‘You will?’ they all said together.
‘Yes. You got me,’ he said. ‘You were smarter than all of Morrie Artie’s super-smart agents. Onya, kids!’ he cheered, clapping his paws together.
The whole of Class 5/6B (minus Willy and Billy) stood stock-still, suddenly stunned by Selby.
‘And now my life won’t ever be the same again.’
A little boy who hadn’t spoken before frowned and said, ‘So what are you going to do? Run away and hide?’
‘No,’ Selby sighed, ‘I could never leave the Trifles. They mean too much to me. Don’t worry, I’ll tell them I can talk. It’ll be embarrassing at first, especially because they’ll know I’ve been listening in to their conversations for years. But when they get over their shock, it’ll be fun talking to them. I can tell them I hate Dry-Mouth Dog Biscuits and that I love peanut prawns. I’ll tell them that if they want to know more about my life, all they have to do is to read the books about me.’
‘But won’t they make you do things around the house?’ a boy asked.
‘Yes, I guess they probably will. It’ll be okay. I don’t think they’ll treat me like their servant or anything. The part I won’t like is that I’ll never be able to walk down the street again without being stared at.’
‘And people will knock on your door at any time of day and night,’ another boy said. ‘They’ll want to have their picture taken with you.’
‘And get your autograph,’ a girl said.
‘And you might be dog-napped,’ someone else said.
‘That’s right,’ Selby said, as a tear made its way down his cheek.
‘But you’ll be famous and, if you want to, you could make stacks of money,’ a girl said.
‘That’s not important,’ Selby said with another sniff. ‘The important thing is that I’ll be with the Trifles. They’ll (sniff) protect me.’
Class 5/6B (minus Willy and Billy) from Bogusville Public School stood in silence.
Finally a boy spoke.
‘He’s crying. I hate it when people — or dogs — cry.’
‘It’s okay,’ Selby sniffed again. ‘It’s just hard to think about all the things that will happen to me now. But don’t worry about me. Cya, kids.’
Selby started walking towards the street. The kids followed, whispering amongst themselves.
‘Wait, Selby,’ one of them called.
Selby turned to face them.
‘We’ve made a decision. We’ve decided not to tell your secret.’
‘Why not?’ he asked.
‘Because of all the terrible things that will happen to you. We just couldn’t do that to you.’
‘But you found me. Don’t you want everyone to know how clever you are?’
‘Not really,’ a girl said. ‘We had a lot of fun finding you. Of course, part of it was luck.’
‘Do you really think you can keep it a secret?’ Selby asked.
‘It won’t be easy,’ the girl said, ‘but I think we can. Besides, if one of us talks, then the rest of us will just say it isn’t true, and whoever talked will look very silly.’
‘You don’t think you might talk in your sleep?’
‘Mum says that I talk in my sleep,’ a boy said. ‘But she says I never make any sense.’
‘Well, kids,’ Selby said, ‘I can’t thank you enough. And, remember, if you ever want to talk to me, you know where I live. Just make sure no one else is listening.’
With this, the kids picked Selby up and gave him some of the best cuddles he’d ever had.
‘Gee, I like kids,’ he thought.
Selby had been sprung. So in a way it was the end. The end of his secret being a secret from everyone. But he was sure that the people who knew, the twenty-four kids of Class 5/6B at Bogusville Public School (minus Willy and Billy), would never tell.
That evening, Selby thought about the amazing things that had happened that day. Then he looked up at the Trifles sitting quietly reading. As he watched them through half-closed eyes, a warm feeling poured through his not-too-big but not-too-small body.
And Selby’s fun-filled life wasn’t over. He would go on and on to have many more adventures in the years to come, and his heart would be filled with love of life and love for the Trifles.
CYA
So that’s what happened.
My life is completely changed-but it isn’t. Lots of strange things happen to people. But even stranger things seem to happen to me. I think I’m just an adventure magnet who can’t keep out of trouble, no matter how hard I try.
Anyway, thanks for being my faithful companion through the stories about me. It’s been heaps of fun for me and I hope it was for you.
CYA,
Selby
PS: So tell me what you think about my books. Send me an email. I’ll try my best to write back:
selbytrifle@ozemail.com.au
Duncan Ball is an Australian author whose many children’s books have been delighting kids for decades. Among his ever-popular books are those about Selby, ‘the only talking dog in Australia and, perhaps, the world’. Selby Sprung is the sixteenth collection of the intrepid dog’s exciting, frightening, but always funny, adventures. In addition to the books of Selby stories, there is Selby’s Joke Book, Selby’s Side-Splitting Joke Book and a collection of stories from the other books, Selby’s Selection.
Duncan has written ten books about the adventures of Emily Eyefinger, the girl who was born with an eye on the end of her finger. The Emily stories have been turned into a play by the brilliant Monkey Baa Theatre Company.
Among Duncan’s seventy-odd books are the picture books Jeremy’s Tail (illustrated by Donna Rawlins) and My Dog’s a Scaredy-Cat (illustrated by Craig Smith), plus two books about Bert Piggott and the frustrations of a twelve-year-old living in a family of schemers and dreamers whose antics spell nothing but trouble.
Duncan lives in Sydney with his wife, Jill, and their wonderful cat, Jasper.
For more information about Duncan, his books and Jasper, see his website at:
www.duncanball.com.au
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Emily Eyefinger
Emily Eyefinger, Secret Agent
Emily Eyefinger and the Lost Treasure
Emily Eyefinger and the Black Volcano
Emily Eyefinger’s Alien Adventure
Emily Eyefinger and the Devil Bones
Emily Eyefinger and the Balloon Bandits
Emily Eyefinger and the Ghost Ship
Emily Eyefinger and the Puzzle in the Jungle
Emily Eyefinger and the City in the Sky
Piggott Place
Piggotts in Peril
The Case of the Graveyard Ghost and Other Mysteries
The Case of the Vampire’s Wire and Other Mysteries
Selby’s Secret
Selby Speaks
Selby Screams
Selby Supersnoop
Selby Snowbound
Selby Surfs
Selby Snaps!
Selby Splits
Selby’s Stardom
Selby Sorcerer
Selby Scrambled
Selby’s Shemozzle
Selby Shattered
Selby Santa
Selby’s Joke Book
Selby’s Selection
Selby’s Side-Splitting
Joke Book
The Joke’s on Selby
My Sister Has a Big Black Beard (poetry)
My Dog’s a Scaredy-Cat (picture book)
Jeremy’s Tail (picture book)
For more information about Duncan’s books, see website at: www.duncanball.com.au
Copyright
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in Australia in 2011
This edition published in 2011
&
nbsp; by HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Text copyright © Duncan Ball 2011
Illustrations copyright © Allan Stomann 2011
The right of Duncan Ball and Allan Stomann to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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ISBN 978 0 7322 9263 8
ISBN: 978-0-7304-9284-9 (epub)
Cover design by Priscilla Nielsen
Cover and internal illustrations by Allan Stomann
Paw note: To see how I tricked the Evil Genius, read the story ‘Selby, Tell Me!’ in the book Selby Scrambled. (That was sooooooooo kewl!)
S
Paw note: See the story ‘Selby, Tell Me!’ in the book Selby Scrambled.
S
Paw note: See the story ‘Selby Santa’ in the book Selby Santa and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
S
Paw note: See the story ‘Selby’s Shemozzle’ in the book Selby’s Shemozzle.
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Paw note: See the story ‘Superstitious Selby’ in the book Selby Scrambled.
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Paw note: You can read about how I bit Aunt Jetty on the bum in the story ‘Selby Bites Back’ in the book Selby Supersnoop.
S
* Note from Duncan: Selby wrote ‘Trifle’ in the diary, he didn’t reveal their real name. He’s never told me their real name.
* Note from Duncan: To learn more about the Blake Romano books, see ‘Secret Agent Selby’ in the book Selby Santa.
Paw note: Of course, I didn’t tell her my real name.
S
Paw note: For that different story, see ‘Dry-Mouth Drama’ in the book Selby’s Shemozzle.
S
Paw note: If you don’t remember this, go back right now and re-read the story ‘Selby and the Evil Genius’ at the beginning of the book.
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Paw note: If you haven’t read the previous story, do it now.
S