Matthew and the Chimney Sweeps: Book One (Completed, Editing)

Chapter Twelve: The Racing Cart Society

Rain and hail pummeled the roof on the cabin with so much force Matthew felt the Harrower was about to collapse in on itself. As Jennifer was cutting his hair, he stared out at the flashing white balls falling from the darkest of clouds. The cove looked like it was boiling.

Ever since the celebration for Wendy and Howie, it had been incredibly stormy. Many had jokingly blamed Amanda for opening the Chest of Chaos again, but the real reason for the bad weather was the hurricane churning off the coast. Bands of violent thunderstorms and heavy rain hit Spring Heights one after the other. The city had practically shut down.

Matthew was truly hoping the storms wouldn't last all day. Slink had planned to unveil a finished Blue Blizzard, his racing cart, to everyone at the garage. If the storms didn't stop, it would just be too dangerous to venture outside. The lightning and the hail were one thing, but every time it poured it made walking through the storm drain perilous. If the water rushing down to the cove didn't sweep you off your feet, the various objects that had found their way inside would surely get you.

Everyone had become weary and withered with the storms and the rain. They wanted to be outside. They wanted to fish, to be in the vegetable garden in Whatever-grows Park harvesting vegetables, to be out in the city scrounging. Also, Matthew hadn't been able to search for Mrs Grey and he was very eager to get on with it.

The bout of weather hadn't been all bad. The first two days were rather fun. Everyone enjoyed putting their feet up and playing the many board games tucked away at the back of the cabinet. And owing to the fact they were all broken or missing crucial pieces, being they were found in dumpsters, Matthew quickly discovered they weren't played by the standard rules. There was a board game Jennifer had created some time ago that, because there were so few pieces, was a blend of three different games. It had to do with a starving hippo who was trying to trap a mouse who was trying to solve a murder inside a mansion.

'Hey, Ramon?' said Chloe, staring into a magnifying glass. She was making fishing lures with discarded reflective chewing gum wrappers, bird feathers, and colorful string. 'When you put the cover over the pipe to the rain barrel, did you secure it with the rock? The wind's picked up and it might blow away.'

'I sure did,' replied Ramon, sweeping up Matthew's hair.

'Good.' said Chloe, loud enough for her intended target to hear, 'At least someone didn't forget to do it.'

'What was that?' snapped Norman, lying down on his hammock. He didn't even bother looking at Chloe this time.

Two days before, Norman had forgotten to secure the cover of the pipe to the rain barrel on the cabin's roof and it came lose. That night, while everyone was sleeping, rain had poured through and the rain barrel overflowed. Everyone had woken up the next day to a watery cabin. It took several hours to get all the water out.

Glaring at Norman as though baffled, Chloe said, 'What was what?'

'Why can't you just let it go?' said Norman. 'Come on . . . it was a bit of water, Chloe. I've apologized countless times.'

John, who was playing a game of cards with Astrid at the table, rolled his eyes. 'Here we go again.'

'A bit of water?' barked Chloe. 'That's the most water I think I've ever seen in my life.'

Norman scrunched up his face in disbelief. 'Seriously?' He looked out of the window. 'And what's that–' he pointed at the ocean '–jelly?'

'You almost ruined all our food,' Chloe responded. 'And you could have damaged the boat.'