The Wishlist
Meg and Belch were doing a job. Meg and Belch. Sounded like some sort of comedy double act. But it wasn't. There was nothing funny about breaking into a pensioner's flat. Raptor was slobbering on Meg's boots. 'Do we really need the mutt?' she hissed, wiping her dripping boot in the flowerbed.
Belch turned away from the window. Piggy eyes glared out from under gelled spikes of hair. 'Listen, Finn,' he whispered. 'Raptor is no mutt. He is a pure breed, from a long line.' Meg rolled her eyes. Belch returned to window-jimmying, worming the blade of the screwdriver between the frame and the sill.
For the thousandth time, Meg Finn wondered what she was doing here. How had she sunk this far – skulking around the granny flats with a lowlife like Belch Brennan? Her reflection glared accusingly from the window pane. For a second she saw the ghost of her mother in that face. The same wide blue eyes, the same braided blonde hair, even the same frown wrinkles between her eyebrows. What would Mam think of this latest escapade? Meg's involuntary blush answered the question for her.
Something slit in the window frame. 'We're in,' grunted Belch. 'Let's go.' Raptor scrabbled up the wall into the dark interior. He was the point-dog, sent in to check for hostiles. His orders were simple. Bite everything. If it screamed, it was hostile. The pit bull was not what you'd call a stealth canine and managed to barge into every stick of furniture on the ground floor.
'Why don't we just ring the bell?' groaned Meg. 'Oh stop your whining, Finn,' snorted Belch. 'Old Lowrie is deaf as a post anyway. You could set off fireworks in there and he wouldn't stop snoring.' Belch hoisted his considerable bulk over the sill, exposing a drooping belly in the process. Meg shuddered. Disgusting.
Her partner's face appeared from the darkness. 'Are you coming, Finn?' Meg paused. This was it. The line between bold and bad. The decision was hers....
The Wish List takes readers on a journey of second chances, where joy is found in the most unexpected places.
This is a fantastic adventure and is absolutely hilarious to boot. Decidedly not for queasy stomachs, there is a perfect blend of irreverent humour and seriousness here. This is a show-stopping number that makes you stop and think at the same time as you’re choking for breath after a giant giggling fit. Magnificent stuff!!
Book: Paperback | 129 x 198mm | 304 pages
ISBN 9780141317410 | 27 Jan 2005 | Puffin | 8 - 12 years