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    Jodie's Rescue: Book 1
    Jodie's Rescue: Book 1
    Jodie's Rescue: Book 1
    Ebook162 pages1 hour

    Jodie's Rescue: Book 1

    By Diane Fagan

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    About this ebook

    Twelve-year-old Jodie Jackson lives with her father above their family boatshed in Serpentine Bay in Sydney Harbour. She attends a new school, where she is faced with bullying and loneliness. She is also feeling grief at the death of her mother the year before. She misses her mother and wonders where she is now.


    Her father is c

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPublicious Book Publishing
    Release dateJul 16, 2021
    ISBN9780645154054
    Jodie's Rescue: Book 1
    Author

    Diane Fagan

    Diane Fagan was born on the northern prairies in Canada-far from the ocean. When she came to Australia, she found a new passion for sailing. After retiring from teaching, she concentrated on writing short stories for children and adults.Jodie's Challenge at Kingfisher Bay is her fourth novel, following Jodie's seriesDiane lives in Sydney, Australia.

    Read more from Diane Fagan

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      Book preview

      Jodie's Rescue - Diane Fagan

      Chapter One

      Jodie’s mobile phone shrilled loudly in the quiet of the classroom, and everyone turned to look at her, including the teacher.

      ‘Oops!’ Jodie’s face turned red as she fumbled madly in her pocket.

      ‘Jodie Jackson!’ said Mrs Bennett. ‘You know mobile phones are strictly forbidden in class!’

      Jodie pulled out the off ending object and fumbled nervously as she switched it off. ‘Uh sorry, Mrs Bennett.’

      The teacher marched over to Jodie and held out her hand. ‘Hand it over now!’

      ‘But I need it after school to call my Dad!’ Jodie’s voice wavered.

      ‘This is the second time this week that I’ve found you with a phone! You know the rules. No mobile phones in the classroom! Leave them in your locker.’

      Jodie passed over the phone and looked down at her desk. ‘Nice going loser!’ Alice whispered from the desk behind her.

      The bell rang and the girls packed up their books.

      ‘You can have your phone back tomorrow,’ called Mrs Bennett to Jodie as she walked out of the door.

      ‘Bad luck about your phone!’ said Sarah as Jodie opened her locker.

      Jodie was startled. Sarah had the locker next to hers and seemed really shy. She hadn’t spoken more than a few words to Jodie, even though they almost tripped over each other getting books out of their lockers.

      ‘I totally forgot that I’d left it on,’ said Jodie as she pulled out her school bag. ‘I phone my Dad when I get off the bus and he picks me up if he isn’t too busy.’ She sighed. ‘Now I’ll have to walk down the hill. And it’s so hot!’ She wiped her face and slammed the door.

      ‘Where do you live?’ asked Sarah.

      ‘At the end of Lavender Street, right down at the bottom,’ said Jodie.

      ‘I know that street,’ said Sarah. ‘My Dad keeps his boat at that boatshed way down at the end.’

      ‘That’s where I live,’ said Jodie. ‘Upstairs.’

      ‘You mean you live right there, under the Harbour Bridge?’ asked Sarah.

      Jodie nodded and picked up her books.

      ‘That’s the prettiest bay, whatever it’s called,’ said Sarah. ‘All the boats bobbing up and down. And the sandy beach at the end.’

      ‘Yeah,’ said Jodie. ‘It’s called Serpentine Bay.’

      ‘Wow,’ exclaimed Sarah. ‘I’d love to live that close to the water!’ She turned back to her locker and closed the door.

      ‘It’s nothing fancy,’ said Jodie. Some of the houses next to the boatshed were huge. Expensive looking with lots of tinted glass windows and swimming pools out front.

      ‘It must be cool,’ said Sarah, ‘listening to the waves at night.’

      ‘It is,’ admitted Jodie. She hadn’t thought any of the Year Seven girls would be interested in where she lived. All they talked about was clothes and reality shows, boys and the latest movie stars.

      ‘I heard what Alice said.’ Sarah frowned. ‘Why has she got it in for you?’

      ‘Maybe because I’m one of the new girls at school.’ Jodie shrugged. ‘Maybe she just likes to pick on people.’

      ‘I think it’s really mean,’ said Sarah closing her locker door too.

      ‘Yeah,’ said Jodie, turning to Sarah. She took a breath. ‘Do you want to come to mine some time?’

      ‘Sure,’ said Sarah.

      Jodie tried to sound casual. ‘How about tomorrow?’

      ‘Sorry. Tennis lesson.’

      ‘Oh,’ said Jodie. She picked up her bag and turned and started to walk away. Sarah probably had lots of friends already.

      ‘Hey, wait up,’ called Sarah running after her. ‘Are you going to go on that excursion for Geography class? It sounds really cool, sleeping in tents on the beach, looking at all the birds and stuff!’

      ‘I’d like to!’ said Jodie, ‘But depends on how much it costs. I don’t know if my Dad will want to pay that much.’

      ‘Yeah,’ said Sarah. ‘I’m going to try and talk my Dad into letting me go.’ She grabbed Jodie’s arm. ‘Talk to your Dad too! It’ll be fun!’

      Jodie smiled. ‘Okay!’

      She walked out of the school grounds and headed for the bus, thinking about her friends from primary school, now at Kingston High. They all used to have so much fun on an excursion. She wished she didn’t have to start all over again making new friends. The hard part was trying to act like you didn’t care.

      They had to move house when Grampa couldn’t manage the boatshed anymore, so Dad could run it. Everything had been topsy turvy. Dad had to quit his job and they had to sell their house and leave their familiar neighbourhood. Not to mention starting a new school.

      ‘You’ll make friends in no time,’ her mother had said.‘Friends for life!’

      If only, thought Jodie. Things must have changed since her mother’s day. The girls all seemed to have their own groups, their own little cliques.

      She’d made a dumb mistake in the first few days, asking some of the girls in her English class if she could sit with them at lunch.

      ‘We don’t want anyone else in our group,’ said Alice. ‘We’ve all been friends since primary school.’

      Jodie could feel their eyes on her back as she walked away, and hear them laughing, her stomach doing a slow roll.

      Maybe Sarah would be different. She seemed nice.

      Jodie said a silent prayer to the sky. Mum, if you’re listening, please help me.

      Chapter Two

      The bus pulled up and the girls got on, pushing and shoving, talking and laughing. Jodie got on last and stood near the front, squashed up to some of them.

      She hung on to the pole and stared out of the front window, watching the houses and shops flash past. Her body felt thin and invisible. Non-existent. After a few stops, Jodie found a seat and slumped down, staring unseeing out of the window.

      The bus wound its way through the streets and pulled up to her stop where she jumped off and started walking down the hill. Her bag felt heavier and heavier and she wished she’d filled her water bottle.

      After about twenty minutes she reached the driveway that led down to her home. She cut through the car park, past the slipway, and walked up to her house. Jodie climbed the stone steps, next to some ferns and ivy and let herself in the door.

      Dumping her bag on the living room floor, she pushed open the French doors that led onto the balcony, and leaned over the railing, trying see if she could see her Dad on the wharf below. He insisted she let him know when she got home.

      Steve, Dad’s assistant, was on the wharf, fiddling with a wooden runabout tied up at the end. His dog Rusty lay near him and looked up, wagging his tail.

      ‘Hi, Steve,’ Jodie called.

      He looked up and smiled. ‘Hey! How’s it going?’

      ‘Oh, you know,’ she said. ‘Where’s Dad?’

      ‘He’s around somewhere. Try the office.’

      She went back in and down the steps and around to the office and poked her head in the door.

      ‘I’ve just renewed all the safety features,’ her Dad was saying into the phone. ‘It was certified two years ago!’ He waved a finger at her and slammed the phone down.

      ‘Everything okay, Dad?’ Jodie asked. He looked up at her and ran his fingers through his hair.

      ‘Remember Steve took out a group of ladies for a test sail, and one of them tripped on the wharf and twisted her ankle?’

      Jodie nodded.

      ‘She claimed the wharf was dangerous and so the guys from Work Safety say we have to put up hand railings!’

      He shook his head. ‘She didn’t mention that she was wearing high heels and one of them got stuck between the planks!’ He smiled at her. ‘I’ll sort it. So… how was your day? Making lots of new friends?’

      ‘Yeah, Dad.’ She tried to lift her voice. Make it sound happy.

      ‘Did you walk home?’ he asked. ‘I could have picked you up.’

      ‘I kind of had my phone confiscated,’ she said. ‘I forgot it was in my pocket and it rang in the middle of class.’

      He shook his head. ‘That was a bit silly! Can’t have every kid looking at their phone at school.’ Dad jumped up. ‘I’ve got to help Steve. You go on up and get some homework done.’ He disappeared out the door.

      Jodie went back into her house and climbed the stairs up to her bedroom, tucked away in the loft, under the eaves. A little closet was at one end and an old chest of drawers and her desk were at the other. Her bed was in an alcove under a

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