Keep the Secret

“Mornin' sleepy head. Mama has made us some breakfast, I'm going to show you the basics of the farm today.” Gerard smiled as he nudged Frank.

“What time is it?” Frank asked as he sat up.

“7am,” Gerard smiled as he took Frank's hand and dragged him out of bed. “Sleep much?” Gerard asked as they walked through into the kitchen.

“Not really,” it was true, Frank had only gotten an hour sleep before Gerard woke him up.

“Morning Frank, I've made us some toast and a bit of jam. I managed to swap some rations with our neighbours to get the jam.” Donna smiled as she handed Frank a slice of toast and jam.

“Thank you,” Frank smiled as he bit into the toast. Even though he wasn't hungry he thought he should be polite and eat it.

“Now, Mikey and Gerard are going to go and water the plants. Would you like to help them, or work at the shop with me?” Donna asked as she handed her boys some toast.

“He'll come with us and once we're finished we'll come to the shop.” Mikey smiled.

Donna left the house shortly after having her toast, the boys got changed into some older clothes and got a watering can. “All you gotta do Frank, is water the plants.” Gerard smiled as he handed Frank a watering can. “The water pump is at the other end of the garden.”

Nodding, Frank took the watering can as he walked over to a patch of green life with new vegetables growing on them. Tipping the watering can Frank watched as the water dripped out over the plants. Frank slowly moved along the patch of plants, watering them all until the can was empty.

“That's it, hey me and Mikey have got the rest covered. Why don't you go down to the shop and help mama?” Gerard said as he took the watering can off Frank.

“Where is the shop?” Frank asked.

“We passed it remember? Walk down the street until you get to the high street, it's next to the butchers.” Gerard smiled as he ran off after Mikey.

Sighing, Frank walked in the direction Gerard had said. Of course, he doesn't remember what the shop looked like but he will look for a butcher then a vegetable shop next door.

To Frank's surprise he found it easy enough, he remembered roughly where is was once he was in the town. Walking into a shop he saw Mrs. Way serve a customer, once the person had walked away Mrs. Way greeted him with a smile.

“Frank, lovely to see you. Would you like to help me out a bit?” She asked.

“Okay,” Frank smiled trying to get his mind off his mama.

“Can you stack these vegetables on the shelves, just put them with the others ones like it.” She asked kindly as she handed Frank a basket filled with fruit and vegetables. “This season on fruit and veg are very popular, so we're in luck.” Donna smiled as another customer walked through the doors.

About an hour later Gerard and Mikey had walked through the shop doors. They had sweat dripping off them and they had massive grins on their faces. They dropped their selves on the floor next to Frank and started panting for breath.

“Boys, did you tend to the chickens too?” Donna asked smiling at them as she passed an orange to them both.

“Thanks mama and yeah we did, we got 9 eggs and I put them on the kitchen table.” Mikey smiled as he peeled the skin off the orange before biting into it.

“Good boys, once you've rested can you handle a few deliveries and then you're free for the day?” Donna asked.

“Sure,” Gerard smiled as he took a huge bite of the fresh, juicy orange.

So once the orange was gone, Donna handed them all a bag, Frank had the smallest one. They had an address written on the bag so they could find the way. Frank just followed the brothers, they said that once the done theirs they would help Frank find where his is.

“Yours isn't far away,” Gerard said as he pointed down a small hill. “Just here, but the man here is nasty. I hear he steals the kids if a ball is kicked into his garden, he steals them and no one ever sees them again!” Gerard said looking quite scared.

“Yeah, it's happened a few times, good luck!” Mikey and Gerard said as they stopped on the pavement and expected Frank to do this by himself.

“But, what if he tried to get me?” Frank protested.

“I hope your lack of writing is made up by your legs!” Mikey said as they sat on the ground.

Frank turned around, gulped and started walking towards the house not really sure what to expect.

“Come one Frank!” Frank heard the boys shout as he opened the garden gate and walked in. He then heard the boys go 'ohhh' in shock. Frank took very small steps to the door, once he was there he rang the door bell.

“What!” An older man opened the door, he had a heavy over bite, mean face, big walking stick and quite frightful.

“Your vegetables, sir.” Frank gulped.

“Oh, thanks kid.” The man said as he handed Frank a few pennies, Frank handed over the bag before walking away. He had actually survived.

“What did he say!” Mikey said as they ran over to him once he was a few meters away from the house.

“He thanked me,” Frank smiled. “He didn't seem like a mean man.”

“Wait, he thanked you?” Gerard questioned looking rather confused.

“Yeah, he said thanks kid.” Frank held his head up proudly.

“Wow, he might actually like you. Oh my god,” Gerard laughed as the boys started to walk away.