Fay glanced around the shiny industrial hallways of Crunch & Barley and felt a meager glimmer of hope. Visiting the cereal factory had to be the most tedious field trip she could think of, especially in Barnaby Hootsman\u2019s group, but with the notorious Mr. Arg leading the tour…maybe, just maybe it would be better than she thought.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cThis here,\u201d said Mr. Arg opening a door that led to the noisy cereal making equipment, \u201cNah…this part\u2019s boring…it\u2019s just our mixin\u2019 room where we…uh…mix spices an\u2019 all that…and over there\u2019s where…uh…well where the spices meet up with the doughy part…and, uh, grub\u2019s over thar\u2019 across the hall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cGrub?\u201d asked Miss Parsnip politely.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cVittles,\u201d responded Mr. Arg. \u201cSustenance.\u201d He lowered his gaze as if sharing a company secret with Miss Parsnip. \u201cYa\u2019 gotta let yer\u2019 crew eat, Missy, or they git mutinous on ya\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tMost surprisingly, Miss Parsnip blushed again.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cAt school we call that lunchtime,\u201d she said, mirroring Mr. Arg\u2019s secretive tone.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cSo wee ones,\u201d said Mr. Arg, \u201cdo ye\u2019 have any questions?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tDonny Bing raised his hand. \u201cDo people here ever have peanut butter soup for lunch?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cSoup?\u201d sputtered Mr. Arg looking bewildered.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cFresh flowers would make the lunchroom more cheerful,\u201d volunteered Judy Fipple without waiting to be called on.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cSure, if yer\u2019 a buttercup,\u201d snarled Mr. Arg who turned to continue the tour.<\/p>\n
\n \t\tFive extremely boring minutes and eight extremely boring rooms later, Fay was forced to admit that Barnaby Hootsman was making some sense for a change.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cHey Mister,\u201d called out Barnaby, \u201cwhen do we see something good, like, I don\u2019t know…the garbage dumpster?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tSeveral students tittered, and Mr. Hootsman clapped Barnaby on the back and said \u201catta\u2019baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tMr. Arg\u2019s dark gaze focused narrowly on Barnaby, but he continued his tour, ignoring the interruption.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cWait,\u201d continued Barnaby, sniffing loudly, \u201cSmell that? We must already be near the dumpster!\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\t\tMr. Arg stopped. A machine behind them merrily dropped prizes into boxes passing on a conveyor belt. But an outbreak of chuckles from the students faded into dead silence as Mr. Arg turned around. His gaze bore into Barnaby Hootsman like a drill.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cYer too young for a pistol,\u201d began Mr. Arg in a lilting growl, \u201cso I can\u2019t maroon ya\u2019…but I can give you a chore befittin\u2019 one with your mouth…so boy, START SWABBIN\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tBarnaby\u2019s face whitened and he stammered, \u201cw-w-with what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cWith a MOP ya\u2019 varmint!\u201d bellowed Mr. Arg. \u201cGo on! Git! Go find a mop!\u201d\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tBarnaby glanced at Mr. Hootsman, who shrugged then nodded. With a return shrug, Barnaby scrambled up the metal stairs and through the doorway which slammed behind him with a ringing clang.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cWait a bloomin\u2019 minute…,\u201d said Mr. Arg giving his yellow beard a tug. \u201cI almost forgot me own buddy rule…gots ta\u2019 send a buddy with the rapscallion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tFay had just noticed, with some disgust, that she still had a dirty diaper and a jar of pureed squash in her sweater pockets when Mr. Arg bellowed, \u201cYou!\u201d It wasn\u2019t until he added, \u201cthe little missy who likes ta\u2019 whisper too much,\u201d that she realized he was pointing at her. <\/p>\n
\n\t\t\u201cYes you,\u201d said Mr. Arg when Fay looked up. \u201cCatch up with the scoundrel and see that he finds a good swabbin\u2019 mop!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\tFay just nodded her head. And feeling not at all certain where Barnaby had disappeared to, she turned around and ran up the metal stairway and through the clanging door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fay glanced around the shiny industrial hallways of Crunch & Barley and felt a meager glimmer of hope. Visiting the cereal factory had to be the most tedious field trip she could think of, especially in Barnaby Hootsman\u2019s group, but with the notorious Mr. Arg leading the tour…maybe, just maybe it would be better than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}