A Home Away From Home and Other Stories Read online

than the laundry.'

  'They wouldn't put you in jail,' Nathan told him encouragingly. 'You're too young. They'd just give you counseling or maybe put you in a nuthouse.'

  'Oh great. So I can spend my life with a whole lot of loonies instead of just one.'

  Nathan grinned. 'Sooner you than me,' he said cheerfully.

  'I wish I could go back to my birthday,' Dominic said gloomily.

  'You'd need a time machine for that,' Nathan remarked. 'Come on, race you to the playground.'

  Dominic found himself thinking about time machines over the next few days when Uncle Edgar was being particularly obnoxious. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.

  'It could work, in fact it should work. I just need to work out how to make one,' he muttered. He wandered past the living room and stopped abruptly at Uncle Edgar's shout. 'Dominic! The batteries have gone on this remote. You have obviously been using it too much. I need you to go down to the shop and buy some more. You'd better take the remote with you so you get the right size.'

  Dominic sighed and took the remote Uncle Edgar was holding out to him. He collected ten dollars from his mothers housekeeping money in the old biscuit tin and set off down the street. On the way he amused himself by pointing the remote at all the letterboxes he passed, pretending it was a gun.

  'POW! The mighty Dominic the Dreadful has struck again,' he hissed.

  After the seventh letterbox he stopped as a brilliant idea struck him.

  'I could adapt this remote and use it to change time,' he thought. 'It's already got buttons to go forwards and backwards and the number buttons could be the number of weeks. But I need something to add to it.'

  Deep in thought he ambled to the corner store where he absentmindedly handed over the money in exchange for a pack of batteries. He was halfway home when he stopped again.

  'A watch. That's what I'll do. I'll put a watch inside it and one of the charging bits from my slotcar set and see what it does.'

  Full of excitement Dominic ran the rest of the way home and went straight to the laundry. Faintly in the distance he could hear Uncle Edgar calling. 'Dominic! Did you get the batteries? Dominic! Bring that remote here immediately.'

  Dominic ignored the sound. He unscrewed the remote casing and then unscrewed his watch. Dropping the insides of the watch into the remote, he pressed the wires together with a lump of chewing gum before screwing the two halves of the remote case together again.

  There was a pounding of feet outside the door and Uncle Edgar burst in.

  'Give me that remote at once,' he roared, holding out his hand as he advanced.

  Dominic pressed the first button at the same time as the backward button. 'Go back in time for a minute,' he thought, frowning with the effort.

  There was a slight popping sound and a smell of turpentine as Uncle Edgar promptly vanished.

  Dominic laughed rather hysterically. 'What have I done?' he wondered in terrified amazement. 'Maybe I turned the remote into a vanishing ray by mistake.'

  There was a pounding of feet outside the door and Uncle Edgar burst in.

  'Give me that remote at once,' he roared, holding out his hand as he advanced.

  A huge smile spread over Dominic's face. 'Go back in time for a minute,' he thought as he pressed the buttons. Uncle Edgar vanished and Dominic counted for a minute.

  There was a pounding of feet outside the door and Uncle Edgar burst in.

  'Give me that remote at once,' he roared, holding out his hand as he advanced.

  'Sorry, Uncle Edgar,' Dominic said airily. 'The shop didn't have the right sized batteries. I will have to go again tomorrow.'

  'That's not at all satisfactory,' Uncle Edgar glared. 'Make sure you do.'

  He stumped away to the living room while Dominic danced around the laundry with delight. 'After dinner I'm going to try it for six months. I'll go back to my birthday. Then everything will be perfect.'

  Dominic sat at the dinner table with a grin on his face.

  'You seem very happy tonight, Dominic,' his mother remarked.

  'I hope you're not planning on going anywhere after dinner,' Uncle Edgar frowned. 'I am sure you must have plenty of homework to do. And if you don't have any, you ought to be studying. I may even bring you an improving book. You won't develop good prospects by being idle.'

  'I am planning on staying right here in this house,' Dominic said airily.

  'Just as well.' Uncle Edgar gave him a suspicious look. 'Young people today are inclined to underestimate the value of a good education. At least your sister has the right idea. She studies every night.'

  Dominic, who knew perfectly well that Anna spent hours in her room trying on makeup and experimenting with different hairstyles, gasped at the injustice of this remark. Anna gave him a smug look.

  Dinner seemed to drag on forever and then Dominic was instructed by Uncle Edgar to wash and dry the dishes, so it was quite some time before he could escape to the laundry. Anna pounced on him as he opened the door.

  'What's going on?' she demanded. 'You were grinning all the way through dinner, so I knew you must have been planning something. You usually look as miserable as a wet week.'

  Dominic took a deep breath. 'I've built a time machine,' he announced.

  'Yeah right. Now tell me what you're really up to.'

  'No, it's true. I really have built a time machine.'

  Dominic explained what he had done and slowly his sister's skeptical expression faded.

  'Show me,' she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

  Dominic took the remote and aimed it at her. 'I'll send you back in time for one minute,' he said confidently and pushed the buttons. Anna disappeared and Dominic counted to a minute. There was a faint popping sound and Anna suddenly appeared in front of him. 'Show me,' she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

  'See. It works,' Dominic said triumphantly. Anna looked bewildered. 'What do you mean it works? Nothing happened.'

  'Yes it did,' Dominic insisted. 'I sent you back in time. Here, why don't you have a go? Just point these buttons at me and tell me to go back for one minute.'

  He handed the remote to Anna who looked unconvinced but did what he said. Dominic waited expectantly but nothing happened.

  'I knew it didn't work,' Anna said in exasperation. 'You'd better take the remote back to the living room or Uncle Edgar will get angry.'

  'I don't understand,' Dominic wailed. 'It worked before. Twice on Uncle Edgar and once on you. Maybe I should try it on myself.'

  He turned the remote around and pointed it at his chest. Take me back six months,' he said.

  He felt a popping in his ears and shook his head to clear it. Dominic looked around. He was in his own bedroom and there was no sign of Uncle Edgar's things. Instead there was a pile of crumpled wrapping paper and birthday cards on one end of the bed. He opened his bedroom door cautiously and poked his head out. The first thing he saw was his sister walking toward him.

  'Hurry up, or you'll be late for school,' Anna called as she slung her schoolbag over her shoulder.

  'Cool! It worked!'

  Dominic ran to the kitchen where his mother was loading the dishwasher. 'Where's Dad?' he asked urgently.

  'He left a few minutes ago,' Mrs Garrett said, with a slightly puzzled expression. 'He said goodbye to you.'

  'I'm too late,' Dominic muttered.

  'What was that, dear?'

  'Nothing. It doesn't matter.'

  Dominic frowned as he left the house. He walked down the road deep in thought. 'I know Dad didn't come home on my birthday, so something had to have happened to him today. I'll have to skip school and follow him.'

  Having made that decision, Dominic cheered up as he set off in the opposite direction.

  He wasn't quite so cheerful half an hour later. The garden centre where his father worked was only a short distance away by car but seemed to take forever to walk. He heaved a sigh of relief when it finally came into sight.

  '
Hi Dominic. No school today?' queried Sally, the cheerful motherly receptionist, as she staggered under the weight of a large potted fern. 'Mind your eyebrows; I'm just going to prop the door open.' She placed the pot with a thump and turned to Dominic with a smile.

  'How can I help?' she asked pleasantly.

  'Um, er.. I'm doing a project,' Dominic told her. 'We have to study people in the workplace for a day,' he added with a sudden inspiration. 'I thought I'd do my Dad but he must have forgotten because he left without me. Is he around?'

  'That's rough,' Sally said sympathetically. 'He's right down the back fixing the irrigation system on the nursery trees. You might get a bit dirty,' she added doubtfully, looking at Dominic's school clothes. 'Here, take this.'

  She handed over a large green plastic apron from a rack behind the counter and turned to greet an elderly couple who stood uncertainly in the doorway. Dominic mumbled his thanks and walked through to the large display courtyard. Racks of flowering plants stood neatly beside concrete birdbaths and wooden planters. Striped canvas deckchairs stretched invitingly under colourful umbrellas and brightly painted signs directed customers to the different areas. Dominic headed straight for the nursery. He pushed between two rows of fruit trees to discover his father on his hands and knees with a box of pipe fittings beside him.

  'Um, hello Dad,' he said hesitantly.

  Mr Garrett looked up then jumped to his feet.

  'Dominic! What on earth are you doing here? You should be at school.'

  Dominic took a deep breath. 'I had to come, Dad, you're in danger.'

  His father stared at him.

  'No, I'm not,' he said at last in an odd voice.

  'Yes you are, Dad,'