Video Rose and Mark Spark Read online

  Tea was not a happy meal. Mum went on and on about the video, saying that she’d told Rose not to keep fiddling about with the buttons. It was as if Mum was continuously rewinding her own button. Rose wished there was some way of fast-forwarding her until she stopped being cross.

  Mum was much more sympathetic in the morning.

  ‘Cheer up, Rosy-Posy. I can’t bear to see you with such a long face,’ said Mum, sorting clothes for the washing machine.

  Rose was so wretched she felt her face getting longer and longer. It would droop right down to her knees at this rate.

  ‘What am I going to do all day?’ she wailed. ‘It was so awful yesterday when I only got to watch half of Dumbo.’

  ‘A broken video isn’t the end of the world, you know,’ Mum said gently, looking at a pair of jeans. She put her hands down both legs and stuck her fingers through both knees. ‘Rick!’ She didn’t sound anywhere near so gentle now. ‘Rick, these are your new jeans!’

  ‘Can’t we get someone in to mend the video, Mum?’ Rose begged.

  ‘Dad said there’s a man at work — oh no! Look at this sweatshirt! Richard Michael, get yourself into the kitchen this instant. I want an explanation.’

  Rick’s explanation wasn’t very satisfactory. Mum said he wasn’t allowed to go skating today. Rick argued indignantly. Mum got cross. Baby Robbie got cross too and started yelling in his little chair. Dad got cross as well, because he hadn’t got to sleep yet and he didn’t know how he was expected to with everyone bellowing like bulls.

  ‘I’m not bellowing,’ Rose mumbled miserably and went to fiddle with the video.

  ‘You’re wasting your time, Rose,’ Mum said, but before she hurried off to work she looked up the number of a television and video repair business. She phoned them. They said they could come out to look at the video that afternoon. Rose leapt high in the air for joy. She came down with rather a crash but she didn’t care. They could come and fix the video.

  No, they couldn’t. They were doubtful for a start when Mum told them the make and age of the video and how it wouldn’t work at all. They said they’d still come and see, but of course there would be a call-out charge. And then they charged an hourly rate for any work involved. Rose heard the vast sums and slumped back on the sofa.

  ‘I’m afraid we can’t afford that,’ said Mum, and put down the phone. She shook her head sadly at Rose. ‘I’m sorry, love, but it would be crazy to spend a small fortune — and there’s no guarantee at all they could actually fix the video.’

  Mum went off to work with Robbie. Rick waited a minute or two, and then slung his skates round his neck and sauntered towards the front door.

  ‘Mum said you’re not allowed to skate!’ said Rose.

  ‘I’m not skating, am I?’ said Rick.

  ‘Oh, I get it, you’re just wearing them today,’ said Rose.

  ‘That’s right. I’m getting very fashion conscious. This is my dead stylish chunky necklace,’ said Rick, waving his arms and swivelling his hips like a model.

  Rose listened after he went out the front door. There was a long pause. And then she heard the swoosh of little wheels along the concrete. It looked like Rick’s new necklace was now taking him for a ride.

  She actually caught him at it when she went out to the shops to return the Dumbo video.

  ‘I’m telling Mum,’ Rose shouted. She probably wouldn’t tell, but she wanted to make Rick squirm a bit.

  ‘You shut your face, Square-Bum,’ Rick shouted back, and his mate Charlie chortled delightedly.

  Rose decided she would definitely tell Mum after all. She stumped off to Uncle Frank’s.

  ‘What’s up with you, Rose? You look a bit fed up,’ said Uncle Frank.

  ‘A bit!’ said Rose. ‘Oh Uncle Frank, our video’s broken and I don’t know what to do. It went kerphut right in the middle of Dumbo. I couldn’t rewind it. I do hope the tape’s OK’ She handed it over nervously. If it was broken then she’d have to save up her pocket money for ages to pay for it.

  Uncle Frank tried the tape on his own machine and Dumbo danced back into action.

  ‘Phew!’ said Rose. She watched the screen. ‘Can I stay for a bit, Uncle Frank?’

  Uncle Frank laughed. ‘OK. You can stay all morning if you help me sort all the videos on the racks, they’re in an awful mess. Are you getting your own set fixed today?’

  ‘No, we can’t afford it,’ said Rose, drooping.

  ‘Well, did you see the card in my window? This nice old chap seems to have started up his own business.’

  Rose ran outside the shop to look at the card in the window.

  TROUBLED WITH THE

  TELEVISION?

  VEXED WITH THE VIDEO?

  I CAN FIX THEM AT VERY

  FAVOURABLE RATES.

  NO CALL OUT CHARGE.

  There was a telephone number. And the name of the firm. It sounded promising:

  WORKS-LIKE-MAGIC.

  3…

  Rose brought Dad breakfast in bed. She ran a bath for him. She played his favourite old Elvis tape while he was getting dressed.

  ‘It’s no use, Rosy-Posy,’ said Dad. ‘I can’t get you a new video.’

  ‘I know, Dad. But there’s this new business for fixing videos. WORKS-LIKE-MAGIC.’

  ‘It would need to,’ said Dad, but after he’d had a second cup of coffee he rang the number.

  The man at the other end said he’d be right with them, in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.

  Rose picked up Robbie’s toy lamb which was grazing peacefully in a dusty corner of the carpet. She tweaked the fluffy tail twice — and immediately there was a very loud ring at the door.

  Rose and Dad looked at each other.

  ‘It can’t be this bloke already,’ said Dad.

  ‘It must be,’ said Rose, dashing to the door.

  There was a strange old man standing on the doorstep. He looked as if he’d just got up from his bed too. His white hair stuck straight up in the air and the crumpled blue and white striped trousers showing beneath his big raincoat looked suspiciously like pyjamas.

  His eyes sparkled when he saw Rose and he gave her a flashing smile.

  ‘I believe you require my services, young lady,’ he said.

  ‘I want you to mend our video, please,’ said Rose.

  ‘Oh, is that all,’ said the strange man. ‘Just as you please.’

  Dad edged up behind Rose.

  ‘Could you give us some idea of your charges first, if you don’t mind,’ Dad asked.

  ‘A pound a minute,’ said the strange man.

  ‘Well in that case we’ll have to part company,’ said Dad. ‘Your rates are far too expensive.’

  ‘Oh, Dad!’ said Rose desperately.

  ‘Now look, Rose, it’s going to take hours and hours to get that video working again, if indeed it’s possible. We simply can’t afford it,’ Dad hissed.

  ‘I’ll just take a look,’ said the strange man. He walked briskly into the living room. There was a crackling sound as he moved. Perhaps his raincoat was made of some odd material. He bent down and squinted at the video.

  ‘I can mend this in a flash,’ said the strange man, and he reached out and touched the video with the tip of his finger.

  There was a sudden jagged white flash, like lightning. Rose jumped, Dad gasped, and the strange man sucked his teeth in a sizzly sort of way.

  ‘Here, watch out!’ said Dad, going to grab the man. ‘That video must be live.’

  ‘Yes, I’ve livened it up for you,’ said the strange man, straightening swiftly and ducking away from Dad. ‘It’s fully fixed now.’

  ‘But — but it can’t be,’ said Dad.

  ‘Oh yes it is,’ said the strange man, and he slotted in The Wizard of Oz and pressed the play button.

  It started playing immediately. The strange man pressed the fast forward button. The tape whizzed forward to the bright colour of Munchkin land. He pressed the rewind button. The tape zapped Dorothy back to blac
k and white Kansas.

  ‘See. Fully working. Care to try it, sir?’ said the strange man.

  Dad had a go at the controls himself. His hand was shaking as he pressed the buttons.

  ‘You said you’d mend it in a flash,’ Rose whispered, awestruck. ‘And that’s just what you did.’

  ‘That’s right, my dear,’ said the strange man. He consulted a large watch on his wrist. ‘We won’t quibble over a few seconds. You owe me a pound for my services, sir.’

  ‘But—but—but I can’t just pay you a pound,’ Dad stammered. ‘It’s nowhere near enough.’

  The strange man sucked his teeth again, sounding even more sizzly.

  ‘You seemed to think my rates too expensive a minute ago, sir,’ said the strange man. ‘A pound is all I require, thank you.’

  ‘Well, thank you,’ said Dad, paying him.

  ‘Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you,’ said Rose. ‘You really do work like magic.’

  ‘I’m not sure it’s exactly magic, but like I said, I can liven things up,’ said the strange man.

  ‘Well, you’ve livened things up for me all right,’ said Rose, as she showed him to the door. ‘It was so dead boring without the video.’

  ‘I think life can be quite lively with or without a video,’ said the strange man. ‘You don’t want to waste all your time watching. You should be up and doing.’

  ‘You’re trying to liven me up now,’ said Rose, laughing.

  ‘That’s right,’ said the strange man, and he shook her hand.

  Rose’s entire arm tingled and her actual hand shone momentarily like a sparkler.

  ‘Let’s shake again,’ said the strange man, and he took her left hand this time.

  Rose’s other arm tingled and her left hand lit up. She shivered with the shock. The strange man gave her one last flashing smile and stepped out of the door.

  Rose was left in the dark hallway. She stared at her hands. They still glowed faintly in the gloom. She wriggled her fingers. Well, they still seemed to work all right. She tried shaking her own hands. There was no tingle at all. And the glow was going. She blinked. The glow was gone.

  ‘Rose?’ Dad called. He was still experimenting with the video, which was working perfectly.

  ‘Isn’t it great, Dad!’ said Rose, doing a little lumbering dance around the living room.

  Well, yes, it’s great — though I still don’t get it,’ said Dad, scratching his head. ‘How did he do it? Even if there was just some electrical short or something I still don’t see how he could fix it with the tip of his finger like that. And look, see where Rick bodged it all up — it’s all gone back neatly now.’

  ‘He works-like-magic, Dad.’

  ‘You’re telling me. Well, let’s celebrate, pal.’ Dad dug into his trouser pockets. ‘Nip down to Uncle Frank’s and choose a video. Get some coke too, and I’ll have crisps and you can have chocolate, whatever you want.’

  ‘Oh Dad, thanks! Wow! Can I have two bars of chocolate, eh? And a packet of crisps too?’

  Dad laughed. ‘All right, but don’t you dare tell your mum or you’ll get me into trouble.’ He handed Rose a five pound note. ‘Get whatever you want out of that.’

  ‘Whoopee,’ Rose shouted and galloped out of the door.

  ‘Better get something for Rick too,’ Dad called after her.

  Rose pondered this. Rick was busy roller-skating with his mates. She didn’t really want to disturb him. He wouldn’t want to come indoors and watch a video anyway. And he shouldn’t eat while he was skating, he could easily choke himself. Rose decided to ignore her brother for his own good.

  But Rick didn’t ignore her. She did her new dance as she went under the arch of North block, skipping and flinging her arms about to express her happiness. Rick and Charlie suddenly shot past on their skates. They cracked up laughing, expressing their derision.

  ‘Look at old Square-Bum!’

  ‘She’s waggling her square bum.’

  ‘What’s she doing, dancing?’

  ‘Square-dancing!’ Rick shouted, and they shrieked hysterically as they sped on their way.

  Rose froze. She tingled with embarrassment. She wished she hadn’t been daft enough to dance. If only Rick and Charlie hadn’t seen her. They’d be teasing her about it for weeks now. She found she was clenching her left hand. It suddenly lit up and started glowing red, as if she’d just switched herself into action. And then astonishingly Rick and Charlie reappeared, skating backwards this time, so fast she could hardly see them. She was dancing again, her arms and legs whirring in the air, and then she was hurtling backwards into the lift and then running backwards along her own balcony.

  ‘I’m rewinding!’ said Rose, and she unclenched her left fist.

  Immediately the world stopped whizzing backwards. Rose stood still. She looked at her left hand. She wiggled her fingers. They waved back at her merrily.

  ‘Works-like-magic,’ Rose whispered.

  She could hear the whirr of the boys’ wheels in the distance. In less than a minute they’d speed through the North block arch. But this time they weren’t going to catch her dancing.

  Rose got the lift downstairs and then nipped into the rubbish room and snaffled a couple of cardboard boxes. She ran with the boxes to the arch and then spread them across the road. Then she stood to attention, waiting.

  Rick and Charlie came speeding round the bend towards the arch. They saw Rose. They saw the cardboard boxes. They tried to stop, but they were on a slope. They couldn’t even slow down.

  There was a crash. There was a bump and a bash and a bonk. There were yells. There were moans and whimpers. There were curses.

  ‘Looks like you need to practise, boys. Not very steady on your skates yet, are you?’ Rose jeered.

  She walked off with her head in the air, waggling her fingers at them derisively.

  4…

  Rose selected Lady and the Tramp from Uncle Frank’s. Dad didn’t mind baby films a bit.

  ‘So your video’s working again? Great. That old chap fixed it without too much bother, did he?’ said Uncle Frank.

  ‘No bother at all,’ said Rose, happily choosing chocolate. And crisps and coke. And more chocolate. And she didn’t want to lumber Dad with a lot of loose change so she might just as well use up the rest on a Mars ice cream from Uncle Frank’s fridge.

  She didn’t want the ice cream to melt so she leant on the wall outside Uncle Frank’s, her carrier full of goodies on one arm, and got started on her ice cream. She sucked at the chocolate, making happy little slavery noises. She sounded like Robbie with his bottle but she didn’t care. She bit into the sweet cold ice cream and shuddered with pleasure. She licked and sucked and bit until it was all gone. She wiped her tongue round the last little smear of chocolate inside the wrapper and sighed.

  ‘I wish I had another,’ Rose murmured.

  And then she looked down at her sticky left hand. She smiled.

  She clenched her left fist very slowly and the wrapper opened itself up and filled with chocolate ice cream. She kept her fist clenched a fraction too long and found herself stepping backwards into Uncle Frank’s, chosing chocolate bars. It was a very pleasant spot to stop.

  ‘So your video’s working again? Great. That old chap fixed it without too much bother, did he?’ said Uncle Frank, completely unaware that he was repeating himself.

  Rose enjoyed the replay enormously. She went outside Uncle Frank’s with her brand new Mars ice cream, leant against the wall, and ate it all up with immense enjoyment. She was almost full now but she decided it might be fun to see if her left hand was still in proper working order. So she clenched it again, quickly this time, so she whizzed backwards in one quick blink. She waggled her fingers and there she was choosing chocolates all over again.

  ‘So your video’s working again?’ Uncle Frank started.

  ‘Yes, it’s great. That old chap fixed it without too much bother, yes he did,’ Rose gabbled quickly.

  Uncle Frank l
ooked a bit taken aback. ‘You took the words right out of my mouth.’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ Rose giggled, selecting her third Mars ice cream.

  This third one took quite a lot of licking. Rose had to have a little rest when she was halfway through. But she was a determined girl and she certainly wasn’t going to waste it. Rick came limping along as she took the last bit.

  ‘You put those cardboard boxes in our way, didn’t you! I’m going to get you for that, Square-Bum. And what’s that you’re eating, you greedy pig? A Mars ice cream! That’s not fair, where’s mine, eh?’

  Rose licked the last wrapper thoughtfully. She’d got her own back on Rick but it might not be prudent to make him her Deadly Enemy Number One. She was nearly as big as Rick and if they had a fight she was quite good at squashing him, but Rick could devise all sorts of mean tortures like most big brothers.

  ‘You want a Mars ice cream, do you, Rick?’ Rose said sweetly. ‘Just wait a sec.’ She put her hand in her carrrier bag, clenching her left fist.

  She flipped herself back into Uncle Frank’s. It was almost starting to get boring. She let Uncle Frank say his little video-working-great-chap-fix-it speech and she selected the chocolate bars and the Mars ice cream. She went outside Uncle Frank’s shop and opened up the ice cream wrapper. She took just one small cat-lick. She was starting to feel a little bit queasy. She waited. Rick came limping along. He started shouting angrily about cardboard boxes and Mars ice creams.

  ‘That’s not fair, where’s mine, eh?’

  ‘Here, Rick,’ said Rose, holding out her almost untouched ice cream. ‘You can have this one.’

  Rick looked astonished.

  ‘Why? What’s the matter with it? You haven’t dropped it in doggy’s whoopsies, have you?’

  ‘Don’t be disgusting, Rick,’ said Rose primly. ‘This is a totally unsullied ice cream.’ She took a very tiny bite just to show him she hadn’t poisoned it. Then she held the rest out to him. ‘Go on, you have it.’