Over The Top: The Con

"But she's not all there" I argued, "She probably didn't understand.''

Spike shrugged his shoulders and revved the machine. He walked away,
swaggering a bit. The mower growled angrily.

I pedalled off, feeling depressed. All the other injustices in the world
seemed unimportant, as long as Spike was ripping people off.

When I got home I told Dad. He agreed with me for once. Said it was just
no good. Said something should be done about it. He reckoned what Spike
needed was a dose of Miss Huddy.

"Who's that?"

"You mean to say you've never heard of Miss Huddy?" said Dad, pulling a
face.

"Of course not! Who is she?"

"I'll tell you," said Dad.

He pulled a city map from a drawer and spread it out on the coffee table.

"See all this" he said, sliding his finger over a green area.

"Yes. It's a park."

"No" said Dad, pointing at another patch of green "That's the Park, this
is something else. It's where Miss Huddy lives"

"Like an estate?"

"Right. She's an eccentric. Lives all by herself in a grand old house,
with a brick wall all round the property. Hardly anyone's ever seen her,
except the occasional doctor, and a few servicemen"

"So what's so special about her?"

"I'm coming to that. When I was at school, there was a girl called Agatha
Huddy. She was in my class. We went out together a few times when I was in
my teens. Then her parents died and left her the house." Dad had a
far-away look in his eyes. "She was a strange one, that Agatha. Always
taking care of animals. She had sparrows and hedgehogs, and frogs, and two
ancient horses with gums instead of teeth . . . anyway, she was too
intelligent for her own good. Won all the prizes at school, got all the
awards. She was offered I don't know how many scholarships. But she didn't
want the world. She went away to enjoy her books, and the quiet."

"So what's this got to do with Spike?" I asked.