Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er,Ā chapter 17, continues from yesterday:
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Inside the busy department store Luke and Joe headed to the food hall at the back. It was like a supermarket only posh. High on the walls were colourful photographs of grazing animals alongside stylish pictures of meat and fish dishes with captions like āCommitted to Animal Welfareā and āRSPCA Freedom Foodsā.
Luke turned to Joe.Ā āThe leaflets said this shop is sellinā ducks from factory farms so stick these on anythinā with ducks in,ā he said, handing Joe half the stickers. Then he reconsidered and took them back. āNo, itās busy so weād better stick together. You pretend to be shoppinā ā get a basket ā anā Iāll put the stickers on.ā
Joe fetched a basket and the two outlaws headed for the chilled section. They walked along the large glass-fronted cabinets and whenever they saw anything labelled āduckā Joe reached up and pretended to be rummaging, picking things up, looking at them, putting them back, choosing something else. All the while Luke, screened from onlookers by his friendās authentic movements, commenced putting stickers on plastic-wrapped trays of duck spring rolls, duck breasts with plum sauce, and duck legs with Hoisin sauce. Then they moved on to the freezer section and Luke stickered a pile of whole ducklings with giblets while Joe casually kept watch. After that they progressed to the tinned meat aisle but there was a man restocking the shelves. Luke whispered something to Joe who shook his head.
Luke frowned. āIf you wonāt do it, Iāll have to do it and youāll have to do the stickers on your own!ā he whispered.
Joe accepted the commission, preferring that to the alternative, so Luke approached the shelf-filler.Ā āāScuse me,ā he said politely, āIāve lost me mum, can you put an announcement out for her?ā
āSure,ā said the man, helpfully, ācome with me.ā
As soon as Luke and the man were out of sight Joe, as fast as he could, began stickering stacks of tinned duck cassoulet, duck confit and duck liver pãtè. He had to keep pausing, trying to look casual, every time someone entered the aisle, but as soon as they left he resumed. Sometimes the stickers were frustratingly difficult to peel off their backing paper but he took deep breaths to calm himself and persevered. When he heard the announcement for Mrs Kathryn Janeway to meet her son at the customer service desk he knew his time was up. With only one sticker left, he made his escape before the shelf-filler returned. The two boys rendezvoused in the toy department and left the shop unhindered, but not before Luke affixed their last remaining sticker to a yellow toy duck.
****
āWhatās your name?ā asked Isabel.
āAndy,ā said the suited man, āwhatās yours?ā
āIsabel. Why do you dress like that?ā
āIn a suit you mean?ā
āYeah.ā
āTo look respectable.ā
āLike an estate agent?ā
Kris laughed.
āWell, that wasnāt exactly what I was going for,ā said Andy.
āOh, sorry,ā Isabel apologised. āLike a bank manager then? Or a teacher?ā
Kris laughed again.
Andy sighed. āNot like anything in particular,ā he said, ājust a regular upstanding citizen as opposed to a scary, pierced, tattooed, hippy dippy punk, like someone I could mention.ā
āHeyyy!ā Kris was mock-offended.
āI think she looks nice,ā said Isabel.
āYeah, sheās cool,ā Tania agreed.
āThanks guys,ā Kris smiled.
āYes yes yes, sheās very cool,ā said Andy, ābut she looks like a weirdo. If we want to persuade ordinary, mainstream people to take us seriously they have to be able to relate to us. We have to look ordinary. Approachable, respectable, non-threatening.ā
At that moment a policeman arrived.
āAfternoon folks, have you got a permit for this stall?ā
āDonāt need one officer, weāre not collecting money,ā Andy replied.
āHow long have you been standing here?ā
āGot here about twelve oāclock didnāt we?ā
āYeah,ā said Kris.
āAnd youāve been here the whole time? All of you?ā Kris and Andy nodded. āWhat about you two?ā he asked Tania and Isabel.
āWe got here about quarter past one,ā Isabel told him.
āAnd where were you before that?ā
āThe library,ā said Tania, deciding that their brief time in front of the RSPCA shop wasnāt worth mentioning.
āNowhere else?ā
āNo.ā The girls felt their faces flush.
āCan anyone vouch for that?ā
āIs there a problem officer?ā Andy intervened.
āSpittles have found stickers on a lot of their duck products. Theyāve had to take a couple of hundred pounds worth of stuff off the shelves.ā
Everyone behind the stall tried to keep their faces expressionless.
āAny stickers here?ā the policeman asked as he browsed the stall, āyouāve got leaflets about Spittleās factory farm duck. Did you do it?ā
āCertainly not,ā said Andy truthfully, āweāre just here to provide information.ā The policeman looked sceptical. āLook,ā Andy gestured to all the literature on the stall, āno stickers.ā
āNevertheless,ā the policeman continued after a momentās pause, āSpittleās would like you to move away from their store.ā
āWe have every right ā¦ā Kris began to object.
āNevertheless,ā the policeman repeated with emphasis, āIĀ would like you to move your stall away from this store.ā
āNo problem officer,ā Andy replied, āwe can do that. No problem at all.ā
Wearing a serious, ādonāt mess with meā expression, the policeman looked hard at Andy and Kris before nodding and turning away.
āThis is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to avoid!ā complained Andy. āNow they think weāre thugs.ā
Kris shook her head. āI call that a win,ā she said, āwe werenāt going to get that duck off the shelves by just standing here handing out leaflets.ā
āWeāre playing a long game here Kris,ā Andy argued, āwe have to keep to the high moral ground. We canāt force the issue or it wonāt stick. Weāve got to persuade people to do it for the right reasons, so they wonāt renege later on.ā
Kris shrugged as she continued piling leaflets into her battered shopper on wheels. The girls, who could see both sides of the argument, quietly exchanged glances before retrieving their clipboard. Andy folded the table and all four of them relocated outside the Arndale Centre.
āDāyou think Luke and Joe will be able to find us?ā Isabel asked Tania.
āI hope so,ā said Tania, āif they donāt get here soon weāll have to go. Our bus leaves in ten minutes.ā
āAre you all going home together?ā Kris asked.
āNo, we donāt live in the same village,ā said Isabel.
āDonāt worry then, if youāve got to go, you go. Iāll explain it to them when they get here. If they get here.ā
āThanks.ā
āDid you reach your target?ā
āNearly,ā said Isabel, smiling, āTwo hundred and ninety four.ā
āNot a bad dayās work then,ā said Kris.
The girls thanked her, said their goodbyes and made tracks for the bus station.
****
At the public toilets Luke was having trouble with the automated hand-washing machine. Heād been dispensed liquid soap, no problem, but after covering his hands with it heād been unable to get any water. He moved his hands from left to right, trying to activate the sensor, but nothing happened.
āDonāt bother,ā said Joe, wiping his hands on his trousers, āit doesnāt work.ā
Luke was annoyed at the sticky mess. āWeād better get back to the others,ā he said, grabbing a handful of toilet tissue.
āTheyāll be gone by now,ā said Joe, ātheir bus was at three.ā
āOh. Shall we go then?ā
āOkay. Unless you wanna see the new Spiderman.ā
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For more Luke Walker chapters clickĀ hereĀ š
Chapters 17 to 24 are available in paperback:
Luke Walker and the Secret Society of animal stick up for-ers

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vegan, veggie kids, animals, animal rights, children’s story, children’s book, books, juvenile fiction, creative writing, vegan children’s book, vegetarian
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