Adventure in Winterville.

It was pouring rain again on a sodden afternoon in Winterville. The winter term was winding down in primary school. In Zaine's fuggy, stuffy classroom, his witchy teacher was worse than ever. Miss Meanie was being so grumpy, while she was tidying up and clearing the games cupboard.

Miss Meanie had chosen Zaine to take the old, tatty games to the rejection bin at the front of the school. Grumbling, Zaine selected his two lifelong best friends to escort him, Neehan and Beau. "We are only your rubbish bin men!" Zaine cheekily told his teacher.

The three boys picked up the pile of old games, slightly wrecked in their educational learning fun for ten year old children. "Not Ratlotto!" Zaine said to Neehan, "she can't throw away Ratlotto! I love playing Bingo!"

"Go to the bin now!" Miss Meanie ordered them, crossly.

"You can't do fractions anyway." Beau suggested, half loudly.

Neehan grabbed the Ratlotto game and Bingo cards, his waterproof hoodie over his head. Zaine followed the other two dudes, all pretending to stagger under their load.

"No! You can't throw that in the bin! I have a Jedi connection to Ratlotto!" Ratlotto was a popular Maths game, made from a pet running wheel. It was decorated with photos of large grey rats. Slightly gruesome, but it had been fun in winter term.

"In it goes! Turfing it now!" Neehan laughed.

"No, bring back the rats!" Zaine said, trying to rescue his favorite game from the depths of the recycling bin, full of reusable garbage. "Look out!" Beau called, suddenly. It was too late. The guy the little dudes called Badman the Garbageman roared up in his giant truck. The mechanical arms lifted the bin, and tipped Zaine and the garbage into the pile of recycling. Into the dim, dark interior of the truck went Zaine!

"Hey, you've got Zaine! Neehan and Beau yelled, banging on the side of the truck, as it picked up speed. The primary school bin was its last collection of the early afternoon. The truck was now off to its secret new location, at the distribution waste facility, in other words, the council rubbish tip.

"I warned you kids not to play in my bins" Badman the Garbageman called to them. Neehan and Beau were left standing in the rain by the side of the road. They didn't know what to do, so they ran up the ramp, quick as a flash, back to their classroom.

Shoving open the door, Neehan announced. "Zaine's been kidnapped! The garbageman's got him. He's in the truck!" Miss Meanie did not look too fussed. "Is this Zaine's idea of yet another silly joke?" she asked Beau.

"No, it's true. The garbo's got him. He's a badman!"

Just then, Bossy Britches and reliable Kerrie got upset. "Bring back Zaine! We want Zaine!"

Zaine was the handsome one of the Thrillseeker Three, always the life of his classroom, full of fun. "All right," said Miss Meanie, "stop that noise. We'll inform the principal. She'll know what to do. Come on, you two. Girls, stop that snivelling. Drama queens!" But no, the girls were on a roll. The whole school could hear them. "We want Zaine! Bring back Zaine!"

Miss Meanie led Neehan and Beau to Mrs. Moany's office. Mrs. Moany believed their story about Zaine being kidnapped. So their noble principal phoned the local police station. But the police, like everywhere else, did not have enough staff. The young constable who responded to the phone call said he would send a squad car when he could, and not before.

"Maybe he could send the SES!" Neehan said, "this is an emergency."

"Okay, okay," said Miss Meanie, "I'll sort that garbageman."

"You wait here for the police!" the principal told them, "I'll take over your class. You can all rescue Zaine, including you, Miss Meanie!"

Mrs. Moany privately thought that Miss Meanie could terrify any kidnapper, so she walked to the classroom. Miss Meanie sat and waited for the police car to turn up. Beau and Neehan sat there too, tapping their toes, as the time dawdled by.

Meanwhile, the rain poured down, making kerbside rivers, bit of flash flooding on that day in Winterville. The garbage truck went speeding along, water sloshing up around it. Zaine was huddled in the gloomy truck, amid mountains of recycling paper and trash. He was still clutching his beloved Ratlotto game, even holding all the Bingo cards.

Zaine did not know how this adventure was going to end, or if he was going to be dumped in the large tip. The streets were all grey, awash with a steady downpour of teeming rain. Our brave Zaine did not even have a clue how to get home from this strange side of Winterville.

Finally, Badman the garbageman roared through the main gate. He slammed of the brakes, and stepped down from the driver's seat, pulling on his coat and hood. He opened the emergency hatch door, and gazed at Zaine. Zaine looked back at him, and said with a grin, "Howdy, Mr. Garbageman."

"You look just like my grandson. He lives in Hawaii now, so I never see him these days! What's your name, little dude?"

"I'm Zaine!"

"I'm Jack, the good guy garbo. Told you not to play in front of the bins. Come on, climb down this ladder. I'll empty the truck later. Time for a cuppa!"

Zaine carefully clambered down from the inside of the garbage truck. The tip was smelling a bit whiffy, no worse than Zaine's bedroom on a bad day. Zaine followed Jack the good guy garbo to a little tin hut. Jack the good guy garbo opened up and turned on the light. "Sit down at the table. Do you like hot chocolate? What about a bacon and egg fry up?"

Zaine could not believe this, sounded delicious. "Yes, please!" he answered, looking around at the hot plates and little stove. Soon the radiator was glowing. Zaine and Jack the good guy enjoyed a one pan meal of bacon and eggs, while drinking hot chocolate, with lots of sugar.

Zaine thought this was far better than another afternoon with Miss Meanie. "Nothing like crispy bacon," said the binman, "Don't go bacon my heart!"

"Hey!' said Zaine.

"Joke, kiddo. I couldn't if I fried!" Zaine laughed. Jack the good guy was full of jokes. "Show me how to play this game of yours. What's it about?"

Zaine was only too glad. "It's fraction bingo. Here's the cards. We roll Ratlotto!" Zaine loved playing this game. The rat photos still looked at him, scarily. Soon, Ratlotto was turning, as Zaine and the Binman were munching chocolate biscuits, on their third cup of hot chocolate. They loved competing in Ratlotto.

"I failed Maths totally. Guess that's why I'm a garbo."

"But it's an important job." Zaine commented.

"True," said the garbo, Jack. "Or else you'd all be doing your own rubbish. What has four wheels and flies?"

"I dunno," said Zaine.

"A garbage truck!" Zaine raised his mug of hot chocolate to Jack, both still giggling. Suddenly, at the gate to the tip, there appeared a police squad car, with its siren and light ablaze. An emergency response team and an ambulance pulled up as well.

Armed police entered the gate, "Come on, send your hostage to us. You are surrounded." Jack looked puzzled, "You'd better go and explain, young Zaine. Good thing it's stopped raining."

Zaine left the little council hut, his face suspiciously covered with chocolate. The sun was peeping through the thick clouds. He could hear Miss Meanie nagging the police and rescue team.

"Look!" Miss Meanie shrieked, "There he is. I told you it was all a fuss over nothing. You police drive way too fast, screeching round corners, driving irresponsibly."

"Lady," the policeman answered, "We are the law. We're allowed to! Are you okay, young Zaine?"

"Yes. Jack rescued me from the garbage truck. Miss Meanie was still carrying on. She was definitely the Ratlotto booby prize. Neehan and Beau had quite enjoyed their fast ride in the police car, impressive.

Jack asked if it was safe to empty the garbage truck. "Yes,"said the constables. They were both going home to take headache pills, after listening to Miss Meanie.

"Thanks for this afternoon. If I can't be a footballer, I'm going to grow up to be a garbo!" Zaine hi-fived Jack, the good guy. The sun was finally shining in Winterville.

"Attaboy!" said Jack, "Always make your own sunshine. It's an important job." Zaine, Neehan and Beau got to take Miss Meanie back to class in the police car. "It's a noisy toy for the boys!" Miss Meanie said. No one was listening. That was one afternoon, an adventure in Winterville.