some shelves. Spike eased himself into a chair, because he ached all over,
and started to read.

He found the "Silver Ghost" and looked at the details. It was an open
tourer, with a spare tire but no spare wheel. It didn't have a 'Spirit of
Ecstasy' mounted on the bonnet because that wasn't added until 1911. That
fact dated the car at about 1906. He looked at the diagram of the engine.
6-cylinder, 7 litre. Top speed 80 kph. Copper cooling pipes. The throttle
and ignition levers were part of the steering wheel. It was all so simple.
Provided it was properly primed, he could crank-start the motor and drive
the car out of the Estate any time he wanted.

He borrowed three books so he would have plenty of back-up to check on,
then he pedalled slowly and painfully out to the Springs Hill Estate. The
driveway looked good now. Flat and clear. No more branches lying across
it. No more bricks.

He dumped his bike and pulled the gate wide open, then he walked to the
house. As before, Miss Huddy took ages to come to the door.

"Oh, its you" she said, with the little dimples showing on her cheeks. She
was wearing fluffy pink slippers on her feet this time and her glasses
were upside down. She put her arm round Spike and kissed him.

"Its lovely to see you again Geoffrey."

"I'm not Geoffrey," said Spike, "I'm the boy who does your gardening."
"That's good," said Miss Huddy, "I think I could do with some around here.
I see someone's already done the lawns, so you'll have to ..."

"That was me, yesterday." said Spike.

"And were you paid?" asked Miss Huddy, "I can't let you do all that work
without giving you something in return you know."

Spike felt the pressure of the money in his back pocket. Three thousand
dollars was quite good pay for a day's work.

"Well," he said, "I wouldn't mind if you gave me something for today"

"That's fine, that's fine" said Miss Huddy, "I'm sure you earn it. My, my,
you do look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep? Children need their
sleep you know"

"Yes, plenty" Spike lied. He had, in fact, been awake most of the night,
suffering from excitement, sunburn and cramp.

Miss Huddy led him into the house again.

"I haven't got much change on me at the moment" she said, "But I'll tell