CHILDREN

Te Ao Hou, 1970, Page 23

CHILDREN The children sat on the hill above the house by the reservoir and made daisy-chains. Sometimes they flicked the heads of the papa grass at one another or picked different weeds and examined them, turning them over and over and wondering at them in amazement, as adults might wonder at the structure of some tall grand building. Carolyn broke off a buttercup head and said, ‘Keep still Vi.’ And she held the yellow flower under Violet's chin, and with a pretended cry of delight said, ‘Ooooohh! Vi likes butter.’ ‘Do I? Do I?’ cried Violet. ‘Yes, look you fullas,’ Carolyn said. ‘See it's yellow under Violet's chin.’ And it was too, where the flower reflected on the girl's skin. ‘See if I like butter,’ Nick asked. ‘Go on Caroleen.’ The girl held the flower under her brother's chin. There was a long pause as the girl studied the under-side of his chin, pushing the flower in closer to make out that it wasn't reflecting very clearly. ‘Do I?’ the boy asked, full of expectancy. ‘Yes. But only a little bit,’ the girl said. The boy felt a little disappointed but at least it was better than not liking butter at all. ‘What about me,’ Louise said, shifting down closer to the group. ‘Do I like butter too?’ They all wished to have the yellow reflect on the under-side of their chins as it was good to know you liked butter. Carolyn hesitated, deciding whether or not to let Louise play their game, and waiting to see what the others' reactions were, for they tried to leave their youngest sister out of as many of their games as possible, if only to revenge themselves a little on her. For they felt she got more than her fair share of attention from their parents, and especially from their father, whose pet she was. And what's more it had made her spoilt and selfish with it. ‘Shall I?’ Carolyn asked of the others. ‘Yes,’ Nick and Violet replied, for they felt the thrill of the game was too much fun to let a little thing like Louise getting petted sometimes, spoil it. So Carolyn held the flower under Louise's chin and although it reflected strongly, for she was a little fairer-skinned than the others and had a smooth round chin, Carolyn said, ‘No. Louise doesn't like butter. Look she doesn't, does she!' And she leaned away from the others to let them see. And although the others could see the yellow of the buttercup reflecting strongly

on her skin they both said, ‘No, you don't like butter Louise.’ ‘Na Tito.’ Louise retorted, startled and stung at once and then becoming annoyed. She tried to focus her eyes down her face to see for herself. And just in case she would, Carolyn snatched the flower away quickly. ‘Ooooh, Louise doesn't like butter,’ her sisters and brother teased. ‘I do. I do so!’ Louise snapped back. ‘No you don't, there's no yellow under your chin.’ ‘You're only telling titos,’ she accused, but she wasn't sure and hestitated awhile, considering. ‘No we're not,’ Violet said. ‘Go on Caroleen, hold the buttercup under Louise's chin again.’ Carolyn did so and they all chimed in with glee that their sister didn't like butter because there was no reflection there. In a rage Louise snatched the flower from Carolyn's hand and crushed it. Then she snatched out at Nick's daisy chain and broke it in half. But before she could get at Violet's the girl snatched it away. Nick flew at his sister and slapped her heavily on the leg. Louise began immediately to cry. The others knew they were in for it now, Louise flew at Nick and tried to scratch his face. There was a brief struggle in which Louise came off the worst. Knowing she'd have no success using these tactics the girl stood up and ran off down the hill. She would get her revenge some other, more subtle way. Halfway down the path she stopped and said, ‘You wait now, you fullas. You wait till I tell Mummy and Daddy.’ ‘Tell-tale-tit,’ the others chided. ‘You wait,’ the little girl said. She could have immediately gone and told on them, but she wanted to see them squirm a little first. She had stopped crying surprisingly quickly and was all cheek and aggression now. She knew she was a safe distance from the others and would easily reach the house and their parents before they caught her. The others knew she was up to her old tricks again. For she was able to turn her tears on and off like a tap, whenever it suited her. ‘I don't care if you do anyway,’ Nick called back. At that Louise turned and made off down the hill again. And as easily as she had turned her tears off she turned them on again, wailing loud and long in a way the children had come to associate with her and often teased her about, sometimes imitating her to her face. This time, feeling particularly peeved with his sister's carrying-on, Nick stood up and imitated her at the top of his voice, throwing out his chest and giving vent to the whole injustice of the thing, for their parents always took Louise's side no matter who was in the wrong. Or if they didn't, she still got a lot of sympathy and petting. And taking up a clod of dirt he flung it after the girl. Fortunately it missed and hit the fence behind her, otherwise they would have had no chance of getting out of it. As it was now, if the three of them stuck together they might be able to cry Louise down. Under his sisters' sobering look Nick quickly quietened down. His sisters felt there was no need to make things any worse than they already were. Two more ‘Fragments’ will appear in our next issue.