Mad Dad for Sale

By Teena Raffa-Mulligan

LUKE McAlister’s dad has lost his temper once too often.

A crazy plan to sell him for $500 works, Dad is taken away in a van and Luke’s troubles are over – until Mum finds out.

Luke turns super sleuth to try to get Dad back and learns the frightening truth behind the mysterious disappearance of an increasing number of townsfolk and their pets. It’s up to him to save not just Dad, but his whole family, their friends and a host of other people.
He doesn’t have the brawn to defeat his deadly opponent...does he have the brains? Their lives depend on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Horizon Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781921369643

Teena Raffa-Mulligan

Teena Raffa-Mulligan is a reader, writer and daydream believer who believes there is magic in every day if you choose to find it. She discovered the wonderful world of storytelling as a child and decided to become a writer at an early age. Teena writes for children and adults and her publications range from poetry and short stories to picture books and novels. Her writing life has also included a long career in journalism. She shares her passion for books and writing by presenting talks and workshops to encourage people of all ages to write their own stories.

Book preview

Blurb

LUKE McAlister’s dad has lost his temper once too often.

A crazy plan to sell him for $500 works, Dad is taken away in a van and Luke’s troubles are over – until Mum finds out.

Luke turns super sleuth to try to get Dad back and learns the frightening truth behind the mysterious disappearance of an increasing number of townsfolk and their pets. It’s up to him to save not just Dad, but his whole family, their friends and a host of other people.

He doesn’t have the brawn to defeat his deadly opponent…does he have the brains? Their lives depend on.

*****

Mad Dad for Sale

by

Teena Raffa-Mulligan

Published by Horizon Publishing Group at Smashwords

PO Box 275

Cherrybrook NSW 2126

Australia

http://www.horizonpg.net

mailto: [e-mail]

Copyright 2012 Teena Raffa-Mulligan

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover by V. Rooke

Typesetting by Inception Press

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Table of Content

Chapter 1 ...A dad dilemma

Chapter 2 ...No simple solution

Chapter 3 ...Sold on an idea

Chapter 4 ...Ad for a dad

Chapter 5 ...Bargain buy

Chapter 6 ...A tricky question

Chapter 7 ...Buried treasure

Chapter 8 ...Truth to tell

Chapter 9 ...Missing mayhem

Chapter 10..Rescuers rally

Chapter 11..Super sleuths

Chapter 12..Dead ends and decoys

Chapter 13..Not keeping Mum

Chapter 14..Stowaway sleuth

Chapter 15..Lurking no lark

Chapter 16..The Professor’s Apprentice

Chapter 17..Juice for a juicer

Chapter 18..A tube to test

Chapter 19..Surprise Solution

Chapter 20..Good intentions

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connect with Me Online

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Dedication

For Neil and Aaron

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Chapter 1

A dad dilemma

"MY DAD will have to go, Luke McAlister told his best friend Alex Jackson on the way home from school the Thursday before the summer holidays started. Shoulders hunched, hands dug deep into the pockets of his shorts, he kicked a rock. I’ve had enough of him. He’s the meanest, crankiest dad any kid could have."

Alex used his sleeve to wipe his runny nose. He wasn’t cranky when he took us to the oval to kick the footie round the other day. I thought he was good fun. He made lots of jokes. He bought us ice cream.

That was his outside personality, the one he uses to fool people and make them think he’s an okay kind of dad.

Luke kicked another rock, harder this time. He isn’t. If you lived with him, you’d see what he’s really like. At home he’s mega mean. And he’s got a rotten temper. I hardly do anything and I’m in trouble big time.

Last night, for instance. Luke scowled as he remembered what had happened at dinner. He hadn’t meant to spill the sauce. Nate wouldn’t let him have it first. It was his brother’s fault. If Nate hadn’t shoved so hard the bottle wouldn’t have smashed and splattered bright red globs all over the work papers Dad was reading at the dinner table. And what was he reading them there for anyway?

As for Susie, she was such a sook. There was no need for her to yell and roll about right when the weather report came on TV. Luke had only said she couldn’t spell, and it wasn’t a punch he gave her at all, just a little tap on the arm. But of course, Dad wouldn’t listen when Luke had tried to tell him what happened. He never did.

Go to your room! he’d roared.

Luke had done as he was told. Was it his fault the cushion fell off the sofa when he got up? Or that the wind slammed his bedroom door shut so hard it made his model plane collection on the bookshelf topple over like a set of dominoes? And it was an accident that his foot kicked the wall when he lay down on his bed. But would Dad believe him? No!

He’d stormed down the passage like a maniac, flung the door open, glared at Luke and said, No X-Box for a week! And if there’s any more of this sort of behaviour it will be for a month.

Of course, Mum made excuses as usual. Your father’s tired, she’d said when she slipped in later to say goodnight. He’s had a hard day at work, there’s a lot on his mind. He does love you, Luke.

Yeah? He sure had a funny way of showing it. Luke had turned his head to the wall. If his dad really loved him, he wouldn’t yell at him over every measly little thing. He wouldn’t blame him for things that weren’t his fault.

Now Luke slunk even lower to the ground as he walked along with Alex and said, My dad’s had his chance. He’s gonna have to go.

Where? asked Alex, squinting through his glasses in the late afternoon sunshine.

Luke could think of lots of places. Mars, for a start. If I was a giant I could kick him into outer space. The thought made him grin. He could shout and yell up there and no one would ever hear him.

Yeah, agreed Alex, beginning to hoot with laughter. The thought of Mr McAlister in orbit was hilarious. It made him forget that a minute ago he’d thought Luke’s dad was great. Or you could squash him flat like a pancake under one giant foot. You’d have to scrape him off the bitumen with a shovel. He stopped laughing and pulled a face. Yuk. Maybe super powers would be better. Zap him into thin air. Alex snapped his fingers. Problem solved.

Luke sighed. Great – if his life was a movie or a computer game. It wasn’t and he didn’t have super powers and he wasn’t a giant. Quite the opposite, in fact. He kept checking with his mum to make sure skinny little kids could end up as normal size grownups. She said they could, but that meant it would be a very long time before Luke could measure up to his dad. That’d be the day! If his dad didn’t behave, Luke would make him miss out on dessert and X-Box time.

In the meantime, there had to be something a kid could do about a dad who was always getting mad.

There is, said Alex. If he’s as bad as you say he is, why don’t you get your mum to do what my mum did? Swap him for another one.

Luke wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. Wouldn’t two dads be twice as much trouble as one?

Alex shook his head. Nope. Not for me. My real dad always makes sure we have lots of fun when we’re with him ‘cos he doesn’t get to live with us and see us every day and my extra dad tries not to be too mean ‘cos he wants us to like him. It’d solve your problem.

Luke grinned. Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of that? If Mum bought him new jeans or a shirt that didn’t fit properly, she took them back to the shop and swapped them for clothes that were the right size. She could do the same thing with their dad. If she tried, Luke was sure she’d be able to find them a dad who was always in a good mood, even when things went wrong. One who never got cross, and didn’t carry on like a cut snake all the time. A dad who listened when you tried to tell him what happened and who actually liked having kids around all the time, and not just sometimes when he was in a good mood. One who wasn’t always too busy or too tired to take them places and do fun things.

It wasn’t as if Dad had that much to do anyway, just sit down all day and figure stuff out on the computer. Being the boss, he got to tell everyone else to do the work. How hard was that?

Not like Alex’s dad – his real one – who worked really hard, changing huge tyres on gi-normous trucks. That took a lot of muscle. Luke knew just how much, because he’d got to watch once when he was having a sleepover at Alex’s dad’s place. Mr Jackson had been called out to do a job and couldn’t find anyone in a hurry to look after the kids so he took them with him. And even though they had to stay in the truck while he worked so they were safe, Luke had seen the sweat pouring off him and what a tough job it was. He must get tired. But did he make excuses to his kids? Never. He took them places and did things with them every weekend. Kayaking on the river, hikes in the bush, fishing from the jetty, footie matches with pizza afterwards, movies, the beach.

So that proved it, there were dads out there who were way better than his and Alex was right. All Luke had to do was get Mum to find them one and his problems would be over.

Yeah! Luke punched the air. His life didn’t have to stay bad. It could get better.

See ya! he said to Alex and ran the rest of the way home, his backpack jolting against his back.

He burst through the back door and into the kitchen where Mum was chopping up stuff to put on top of the pizza she was making for dinner.

Luke dumped his backpack on the floor, hauled himself onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar and propped his head on