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fright?’
    â€˜Great!’ said Bill.
    â€˜And all of the tests have to be completed in the one day,’ added Mat.
    â€˜Even better,’ said Bill.
    At school the next day, Mat and Bill told Crispin that if he joined their club he would have their complete loyalty and ‘every assistance in the event of trying circumstances’ as Mat put it. They all understood that the ‘trying circumstances’ were about Isabelle Farquay-Jones.
    Crispin said he was ‘honoured to be invited’. When Mat and Bill told him about the tests of courage and endurance, he looked quite excited. ‘That should be interesting,’ he said. But the fun turned very serious when, at the end of the morning’s lessons, Mrs Townsend asked Crispin to meet her in the Principal’s office.
    Bill watched Crispin bravely walk off, his back stiff and straight like a soldier, in the direction of the administration block. Then Bill raced off to find Mat. They spent recess hanging about the office door pretending to read a magazine together. Eventually, Crispin emerged looking very shaky.
    â€˜What’s going on?’ asked Mat.
    Crispin swallowed and took a deep breath. ‘Everything’s about as bad as it could get.’
    â€˜Isabelle’s parents are giving you heaps,’ said Bill.
    â€˜Isabelle’s parents have informed the police. They want to have a meeting on Monday in the Principal’s office with me, Aunt Victoria, the local police officer and their family solicitor,’ said Crispin in a small, quiet voice.
    Mat and Bill were silent for a moment. Their worst fear was becoming a reality. The Farquay-Jones family had a lot of power. It would be almost impossible to get real justice for Crispin; Isabelle wouldn’t have told the whole truth. But even if her parents knew she was fibbing, it wouldn’t make a difference. If their daughter was upset, they were upset – no matter what the reason. On top of that, they were used to getting their own way; they would lie their way to victory and, if necessary, they would throw a big, ugly, grown-up-style tantrum to bring down everyone around them.
    Mat looked at Crispin’s terrified face. She had to think of something encouraging to say. Under these terrible circumstances, her own bank of wisdom was almost empty, but then she remembered something she’d read. She looked deep into Crispin’s eyes. ‘Never, never, never, never give up,’ she said in a low, slow, deep voice.
    Crispin looked at Mat in surprise. ‘Winston Churchill!’ he said.
    â€˜Yes,’ said Mat. ‘He saved your country in the Second World War by keeping everyone thinking positively.’
    Crispin’s eyes shone with hope. ‘Indeed!’ he said. ‘It looked like poor old England was going to get bombed to smithereens and then taken over, but the English people just wouldn’t give in.’
    â€˜There’s nothing to fear but fear itself,’ added Mat.
    â€˜Was that Churchill, too?’ asked Crispin.
    â€˜President Roosevelt,’ said Mat. ‘One of the wisest American leaders ever to live.’
    Crispin smiled. ‘Thanks, Mat. I’m most fortunate to have made two such friends as you and Bill.’
    â€˜So we will meet at my place on Saturday for the tests?’ asked Mat.
    Crispin looked bewildered. ‘I still have to do the tests, even though everything’s so urgent?’
    Mat nodded. ‘It’s like an Aboriginal initiation ceremony. It’s both purifying and strengthening.’

Bill felt very sorry for Crispin. After Mrs Townsend had informed Aunt Victoria about the Farquay-Jones situation, she had been furious with Crispin. Bill assumed it was because Aunt Victoria had found out about Crispin tying Isabelle to the tree, but Crispin said it was something worse than that. He wouldn’t say, except that it was to do with ‘family honour’.
    Crispin was