Benji Yahoo and His Friends: The Race

Donal Magnier

Description

When a storm destroys the roof of The Honeybarn, home to a group of mismatched friends and family, young Benji Yahoo decides to take part in the annual community fair road race to try and win the one-hundred-pound prize money. Benji's friends are confident and think he can win it, until his high school rival, the devious Victor Creole, decides to take part too.With tensions running high between the two groups of friends, who will be victorious on the day?

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 28 août 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528952095
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Benji Yahoo and His Friends: The Race
Donal Magnier
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-08-28
Benji Yahoo and His Friends: The Race About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgements Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine
About the Author
Donal Magnier was born and brought up in Cork City, Ireland, where he currently resides. Donal worked as a musician, playing drums with various rock and cabaret bands. He is a keen sportsman, excelling in field sports, such as soccer, hurling and Gaelic football. Nowadays, Donal relaxes playing golf, writing, reading and is a regular visitor to the cinema.
Dedication
To Grace, Jane and Jack O’Riordan.
Copyright Information ©
Donal Magnier (2020)
The right of Donal Magnier to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781786935830 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781786935847 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528952095 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgements
Very special thanks to the Editor, Vinh Tran, and his superb production team. To the pleasant staff at Austin Macauley Publishers, and to the illustrations of Maria Hernandez. To Copy Print Services Cork, Pat Murphy, Cathedral Credit Union and the Apple 6s.
Chapter One
It was an outrageous stormy night in Dashbourne, an area of the town of Qualham, on the south coast of England.
In Dashbourne is The Honeybarn, situated on a crop farm, it is the home of Benji Yahoo and his friends.
It was the worst supper time ever in The Honeybarn. All fourteen occupants living there, sat at the long oak wood dining table in the living room of the house, hoping this raging storm would soon pass. The thunder rolled, while the lightning cracked across the dark Qualham sky. The strong sea winds and rain outside were hammering the doors, windows and the walls of The Honeybarn. Inside, a log fire blazed, but no matter how much heat circulated from the log fire, or how firm the doors, windows and the walls held from this beastly storm, their main worry was the persistent leaking roof.

A group of people in a room Description automatically generated
Large drops of water from the heavy rain were coming down everywhere around them. The roof of The Honeybarn had clearly suffered a lot of damage. It was like they had their very own nimbus rain cloud for a ceiling. All around the floor were a colourful variety of buckets. Cooking pots were also used, and on the long oak wood dining table, they had two kettles, four vases and a teapot to try and keep it dry.
This storm is a grave reminder to them of the great storm five years before which destroyed the nearby town of Plimsborough, which evidently, brought these fourteen occupants together.
Sitting at the top of the table was Oswald Berkshire, chief farmer and head of the household. To his left was his wife Marge. It was Marge’s caring nature to take care of her closest friends. Her visit to Plimsborough, her home town, the day after the storm was the most painful day of her life. Marge saw the devastation the seventy miles-per-hour gales had caused. Her old home was gone, her neighbourhood demolished, her old school and the church were left in ruins. It almost broke her heart completely. So, Marge and her husband Oswald offered to help her friends and four orphan boys, the warmth and comfort of their home, The Honeybarn, in Qualham.
Down the table from Marge were Lydia Charbray, flamboyant and snooty to say the least, next were sisters, Gertrude, Molly and Sally Rosecomb, each of them prim and chatty. They lost their own farm in the Plimsborough storm. At the end of the table was Barney Velder, farmhand and maintenance worker. Barney has lived in The Honeybarn for eight years, ever since he was hired by Oswald. Down the table from Oswald’s right was Harold Herwick, he is a very keen gardener and orchard carer, next to him is his wife Betty, Marge’s best friend. Next is Millie, daughter of Harold and Betty. Millie is a sporty, energetic young girl. The Herwicks also lost their home in the Plimsborough storm. To Millie’s right were Quarter Quack, Quincy Quiaga, better known as Qui Qui, Denny Kinder, and finally Benji Yahoo. When the Plimsborough children’s home was destroyed by the storm, Marge and Oswald held talks with the local social worker. On seeing that there was very little left of the children’s home and nowhere in Plimsborough safe to keep the four boys, the social worker granted Marge and Oswald permission to take care of them. So, they brought Benji, Denny, Quarter and Qui Qui to Qualham and have kindly taking care of them since.
Benji is quite intelligent, mild mannered and very athletic. In school he is excellent at a variety of sport, including football, cricket and basketball. When Benji is in the company of his dear friends, they look up to him like an older brother. Denny is a quirky character, clumsy at times, but always pleasantly good humoured. Quarter is neat, cheerful and spry, while Qui Qui is the jester, full of energy and quick with a joke.
Marge and Betty take care of the household duties. With so many living in The Honeybarn, the cooking and the cleaning can be a tiresome daily routine. Lydia, Gertrude, Molly and Sally work at the store in the Town Centre which sells the farm produce. The store is simply called Qualham Fruit and Veg. Harold looks after the orchard directly at the back of The Honeybarn. He also takes care of the many berries growing around the perimeter of the orchard, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries etc. Also, the wild berries growing on the thickets and bramble bushes around the farm. Benji, Denny, Quarter, Qui Qui and Millie attend Crossom Dale School.
Although everyone in The Honeybarn have a very mixed background, they are as caring and supportive to each other as any family, even when Lydia is being a little stubborn, at times she can be quite a handful. Indeed, for Benji, Denny, Quarter and Qui Qui, this is the only family they have ever known.
Benji gazed around the room. He looked at the door, the windows, then around the very gloomy table, before glancing up at the dripping ceiling, “I wonder how much it’s going to cost to mend the roof?”
“It depends how much damage is done, Benji,” Barney replied. “We won’t know for sure until tomorrow. That’s if this rain stops.”
“Oh, I do wish it would stop,” Lydia grumbled. “It’s so frightfully annoying just listening to those ghastly drips.”
“The weather forecast says sunshine tomorrow, Lydia,” Marge said. “So don’t worry, it will eventually pass sometime overnight. It’s also a good thing the kids are on their school summer holidays.”
“Yes indeed,” Gertrude agreed. “And this horrible rain is a typical start to the English summer as well.”
Oswald rose from his seat. “Come on, boys, time to empty those buckets.”
“Oh no, not again,” Denny groaned, rising from his chair.
Oswald, Barney, Harold, Benji, Quarter and Qui Qui, each grabbed the buckets and cooking pots, Millie and Lydia gave a hand by taking the vases, Marge and Betty took the kettles and teapot.
Denny went in front to hold the door. He opened the latch, pushed the door out, but then a sudden powerful gust of wind blew him back inside, landing Denny on his backside. “Wow! That wind is strong!”
“Come on, Denny, back up on your feet and try again,” Oswald chuckled.
Denny got back up on his feet, went to the door again, this time giving it an almighty push. “YEEARGH!” He cried, pushing the door out and holding it into the monstrous sea winds that were blowing ferociously at him.
“Good work, Denny,” Oswald said, leading everyone out to empty their buckets, pots, vases and kettles. Once they were emptied, Denny closed the door firmly, carefully secured the latch and followed the others back inside.
As soon as the buckets, vases, kettles and pots were back in place. “I do hope those buckets don’t overflow during the night,” Molly said.