Chapter 6. Race!

The next weekend was spent making the final adjustments to the go-carts.  The boys each comfort-tested and chose a seat they liked, then helped to screw them onto the frame.  The best of the motor-mower engines were tested to make sure they worked, and it took until the end of the following weekend to make the adjustments each mower engine needed to work properly.

The boys Mums had walked over to the far side of the piles and chatted together, the noise of the motor-mowers being tested keeping their conversation from being heard by the boys.  The boys were too focused on helping as much as they could to notice that they’d moved away.  
“Yes, that’s a brilliant idea, I can certainly organize that.” Moana’s Mum said.  Flynn’s Mum nodded “It’s just a matter of keeping it a surprise.” she said.
“I have another appointment in town this week, I can pick up anything we need from there, just let me know.” said John’s Mum.  She reached into her handbag and grabbed her notepad and pen “What are the boys favourite colours?”  She noted down the responses and and put the notepad away, just as the boys wandered over, again tired but happy with the work they’d done.

“Dad reckons that next weekend we’ll have them all finished” said Flynn grinning.
“That’s awesome” said Flynn’s Mum ruffling his hair.
“Well, I think that calls for a cake, banana or chocolate?” said John’s Mum
“Both” said John, and everyone laughed.

That week at school the boys met at their usual spot at lunchtimes, whispering about the go-carts excitedly, eagerly looking forward to the weekend " it was so close, their own go-carts and track to race on!  On Friday the day felt like torture, they were sure the clock was purposely going slow.  They wondered whether their teacher was actually winding it back, but then laughed at how ridiculous that sounded! They fell silent, each imagining the fun they would have maybe tomorrow or the next day.  Suddenly Flynn frowned “I hope Mum and Dad don’t have to work this weekend, they’ve both been working late a bit this week” he said “parents can be kinda random sometimes, Mum asked me what my favourite colour is the other day”.  
“Yeah Mum has been making a lot of phone calls in the evening too” said John.  
“Funny, my Mum and Dad have had a few extra things on this week too” said Moana, then he shrugged “Nah, they’d have told us by now if they have to work”.

When John got home on Friday afternoon his Mum had on an apron and had bowls, measuring cups, spoons and spatulas spread across the bench, and there were eggs, milk, sugar and flour on the table.
“Just in time, here can you please chop up these bananas into that large measuring cup, and mash them up with that fork” she said to John with a smile.
“Woah " what’s all this for?” asked John.
John’s Mum smiled widely and said “It’s the cakes for tomorrow, chocolate and banana to celebrate the go-carts being finished.”
John laughed “Oh yeah! Mum I think you’re as excited about the go-carts as we are.”
She laughed too and said “Yes, I think we’re all pretty excited about it, we’ve all put in a lot of hard work, but especially you boys, we’re all pretty proud of you.  Now when you’ve finished the bananas I need you to grease the cake tins.”
“Aw Mum, I wanted to watch some TV, there’s a new episode of ‘Make Something’ on tonight” complained John.
“Tell you what, if you grease the tins quickly I’ll let you finish off any left-over icing” said Mum.
“Deal!” said John, and set about greasing the cake tins as fast as possible.  

Two minutes later he was sitting in front of the TV watching as the teams of children were tasked with making a foot-pedal powered cake-mixer (he was thankful that Mum didn’t have one of those to make cakes with!).  The tv show had finished and he was watching a documentary on dinosaurs when Mum gave him the mixing bowl with the scrapings of icing left in it.  They sat together in front of the TV, John scraping the icing bowl, and Mum with a steaming cup of coffee, marveling  at the weird and wonderful dinosaurs on the screen.
It was so comfortable sitting there that they decided they would have their dinner there too, (especially since the kitchen and dining room was still full of all the baking stuff) so Mum heated their favourite fresh pasta dish, heaped it into two bowls and they ate it still watching the dinosaurs running, flying and lumbering about on the screen.

After doing the dishes and tidying-up the kitchen it was time for bed, but both John and Mum found it hard to sleep, they were both pretty excited about going back to the Dump and getting the go-carts finished.

Saturday was an overcast but warm day, John helped Mum to pack the cakes into large plastic containers, and they filled a large thermos with hot coffee.  They also packed their chilly-bin with a six-pack of diet cola-cans, a bottle of orange juice, some tubs of yoghurt, and several packs of sandwiches.

They arrived at the “Dump” to find Moana and his Mum and Dad already there, they had brought a fold-out camping table and chairs and had also packed some picnic items.  They had set the table and chairs up out in front of the shed where there was a clear area and a good view of the whole place.  There was also a large rectangle object wrapped in brown paper leaning against the side of the shed.
A few minutes later Flynn and his parents arrived; they too brought picnic items, more camping chairs and several large carry-bags.

The boys immediately went over the go-carts and waited impatiently for their parents to finish chatting and setting-up all the picnic items.  Once they’d done that Flynn’s Mum found the petrol can and stood at the ready to fill, Moana’s Mum was tasked with oiling the bits that needed oil, and John’s Mum had to check the tyres to make sure they were OK.  Then the boys were able to sit in their go-carts and each in turn had to check the throttle, steering and brakes.  After a few small adjustments to each cart everyone was satisfied that they were all ready to be tested!  

Despite the boys eagerness to get their carts out onto the course around the junk piles, their parents switched off the carts’ engines and told the boys to come and have some picnic lunch, giving each other a wide smile.  Moana’s Mum grabbed her camera and took photos of the carts, all ready to go, and of everyone around the picnic table.

Flynn’s Mum had made a large plate of sausage rolls, and some mini-hotdogs, Moana’s Mum had made her famous scones with cream and jam and there were the two cakes and sandwiches that John and his Mum had made.  Flynn’s Dad had a chilly bin with beer and wine for the adults, and the boys toasted each other with a can of diet cola each.

When everyone had eaten their fill, Moana’s Dad stood up and walked to the head of the table.  With a smile he looked around the table at everyone and said “Boys, we are all very proud of you, we’ve all enjoyed being here and working on this project with you, we can see how hard you’ve worked and how much you’ve learned.  So we all put a little bit of money toward the final things you need to race the go-carts and make this place really your own.” He nodded to Flynn’s Dad who walked over to the large rectangular object leaning against the wall of the shed, picked it up and brought it over to the table “Here’s something to make you feel at home " unwrap it boys” he said with a smile.
The boys looked at each other, then each tore the brown paper open " revealing a large sign for the front wall of the shed, saying “The Dump” in large green letters!
“Woah, cool, awesome” the boys all said at once.

Then Flynn’s Mum stood up and gathered the large carry bags “Also boys, we wanted to make sure that you’re protected while you’re out there on the carts, so we have something for you to wear.” She handed a carry bag to each of the boys.  Inside was a crash-helmet, a pair of gloves, some trousers and a jacket made of strong fire-resistant fabric.  Each boy’s outfit was in their favourite colour; John’s was bright green, Moana’s was purple and Flynn’s was red.  The boys looked at each other with their mouths open, then put the outfits on " they were a perfect fit, with just a little bit of room for growth.

Moana’s Mum took pictures of them modelling their new outfits, then she also gathered up three packages (which looked suspiciously book-shaped), and handed one each to the boys.  “I’ve had a lot of fun with these” she said smiling.  The boys opened their packages to find a large photo album; there were photos of them all at the park having a picnic all those months ago when the project first began, then pictures of the “Dump” when they first found it, the shed, the model with the ball-bearings, the letter-box and trap-door, photos of the go-carts being put together and the piles of junk slowly getting tidier and tidier, and finishing with them surrounded by old tyres.
“There’s a few pages at the end for the final photos” she said “because the best are yet to come " go get in the carts boys and have a RACE!”

Whooping in excitement the boys grabbed their helmets and ran to the go-carts; when the motors were all started John’s Mum waved a scarf and shouted “GO!” and boys were off on the course winding around the junk piles, shouting and laughing as they went.
Their parents all clapped and laughed, and Moana’s Mum took photos of them as they made their way around the course.

After five laps around the course the boys came back to the start line and got out of the carts.  They gave each other high-fives and agreed that was the coolest thing they’ve ever done.
“There’s just one thing left to do” said John.
“What’s that?” said everyone.
“Refuel, and go back out there again!” said John.

So they did, and the next day as well.