My Nasty Neighbours Read Online Free PDF

grey mattress off the pile, desperate to reach them.
    The upstairs window opened again and Mum poked her head out. She looked as if she was about to be guillotined, and she had an expression to match. ‘Every item is going back in that skip, David, even if you don’t find what you’re looking for.’
    ‘Promise,’ I called out recklessly. I had reached the socks. I grabbed one and plunged my hand in. Nothing. I tried another.
    Mum’s curiosity got the better of her. ‘Found anything?’ she asked, still from the upstairs window.
    But I was silent, amazed at what I had discovered wedged into the toe of one sock.
    ‘David! What’s the matter? Are you okay?’
    I gulped. A ten-pound note. Another sock rustled as I felt it. ‘The socks are filled withmoney!’ I cried.
    Within seconds Mum was downstairs and clambering on to the skip, using the chairs that I had chucked out. Together we searched for socks. Each contained a single ten-pound note.
    ‘Twelve, thirteen,’ Mum was counting excitedly. ‘That’s one hundred and thirty pounds.’
    I pointed to a tangle of shirts. ‘We might have missed some. Let’s look in that lot.’
    ‘Aha!’ cried Mum, after plunging her hand amongst the shirts. ‘What’s this?’ She unearthed a small pile of socks. I never thought the sight of Great Uncle Albert’s old socks would fill me with such excitement. Each rustling sock delivered another ten-pound note.
    ‘One hundred and sixty,’ I whistled. ‘Wonderful socks.’
    ‘How did you guess?’ asked Mum.
    ‘I didn’t,’ I confessed. ‘I wasn’t looking for money.’
    ‘What were you looking for then?’
    ‘For his medal.’ I tried to explain what it meant to me. It was connected to my disappointment about the glass ship. ‘I wanted something of GreatUncle Albert’s …’
    Mum nodded as if she understood. ‘Well, how about this?’ she asked brightly, pointing to a plaster statue lying on the lawn. It was a shepherd boy about three feet high. Age had faded all the colours to a murky green and the nose was broken off.
    ‘I threw it away when I was cleaning out the sitting-room. I didn’t know you wanted to keep something,’ said Mum apologetically.
    ‘Well, not just anything …’ The tall boy was no great work of art.
    ‘Remember how Uncle Albert used to keep his trilby hat on it?’ Mum reminded me. ‘It always stood on the sideboard.’
    Great Uncle Albert was an incredible shot. He would take off his hat and spin it at the tall boy from the sitting-room door. He never missed.
    ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’ll take it.’
    ‘Good,’ said Mum. ‘So now you have two things to remember your great uncle by. The tall boy and the money.’
    I was puzzled. ‘The money?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Mum. ‘You found it, David. It’syours.’

    As we drove away the next morning, my final view was of Cyril Bently clambering onto the skip in search of more mementos of his non-existent friendship with my great uncle Albert.

CHAPTER TEN
The Party’s Over
    T he first sign of trouble back at Elm Close was the net curtains billowing out of open windows.
    â€˜It’s far too cold to have all those windows open,’ said Mum. ‘So much for our nice warm house.’
    Dad was silent. He pulled into the drive, leapt out and headed towards the front door.
    Mum stood on the front lawn pointing. ‘What’s that?’ she asked indignantly. A sprinkling of cans littered the grass.
    â€˜Some passer-by must’ve …’ I began, although I already recognised the brand that Ian had been sneaking into the house before we left.
    Dad’s shout from inside interrupted, ‘Come and look at this.’
    I charged in ahead of Mum. Compared to this the ferry from Holyhead looked neat and tidy.Cans and crisp packets clung to every surface except the ceiling. Most of the furniture was shoved back in one corner. Mum rushed towards the television set. ‘Blood!’ she shrieked.
    I scratched the dry red