Puppy Pie by Sam Jasper

holding his puppy. Then again, he didn’t mind me picking them up . ‘Oh, well,’ she sighs, ‘just another mystery.’
    Gull smiles down at Jam on her lap. ‘This place seems to be full of mysteries.’ Gull counts them on her fingers. ‘Helen’s strange sleeping sickness; the new bank manager Harry can’t remember going to school with; Useless’ odd reaction to him, and the hemp crop lying down. Sleepy Helen, sleepy hemp. ‘Oh, Gull,’ she says severely to herself, ‘stop being so fanciful. Just coincidence. Remember, you’re on a farm. What could be more down to earth than a farm?’
    Just then, Jam leaps off Gull’s lap, trots over to the puppy pen and daintily jumps in. Immediately, half a dozen hungry puppies greet her. With a contented sigh, she lies down and the puppies start drinking. Gull strolls over and watches for a while. Then, after making sure they have enough water and fresh straw, Gull runs out of the big shed and over to the vegie patch. She picks up the bucket and begins to load it up with shallots, tomatoes and zucchini. With a variety of lettuce leaves, some rosemary, parsley and basil, she gathers the eggs and goes back to the farmhouse. She glances at the kitchen clock. Six o’clock.
    Before running into the lounge room, Gull has a quick look at the photos in the hall. She stares at the photo near the front door. ‘You look so tidy, not a hair out of place. And so silent,’ she adds as she waves goodbye to her ancestors. Then she runs into the lounge room and stops quickly. Gull is surprised to see the two women sitting on the veranda deep in conversation.
    â€˜Come in,’ Helen says waving.
    â€˜I thought you were still, er…’ Gull begins.
    â€˜I was, and it seems I’ve been asleep for about a year. I just thought I’d been having catnaps: I had no idea of the time.’
    â€˜Helen’s just been telling me about her awful dream,’ Shirley says.
    â€˜Oh yes. That’s what woke me up. I can’t see that it’s got anything to do with the hemp falling over but who knows. Shirley tells me the gang is keeping a record of what I say in case it gives us any clues.’
    â€˜Tell Gull,’ Shirley says. ‘She might make some sense out of it. I can’t.’
    â€˜Well,’ Helen begins, ‘in my dream, I’m looking at a schoolyard. It must be lunchtime because everyone’s outside in the playground. There’s a bunch of boys. They look about ten, about Tom and Jake’s age. They’re just mucking around. There’s a boy who looks like Tom but I think it must be a very young Harry. The boys are running around, letting off steam. Harry picks up an old tennis ball pretending it’s a football. He starts running with his arm out to keep the other boys from getting it, just fooling around really. One particular boy, a sullen sandy-haired boy, is standing on the sidelines. As Harry runs past, he pushes past him just as he has with the others. But this particular boy falls backwards. Harry looks over his shoulder and sees him fall. Harry drops the ball and runs to help him up. He says, ‘Sorry. I didn’t see you.’ And the other boy says, ‘No one ever does.’
    Then Harry runs off and the other boy looks after him and adds, ‘But one day you’ll see me.’ Then I see his face clearly. He looks furious. And really wicked.’ Helen shudders. ‘I know it’s just a dream …’
    â€˜Your dreams always mean something,’ Shirley murmurs.
    â€˜But it’s so frustrating,’ Helen says. ‘I don’t know what these mean.’
    â€˜Well, we’ve got the whole gang working on it now,’ Shirley laughs, ‘so I’m relying on them to find the right answers.’
    â€˜That sounds easy, I don’t think,’ Gull shrugs dispiritedly. ‘Well, I suppose we’ll just add it to