oscillating at the top of his wobbling ladder, having been distracted by Bozo and Dusky. Charlie noticed the logo on the side of the ladder – ‘HERACLES - BUILT FOR STRENGTH’. Not very stable, though, thought Charlie – a bit like Eric! He glanced across at Nanna Dawn; she was busy removing her cat from Bozo’s head, and when Charlie turned back, Eric had gone. Mr Telford’s ladder had toppled and, as it fell to the ground with a clatter and clang, the old gentleman clung tightly to the house-guttering. His fingers were beginning to slip.

Suddenly, Eric came into view! He had vaulted the three-metre-high garden fence, and he was directly below Mr Telford with his arms outstretched. Eric shouted, “It’s okay! I’ll catch you!” Eric squinted into the sun. Mr Telford had no choice. His grip weakened and his fingers slipped. Down he came!

As he landed in Eric’s arms, Mr Telford’s false teeth popped out of his mouth and hung in the air, chattering like a strange white bird before landing on the edge of the lawn next to a clump of geraniums.

Mr Telford adjusted his wig with shaking hands. Amazed, Eric glanced first at his arms, then at Mr Telford, then over at Charlie, who seemed equally as stunned. In vaulting the fence, Eric must have broken the school high-jump record. And catching a fully grown adult was crackers! Charlie was about to say how gobsmacked he was when he glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye.

Nanna Dawn was lying face up on the lawn, in what appeared to be a dead faint.

Lying in bed, Charlie watched the first light of Monday morning weave patterns on the ceiling. It had been stifling the previous night so he’d rested on top of the duvet, hugging Horse close to his chest. Horse had never been given a proper name; he was just, well… Horse. Charlie had owned him since before he could even remember. He was gorgeously soft, but had less fluffy hair than he used to. Hugging has that effect sometimes.

Charlie was thinking back over the events of the previous day. How on earth Eric had managed to jump the fence and then catch Mr Telford like that, Charlie could not figure. But he pushed that to the back of his mind for now.

Nanna Dawn had been taken to hospital for some tests. Charlie was frightened when he saw the oxygen mask over her face. She would have to go back in for more tests too but she told Charlie not to worry – it was just a touch too much sun. Nanna Dawn had hardly been out in the sun, though. He knew she wasn’t well; she’d been poorly for weeks. Charlie loved her very much and he was worried.

His sleepy eyes glanced at the photo on the bedside table: Nanna Dawn smiling and holding him as a baby. Light seemed to shine out around her, as if she gave off a natural glow. There were no pictures of his mum or dad, or any of his family. He didn’t know who they were; nobody knew. As he gazed at the photo, his eyes closed like heavy curtains, and he sank into sleep. He owed Nanna Dawn so much… His unconscious mind whizzed back to the day she’d told him about so many times; the day he’d been found.

A huge red-brick building towered above him. The rough concrete of the car park felt cold beneath his bottom as he wriggled around, arms stretching and legs kicking. He was only a baby. Charlie had seen that building a million times since but could barely imagine what it must have been like, seeing it through his baby eyes. Big red letters that he couldn’t read back then read: A-r-g-o-s.

Argos. He’d been abandoned in a flipping shop car park!

Nanna Dawn had told him about the staff running from the store after someone reported that a baby had been left outside on his own. Lots of stuff was scattered round all about him. Toys. There was a cuddly horse which still had the Argos security tag attached to it. And a number of little toy soldiers were spilled everywhere.

There was a dog too, apparently, just sitting there watching the little baby as if it was guarding the car park. Or guarding little Charlie. As soon as the store assistants rushed out, the dog ran off into the bushes. Disappeared. They’d told Nanna it was a big black dog.

The manager of Argos had telephoned something called ‘Social Services’ – and they had called Nanna Dawn. She was a foster parent and usually had about three or four children living with her but, at that time, she didn’t have any. She took responsibility for Charlie, just for a few days to begin with. Ten years later he was still with her. Last year, she’d adopted him - fully. Before she had taken Charlie home, the Argos manager had given him a cuddly teddy as a present. Nanna told Charlie that he’d thrown the teddy on the floor, before squawking and pointing at something - the toy horse. He wouldn’t stop crying until the man gave him the horse instead of the teddy.

Charlie awoke from his dream with a tear and blinked his misty eyes; he was still clutching Horse tightly. Rubbing his damp cheek on his pillow, he turned again to examine the photo of Nanna Dawn. On the floor by his bed was a sports bag, already packed by Nanna, and Charlie’s spirits began to rise. His class was going on a day trip to the seaside that day and they’d been told to take towels, plus sunscreen, of course.

He smiled and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He was about to get dressed when he saw a black dog sitting in the doorway. It was a huge, muscular one, with a thick mane of hair and a bushy black tail. Its ears were raised and its dark eyes were fixed on Charlie.

**********

Https://www.amazon.co.uk/Incredible-Quest-Charlie-Oddie-Book-ebook/dp/B0DM2RV4NH?ref_=ast_author_mpb

AUTHOR BIO

John writes mainly, but not exclusively, for children and young adults. He has published five novels and two anthologies of thrilling adventure stories for young readers, with both Silver Quill Publishing https://www.silverquillpublishing.com/ and Red Cape/Little Red’s Publishing https://littleredspublishing.wordpress.com/

His first book, Firestorm Rising, was a finalist in the People’s Book Prize, UK. In addition, he is also proud to have his stories included in a growing number of anthologies with House of Loki Publishing (https://houseofloki.wordpress.com/) The excerpt shared today is from his latest book, The Incredible Quest of Charlie Oddie, published by Silver Quill Publishing, in December 2024.

John can be contacted via his Facebook page (John Clewarth – Author), and his website, (www.johnclewarthauthor.com) for updates on future projects.

COMING SOON: On Friday 9th May, our talented team member, Dawn Treacher, is sharing one of her short stories, 'Scarlett Road'.