The Swiss Family RobinZOM

Copyright 2014 by Perrin Briar

Smashwords Edition

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Epilogue
What To Read
Next?
Was It Good For You?
Show Me What You
Got
Be Kind,
Review
About The
Author
Copyright
Page

One

T
he rain tapped on the porthole windows like it wanted to
come in. Some of it didn’t bother with the formalities and dripped
in through cracks in the cabin’s roof, which creaked under the gale
force winds battering it. Liz eyed the roof with caution. She
placed a bucket over a patch of water on the floor.

“
There’s a leak over here
too,” Liz said.

The
cabin
’s floor and table surfaces were
festooned with buckets and bowls. Some had just a few drops of
water inside, while others were full to the brim. Liz picked up a
full bowl, opened the swing doors and threw the water outside onto
the courtyard below.

“
I’ll get it fixed when
the rain stops,” Bill said, not taking his eyes off the journal he
was writing.

“
Having come from a boat
you’d have thought this cabin would be more water resistant,” Liz
said. “Though I suppose it’s not the cabin’s fault. It’s the poor
workmanship.”

“
Give me a break, we’ve
only been here a few months.”

“
Five months,” Liz said.
“Long enough to build a roof over our heads that doesn’t
leak.”

“
I said I’ll fix it when
the rain stops.”

There was a pause.
Liz knew she should have left it there, but
being cooped up during a storm had made her
argumentative.

“
I’m not sure being in
the tallest trees on the island during a storm is the best idea
anyway,” Liz said. “Maybe we should have a monsoon
house.”

“
All right,” Bill said.
“I’ll fix the roof and build us a monsoon house when the rain
stops, all right?”

Bill turned back to his
journal and continued
scribbling.

“
I’m bored,” Jack
said.

Jack sat
with his chin in his hands looking out a
porthole window. The jungle foliage outside waved with the powerful
wind and rain, moving almost as if it were rough seas. Jack put a
hand to his stomach, feeling seasick. A capuchin monkey lay across
Jack’s lap, staring at the ceiling.

“
Nip is bored too,” Jack
said.

No one replied.

“
I’m bored and Nip is
bored,” Jack said.

“
We heard you the last
time,” Fritz said. “And the hundred times before that.”

“
I’m bored,” Jack
said.

“
Will you be so bored
with my foot up your arse?”

“
Fritz!” Liz
said.

“
Yes, Fritz,” Jack said.
“But I’m guessing you wouldn’t be. You’d enjoy it.”

“
You little…” Fritz
said.

Fritz, fifteen and big
for his age,
marched toward Jack, who got
up out of his chair with a big smile on his face at finally having
something to do. Jack ran around the table in the middle of the
room, where Francis sat colouring a picture.

“
Fritz!” Liz said. “Sit
down right now!”

“
He started it,” Fritz
said.

“
I don’t care who started
it,” Liz said. “I’m ending it.”

With a glare at
Jack,
Fritz returned to sitting in the
corner. An eagle sat on a perch beside him. Fritz rubbed Beauty’s
beak with a feather and grumbled under his breath. Jack,
disappointed that the activity was over, sighed and returned to
staring out the window.

“
Beauty sure loves her
new perch,” Liz said, trying to drum up a conversation.

“
She’d sit on it all day
if she could,” Fritz said with pride.

“
You did a good job of
it,” Liz said. “I’m sure she appreciates all the hard work you put
into it to make it for her.”

That
made Fritz smile. Jack got to his feet.

“
I’m going to go read my
comic books,” he said.

“
Again?” Liz said. “I’m
surprised you haven’t worn them out. I wish you showed your school
books as much passion. Why don’t you read a book on the Second
World War instead?”

“
It’s the end of the
world,” Jack said. “Why do I need to know about
history?”

“
Because history offers
valuable lessons, like how Napoleon defeated the Russians in 1805
despite having a markedly smaller army.”

“
Or the Greeks against
the Persian forces in 480BC,” Ernest said, not looking up from the
book he was reading. “Though, of course, they died.”

“
That’s right,” Liz said,
enthused with the subject. “A force of three hundred men held off
an enemy of thousands with the knowledge of their
terrain.”

Jack frowned with thought.

“
Or Superman versus
General Zod and his Disciples,” he said. “Comic books are history
too now, aren’t they?”

There was a pause.

“
History is our
heritage,” Liz said. “Tell them, Bill.”

Bill turned
from his journal, caught unaware.

“
Uh, yes, dear,” he said.
“You boys listen to your mother.”

Liz rolled her eyes.

“
Why should they?” she
said. “You don’t.”

“
Be with you in a minute,
babe,” Bill said.

Jack
turned to his brothers.

“
It’s boring in here,” he
said. “Let’s go to our treehouse.”

“
All right,” Liz said,
“but take the winch down. I don’t want you on the wire in this
storm.”

“
We’ll get soaking wet,”
Jack said.

“
Unlike taking the zip
wire,” Liz said.

“
We’ll be across in two
seconds.”

“
If it wasn’t broken it
would. There’s a storm. You could get struck by
lightning-”

“
Geronimo!” Jack
said.

H
e ran across the living room and threw himself out the
swing doors. He caught the cable with one hand, swung his legs up
and curled them around the cable. Jack threaded himself along it to
a second treehouse, which they affectionately referred to as
Robin’s Nest. The main treehouse was called Falcon’s Nest. The rain
stung Jack’s face and soaked his clothes. Thunder rumbled in the
dark ceaseless clouds overhead. Jack stopped, turned, and hung by
one arm to look back at his mother. The drop was thirty feet and
make Liz feel queasy.

“
Don’t do that!” Liz
said. “You know I hate it when you do that. If you fall and break
your neck, don’t come running to me.”

“
How could I run to you
if my neck was broken?” Jack said.

He
threw his other arm up and monkey-barred his way across the
wire. Nip leapt out through the swing doors and followed
Jack.

“
Don’t worry,” Bill said.
“He won’t fall. The boy’s got monkey blood in him, I’m sure of
it.”

“
If he does, it’s from
your side of the family,” Liz said. “And I’m not worried about him.
I’m worried about that wire. It could snap at any
minute.”

“
It’s high tensile steel.
It’ll never snap.”

“
Never say
never.”

Liz
watched with undisguised fear, and didn’t breathe again
until Jack got off at the other end.

“
I swear, I’m going to
kill that boy,” Liz said.

She turned to Fritz,
who
was now looking into a hand mirror,
making minute alterations to his hair. Beauty the eagle was also
looking at herself in a mirror, preening. Pets really do act like
their owners, Liz thought. Fritz was handsome and well-built,
taking after his father. He had a strong square chin that hadn’t
yet seen a razor, and wore a pair of jeans and T-shirt like they’d
just come from the store.

“
Fritz,” Liz said, “can
you get Beauty to catch us a couple of quails for tonight’s tea,
please?”

“
It’s raining,” Fritz
said. “I’m not sure if there’s much out there for her to
catch.”

“
Try.”

“
All right.”

Fritz
put on a thick glove that covered his arm up to the
elbow.

“
Come on, girl,” he
said.

He
picked Beauty up off her perch. He moved to the swing
doors, opened them wide, and then spoke into Beauty’s
ear.

“
We want quails. Okay?”
Fritz said, holding up two fingers. “Quails. Two. Got
that?”

Beauty
nodded with vigour.

“
Good girl.”

Fritz extended his arm
and
Beauty took flight into the driving
rain.

“
Maybe you should train
Beauty to obey Ernest too,” Liz said. “In case you’re busy
elsewhere and we need a fowl.”

Fritz shrugged.

“
I tried,” he said, “but
she’ll only obey me. What can I say? I must be more popular with
the chicks.”

Liz rolled her eyes.

“
Fritz,” he said, “will
you go over to Robin’s Nest and keep an eye on Jack for me,
please?”

“
Can’t Ernest do it?”
Fritz said.

Ernest had his nose
buried in a book, an intense look of concentration on his
face.
He was slighter than his older
brother, with narrow shoulders. The lenses of his glasses made his
eyes look tiny. Liz clicked her fingers around Ernest’s ears. He
didn’t respond.

“
No,” Liz said. “Ernest
can’t do it.”

“
Do you want me to take
Francis?” Fritz said, gesturing to the eight year-old now building
a house of cards and peering at them with curiosity.

“
No,” Liz said. “He’s all
right where he is. Take Ernest with you though, if you can peel him
away from his book.”

Fritz slipped on a bright
yellow raincoat, careful with the hood over his hair.

“
You just have to know
how to get his attention,” he said.

He
sidled up to Ernest.

“
Pie is three point one
six,” he said.

Ernest blinked and looked up
from his book.

“
You dick!” he said. “I
was just getting to the good bit then!”

“
Ernest!” Liz said.
“Language!”

Fritz tilted the book up.
On
the cover was written:
Advanced Mechanics
.

“
What’s the climax, I
wonder?” Fritz said. “He fixes the engine?”

Ernest spoke in Latin, a
superior smile on his face.
He pushed the
glasses up on his nose. His mother clipped him upside the
ear.