Tuesday began with rain.
Not proper rain.
London rain.
The sort that couldn’t decide whether it was raining or merely threatening to.
Mr Brand stood at the kitchen window.
“I think we’ll work in Marjory’s garden.”
Mrs Brand looked up from her laptop.
“Good luck.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m working.”
She smiled.
“Have fun.”
Barry and Marmaduke arrived in the kitchen wearing waterproof coats.
Marmaduke had wellies.
Barry had one welly and one trainer.
“Where’s your other welly?” asked Mr Brand.
Barry looked down.
“I don’t know.”
“You need two.”
“Why?”
“So both feet stay dry.”
Barry thought about this.
“That seems excessive.”
Alfie came downstairs carrying his English books.
“I’m going to work in my room.”
“Excellent,” said Mr Brand.
Alfie stopped.
“Can you make sure Barry doesn’t touch my books?”
Barry looked offended.
“I don’t touch books.”
“You drew a moustache on my dictionary.”
“It needed one.”
“It was a dictionary.”
“It looked sad.”
Mr Brand took a deep breath.
At Marjory’s house, the renovation was in full swing.
There was a skip outside.
Barry loved skips.
He had always believed skips were enormous treasure chests which adults had inexplicably decided to fill with boring things.
“What’s inside?” he asked.
“Rubbish,” said Marjory.
“What sort?”
“Old bathroom fittings, broken bits of wood, tiles…”
“Treasure?”
“No.”
“Gold?”
“No.”
“Dinosaurs?”
“No.”
Barry looked inside.
“There’s a toilet.”
“Yes.”
“That’s definitely not treasure.”
Marmaduke peered in.
“It has a crack.”
“Maybe the toilet broke because someone was sitting on it,” Barry suggested.
Marjory stared at him.
“Thank you, Barry.”
“You’re welcome.”
Their job was to clear leaves, weeds and old garden debris.
Mr Brand gave them a wheelbarrow.
Barry immediately climbed into it.
“No,” said Mr Brand.
“I’m the driver.”
“You’re four.”
“That’s why I need training.”
Marmaduke climbed in too.
Mr Brand removed them both.
They filled the wheelbarrow with weeds.
Bubble appeared.
He jumped into the wheelbarrow.
“Bubble,” said Marmaduke.
Bubble sat proudly on the weeds.
Mr Brand sighed.
“Fine. Bubble can come.”
They pushed the wheelbarrow towards the skip.
Halfway there, Bubble jumped out.
Barry chased him.
Marmaduke chased Barry.
Mr Brand chased Marmaduke.
Marjory watched.
“Is this normal?”
Mr Brand stopped.
“Yes.”
“Every day?”
“Pretty much.”
They eventually caught Bubble behind a stack of paving slabs.
Or rather, Bubble allowed himself to be caught.
That was the problem with Bubble.
He always seemed to know more than everyone else.
The afternoon brought a new challenge.
A delivery arrived.
A huge flat-packed cabinet had to be carried into the house.
Mr Brand and Marjory lifted it.
Barry watched.
“Can I help?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“It’s heavy.”
“I’m strong.”
“You couldn’t carry your own coat upstairs yesterday.”
“I was tired.”
“You were eating a biscuit.”
“That makes you tired.”
Marmaduke nodded.
“Very tiring.”
Mr Brand shook his head.
Inside the house, builders were busy.
Outside, Barry and Marmaduke discovered a pile of cardboard.
They built a fort.
It had a door.
A window.
A flag.
And, inexplicably, a kitchen.
Bubble entered.
“This is our house,” Barry announced.
Bubble sat down.
“You can be the guard.”
Bubble blinked.
“Good guard.”
Bubble walked away.
“Excellent,” said Barry. “He’s taking it seriously.”
At four o’clock, Mr Brand called Barry home.
Barry and Marmaduke emerged from the cardboard fort covered in dust.
Marjory looked at them.
“You’ve been playing.”
“No,” said Barry.
“We’ve been supervising,” added Marmaduke.
“Supervising what?”
“The cardboard.”
Marjory laughed.
Then she looked at the skip.
It was almost full.
“That’s good progress.”
Mr Brand nodded.
“Tomorrow we’ll tackle the back border.”
Barry’s eyes widened.
“Is that where the treasure is?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“No,” admitted Mr Brand.
Barry grinned.
Wednesday was going to be interesting.
Alfie, Barry and Marmaduke Stories 
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