Chapter Four Over the next couple of days Cal tried to put the ‘snail’ incident behind him. During the day he concentrated on making little cardboard boxes for the children to take their snails home in. During the night he smeared on a thick covering of Elephant Oil. ‘Any success with the oil?’ asked Daniel on Thursday morning. Cal frowned and said, ‘Hard to tell.’ Kneeling, he peeled down his sock. ‘It might be a teensy bit better,’ said Daniel, eyeing off the exposed foot. Then he changed his mind and shook his head. ‘Nah. It still looks like a raw prawn.’ Cal sighed at the sight of his feet. ‘They’re enough to give a scavenger fish food poisoning,’ he said. The bell rang, calling them to class. As Cal filed past, Hayley turned her head away. At least now I don’t have to worry about the flipper race, he thought, making his way to his desk. Mr Langtry cleared his throat. It was his way of saying, Silence! The classroom noise faded, leaving a row of expectant faces.
