Matty and Bill for Keeps by Elizabeth Fensham Page A

brush strokes to begin with. We must not let ourselves be distracted by small details.’
    â€˜How we figure out what Maggot has up his sleeve is not a small detail,’ said Bill.
    â€˜It’s there in the blueprint,’ said Mat, indicating with a stick to part one. ‘See. It says spy. ’
    â€˜Indeed,’ said Crispin, ‘sometimes simplicity is deceptive. It’s quite clear that the first thing we do is spy on this Maggot fellow.’
    â€˜Go on,’ said Bill.
    â€˜Well, as a network of spies we need to pool our skills,’ said Mat. ‘After that, we can make a decision about how we will use them to trap our target.’
    Mat produced another sheet of paper and this is what was written onto it:
    Bill: athletic; good hand–eye co-ordination; reasonable at tunnelling underground; physically strong; brave; quick thinking.
    Crispin: handy with cricket bat; small and short – useful for small spaces; illusionist skills; performance ability; good at schoolwork; language skills, including Latin and Pig Latin; can knit.
    Matty: thinks outside the square; intimate knowledge of local area, geography, flora and fauna; excellent general knowledge; good with words; good writing, singing and dancing ability; basic sign language.
    â€˜Now just quietly look at the list and let the ideas rise to the surface,’ said Mat.
    Mat, Bill and Crispin sat in the gloom staring at the sheet of skills. Bill was slightly distracted because he was getting a sore backside from crouching on the hard floor. He started listening to the sounds underneath – doors banging shut, footsteps, Tessa calling to Donald, Nan calling to Uncle Len. Waiting for ideas to come was a bit like being told to pray when you really didn’t feel like it. But then something did happen. His bottom got used to the discomfort, and the sounds down in the house became softer and blurred. Bill felt a bit dreamy and then wham! An idea popped into his head.
    â€˜Got it,’ he said.
    Mat and Crispin looked at him.
    â€˜Go for it,’ said Mat.
    â€˜We get a message to Maggot to say Dad’s interested to know what he’s cooking up. We tell Maggot that Dad is not able to telephone, but that he can email. We rig up an email in Dad’s name and start writing to Maggot.’
    â€˜And then?’
    â€˜Depending on what Maggot has planned, we move in to sabotage his crime.’
    â€˜Which skills on this bit of paper will we be using?’ asked Mat.
    Bill quickly scanned the sheet. ‘We use yours and Crispin’s cleverness with words to write the contact letter,’ he said.
    â€˜How can we send it to him?’ asked Crispin.
    â€˜I still have Maggot’s real name and his address.’
    â€˜How’s that?’ asked Crispin.
    â€˜A few weeks back, Mat and I had to track Maggot down,’ explained Bill. ‘He was being a bad influence on Dad. We had to separate them.’
    â€˜I understand exactly,’ said Crispin.
    â€˜Yeah,’ said Bill. ‘Anyway, I reckon you two should write a letter to Maggot in really grown-up language. Down the track if we need to, Crispin can make phone contact with Maggot using a weird accent. When we have figured out Maggot’s plans, we get him here to deal with him. That’s where Mat’s general knowledge and her knowledge of the area come in. Then we can speak in Pig Latin to each other when we communicate in public. I’ll be available for any physical tactics.’
    Bill was pleased with his word ‘tactics’; he wasn’t absolutely sure what it meant, but he knew it fitted with the idea of confronting an enemy. Mat certainly didn’t question Bill’s use of the word. In fact, she looked really impressed with his flow of ideas.
    â€˜Brilliant, Bill,’ she said.
    â€˜I rather fancy using my best Cockney accent to speak with Maggot,’ said Crispin. ‘In most of those English