She marched off towards her car and returned with the reluctant girls. The farmer’s face turned from purple to red and then back to purple.
“Youse two again!” he yelled. “I want you off my farm.” He called for his son Charlie, who was driving a tractor in a nearby field. Charlie parked and came running, smirking at the sight of the two girls. “I want these people off the farm, even if I have to set the dogs on ’em,” roared farmer Hogsworthy.
“I shall not leave until I have a photograph,” said Aunt Gertrude determinedly. “You girls, open that door,” she ordered.
Tao looked at the parked tractor with interest and on the dashboard she saw a button labelled “ignition”.
At that moment the tractor’s engine spluttered into life and the machine moved off across the field and began turning in a circle. Charlie sprinted after it and farmer Hogsworthy watched aghast as the runaway machine headed towards the milking shed.
The girls slid the henhouse door open, Aunt Gertrude took several pictures and they hurried to the car and drove off as a loud crash and yells of fury erupted in the distance.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Bye bye Aunt Gertrude
Next day Aunt Gertrude was up early, all her ailments forgotten. After breakfast she wrote busily in her notebook, preparing an article on battery hens for the Anti-cruelty League monthly newsletter.
“I shall expose this wicked system,” she told the girls. “Thanks to you I have photos to illustrate my article.” She rang the office to tell them she was returning early to arrange for her article to be published. They all helped load her car and stood waving as she drove away. Tao’s mother said it was disappointing her sister had to shorten her visit, but she was secretly relieved to see her go.
THE END
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Tao Bullock is twelve years old and she and her sister Amber aged nine love drawing with pencils and crayons. She would like to be an author or an artist one day. Amber enjoys riding horses and hopes to be a vet when she grows up. They live near the Drakensberg Mountains in Natal, South Africa.
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