Lily’s first night in charge.
Dudley had warned Lily that her siblings would challenge her on her first night in charge. Harry had figured that it would be spread over several nights, and bet that Brad would be first. Lily had hoped that she wouldn’t have that at all, especially since her mum had informed the whole family that she didn’t want to hear any problems today. Mum’s pregnancy was not making her feel good at the moment, so she’d retired to the parent’s room with a glass of ginger water and a good book.
It appeared, however, that some of her siblings had not learnt the lesson of keeping everything calm and following orders when mum wasn’t feeling well. It hadn’t been hard to get Primrose and Noel to take their bath. She’d called them right at seven fifteen, just like usual, and sat on the toilet seat while the two undressed and took their bath, just like she’d done a couple times when Harry was sick. There was no playing in the bathtub. Baths were for getting cleaned. A brief inspection had occurred to make sure they’d washed correctly, before she let them put on their underpants and go down for their snack, which Violet was handling.
Iris, at six, was trusted a bit more, and no longer shared the bath with her brother Brad. If she shared at all now, it would be with She was actually waiting for the bathroom to be free. There was a bit of dirt on Iris’s cheek that hadn’t been there when Lily had gone up with Primrose and Noel. There was also a streak of dirt down one side of her outfit. “They’re done?” Iris stated. “Good. You might want to see to Badley.”
Lily knew that the removal of the R in Bradley’s name was not a good sign. “What did he do?”
“Dad has him cleaning up what he tracked in,” Iris said. “He’s blaming Dennis. Something about Gnasher, a leash, and a squirt gun filled with cranberry juice, I think. Whatever it is, Violet is not looking forward to cleaning his shirt.”
“This, I got to see,” Lily said. “Bathroom is yours for the next fifteen minutes … maybe a bit longer if I end up having Bradley shower.” Iris nodded, as Lily passed her.
The moment she got down stairs, she found Bradley barefoot, only wearing his boxers, which appeared to have been dyed red and were soaked to his body. His hair was covered with a white powderBy the door was his jeans, which appeared to be ripped on one leg and had mud on them. He had a mop that which he was using to clean up a trail of mud.”Don’t ask, I’m not going to repeat it,” Bradley said. “Just .. you know … I don’t know what, but Dennis is going to regret what he did.”
“I see … and are there any others that were involved, like perhaps Godwin and Crispin?” Lily asked. Bradley tried not to show any reaction, but he was her little brother. “Brad, would you be talking to Harry?” Bradley looked up briefly with an expression of surprise. “Okay, Dudley was right. They thought the lid was off with Piers, Dudley, and Harry gone. That dog is worse than our aunt’s ever were, and if I’m not mistaken you got hit by the mudballs too. Violet!”
“Yes Lily?” Violet said, leaning out of the kitchen.
“Make sure Brad takes a shower at least, and is really clean for a change,” Lily said. “I’m going to make sure Colin is ready for his little brother … but first, I think I need to talk to Porta. Someone forgot about their Kipling.”
“Kipling?” Bradley said, as Porta went to the phone and dialed Number Nine. “What is Kipling?”
“Porta?” Lily said, the moment she heard an answer. “Please remind Godwin about his Kipling, as we discussed last Wednesday. Oh, has he come in?”
She could hear Porta over the phone state. “You just got a call from the Dursley’s, little Win.” She knew that expression would happen when Dudley made similar calls. She’d been at the Creevey’s when Dudley had called about Dennis before. Harry, Dudley, and Piers called it giving fair warning. It never was done older sibling to younger sibling, and Lily was a good girl, so she’d never gotten a call from Piers. She’d seen both sides though. Lily hadn’t expected to have to do this so soon.
She heard Godwin glup as Godwin, you and I are going to talk tomorrow on the way to school, but first, a single verse to haunt your dreams, because I’m not the Big Boys. My reign as part of the Triumvirate is going to be different. Why?
“When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail.
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
“If you though because Piers left you and your friends would be getting away with things, think again. We’re prepared to prove Kipling’s poem. Have a wonderful night.”
Lily hung up the phone, having not let Godwin sign off “Now, Brad, I need to know exactly what Dennis the Menace and his pals did, and I need to know it now, before I go handle him via window. I can threaten Godwin without knowledge, but Dennis requires it.”
Brad gulped. “He thought I was the one that snitched on him with Mister Stone. So he sicced Gnasher on me. I ran but ended up having to go through the Watt’s front garden, which they’ve dug up but haven’t put the new plants in. Then I ran into Crispin and Godwin who dumped a bucket of this awful juice, soaking my clothes. That let Gnasher catch up with me, and he ripped my jeans. Dennis then pulled out his sling shot and shot me with a ball that burst into white powder when it hit my forehead.”
“Good. Now do you want a shower or bath tonight?” Lily asked, already knowing the answer. So she looked around the hall and determined that Brad had done a passable job cleaning up after himself.
“Shower,” Bradley replied.
“Okay, it looks like you’ve done here, so shower, and when you’re done, report to my room for inspection,” Lily ordered.
“Do I have to?” Bradley whined.
“What is your current streak of passed inspections with Harry?” Lily asked.
“Two,” Bradley said quietly, looking down at his feet.
“And how many did Harry say you had to pass in a row?” Lily continued, her hand going out to raise Bradley’s gaze so she could look him right in the eyes.
“Fifteen,” Bradley replied, before turning around and heading for the kitchen door to the garage.
Lily smiled as her little brother headed to the showers in the back of the garage. Then she headed up to the room she shared with Violet. As it was a rather warm night, but already cooling from the hot end of Summer day, the window was already open, letting a cool breeze in. She could see that Colin was already in his bedroom, carefully placing his latest pictures in the portfolio file.
Colin had the photo bug, having received a camera from his Uncle J.W. for his last birthday, and had the use of the dark room that Mister Gallegher had created for his son Todd back in the 60s. He had one of the three drawers under his bed in the room he shared with his brother Dennis filled with his portfolio. His window was also open, and it appeared that he was actually expecting contact. “Lily! Ready to shakedown Dennis the Menace?” Colin said.
“Yes,” Lily said, as she slid Dudley’s black bathrobe over her shoulders. “Is the tape ready for tonight?”
“Yes,” Colin replied, “Shall I get him?”
“Most certainly,” Lily said, picking up an envelope and the letter opener that she’d prepared. It didn’t take long for Colin to bring the other occupant of his bedroom to the window. She nodded to Colin, who pounded a mallet twice on the wooden window frame, actually causing Dennis to flinch at the sudden sound and the closeness of the impact.
“Here ye, here ye, the Court of the Youth of Privet Drive is now in session, Judge Lily April Dursley presiding in succession. The case of Dennis the Menace et.al. vs the Crown thirty-five now sits before the bench.” Colin announced.
“Dennis the Menace, you stand before this court to be arraigned on counts of bullying, destruction of attire, and conspiracy,” Lily said, casually slitting open the envelope, making sure that it would glint in the light of the setting sun. “How do you plea?”
“Not guilty!” Dennis replied. Lily knew that if Dudley were presiding their wouldn’t be such a plea. Same with Piers or Harry.
“You’ve entered a plea of not guilty to this court,” Lily replied. “This is your right, though it may show some lack of remorse, that may be accounted for later. This court, however is a court of fact, and you shall be allowed to present your facts and defend yourself. However, it is late, so before we adjourn I must remind you:
“When the Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometime wiggle sideways and avoid it if he can.
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trial
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
“The defendant is remanded into the custody of his older brother, and this court is adjourned until thirty minutes after the dismissal of school tomorrow, at which time we shall reconvene in normal session in the Stone Playhouse. Court adjourned.”
Colin slammed the window shut, loudly, and his brother jumped back into his brother’s arms. Lily watched as Colin managed to hold his next youngest sibling, saying something in his ears. There wasn’t much difference between the nine-and-three-quarters-year-old and the eight-and-a-half year old. It looked like Dennis was surprised that his older brother was taking a hard line against him. Colin was sometimes a bit of a menace himself, but Colin was more of an annoyance as opposed to Dennis’s more bullying nature. Lily would take Colin over Dennis any day.
There was a knock on Lily’s door. “Enter,” she said. She turned around as the door opened revealing Bradley, not dried completely, and with a head of hair that hadn’t got wet.. “Brad, did you even duck you head under the water?”