Cody spent the next few days fitting the wood stove with the new stack. He returned to Maude's for some sheets of roofing iron to fix the hole around the chimney because the new one was thinner than the original. He also found other holes so he patched them before it rained.

In the end, the job took him a week. He sealed all the cracks and bought some roof paint from Maude to coat the iron. While he was at it, Cody checked the gutters.

He revisited Maude two more times and she invited him for morning tea. Her son Shane had been a real help.

Cody sat with them on the verandah eating a slice of Maude's syrup cake. "This is good. I've never tasted a cake like it."

"My mother's recipe. Moist. That's the secret of why it tastes so good."

Cody took another bite. "How long have you been in the demolition business?"

"Long time. My grandfather started it. Always kept things nice and in place so, the traditions carried on. My husband Landon was useless though. Lazy bastard. It was left up to me." She shook her head in disgust, and then said, "It wasn't until Shane grew that he could help out. My legs went and the weight came on so, I'm useless now. Landon skedaddled about five years ago." Maude huffed. "We ain't seen him since. Good riddance I say." She grinned at her son and said, "Shane's got the gift. He's more organised than a library cataloguing system. Just need me some grand-bubbies and I'll die a happy woman."

Shane rolled his eyes behind his mother's back. Cody laughed. Maude chuckled and said, "He's taking the piss, isn't he? I know he's got a girl."

"Yeah, and who'd that be, Mum?"

"Mandy Lawrence. You forget I know her mother. She told me you've been hanging around." Maude raised her eyebrows and said, "She says Mandy's interested."

"Are you shitting me?" Shane beamed. "She said that?"

"Why wouldn't she be interested? You're a nice-looking boy." Maude rubbed her hand over her son's dark curly locks. "A real catch you are, if the girl's smart enough. I approve of Mandy. She ain't a slut like that friend of hers. Don't know why she hangs with her anyway."

"Her friend wouldn't be Grace by any chance, would it?" Cody asked with a grimace.

"God! You haven't had anything to do with her have you, Cody? Never know what you might catch from that one."

Cody laughed and shook his head. "I made a quick escape. Met Mandy the same night. She's a nice girl."

"What? Did you try it on Mandy?" Shane's brow furrowed.

"Shit." Cody shrank back as he laughed. "You won't hit me if I say I did? Pretty girl but she turned me down."

"Fuck!" Shane stood and ran his hands through his thick hair, his blue eyes blazed.

"Honest she turned me down," Cody pledged. "Nothing happened. I walked her home to get away from the other two."

Maude scoffed, "Sit, you big galoot. It proves she likes you. If she turned Cody down it means she's got her eyes elsewhere. You need to get your arse into gear and ask the girl out before she loses interest."

"Were you trying to fu...?"

"Uh, uh, uh. Enough, Shane," Maude said. "He's admitted trying it on her. She rejected him. It's not like you haven't tried it on a pretty girl before." She shrugged and shook her head. "He wasn't to know you were keen on her, so stop your shit."

Shane sat and leaned forward. "But, what did you say to her?"

Cody held his hands in surrender. "It was nothing. She told me Grace had been checking me out. I said what if I was interested in her instead? She told me she was a no-go area." He smirked and then said, "Grace grinned at me with them big teeth of hers. It scared the shit out of me so I followed Mandy out the door and offered to walk her home. Nothing more. Honest."

"Grace is one scary piece of shit alright." Shane pointed at Cody. "You better keep your eyes off Mandy or I'll kick your arse next time." He grinned and then shoved Cody on the shoulder.

"Yeah... well... I'm thinking I might have my eyes elsewhere anyway," Cody said.

"Where? I'll tell you if she's a town bike or not."

"I think I'll work it out for myself." Cody laughed and stood. "Gotta go. Thanks for the cake."

"These people you rent from," Maude queried. "Do they know you're doing all this work?"

"No, but the rent is cheap enough," Cody said. "I don't want the place to leak and ruin my stuff." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like I've got anything else to do."

Shane nodded in thought. "I've got a big job starting next week. Demolishing some condemned houses in Hope Vale. You interested? Cash in hand."

"Sounds good," Cody said. "What day do you want me?"

"Monday. Can you be here by four? I want to get started at sun up. We'll take the tip truck."

"I'll be here." Cody held his hand in farewell and made his way down the stairs. He turned back. "Can I bring my dog?"

Shane cocked his head. "Can he swing a hammer?"

"He can swing a lot of things," Cody smirked. "I'm not sure about a hammer."

"Bring the fucking dog." Shane grinned and jerked his head. "I don't care." 

Words and terms you may not understand.

Skedaddled - left, took off. He skedaddled. He left.

Taking the piss - lying, pulling your leg, joking, teasing, ribbing etc. Are you taking the piss?  Are you lying?  He was taking the piss out of me. He was ribbing me.  He was pulling my leg.

Are you shitting me? - Are you lying to me?

Big galoot - Idiot. Stupid bastard.

Town bike - a girl who has had a lot of sexual partners.  Every man in town has ridden her.

Cash in hand - money paid for a job that hasn't been registered to the government therefore avoiding a tax payment. In Australia we pay around a third of our wages in taxes. Cash in hand jobs are illegal. I guess that's why they want to turn us into a cashless society. Another way to control us completely.  :(