Go For Gold
By Cheese & Quakers
1
Dedication
This book was written for all the patients of the Royal Brisbane Children’s
Hospital. We hope that these brave children will find joy in reading this story
and will be inspired to follow their dreams and not let anything put them down.
We wish you all the best in your futures.
2
Copyright
Pubhlished by Aldridge State High School
Copyright Aldridge State High School
All rights reserved. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the
purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under
Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without any written
permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
3
Cheese and Quackers
Authors: Anneliese McKee, Emily Brain, Jack Smith, Luke Neilsen,
Nikita Elkington, Rowan Pienaar, Shaniah Elliott & William Connell
Illustrators: Danica Butler & Ella Webb
4
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the Aldridge staff that helped make this opportunity
possible. We would also liked to thank our family and friends who supported us
from the start and helped in the fundraising processes.
We acknowledge the young children in the hospital and wish them a speedy
recovery and a very successful future.
And last of all, we would like to give a very big thank you to Mrs Connell for
keeping us together and putting up with our insanity.
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Contents
Chapter 1 – Surprise
Chapter 2 – Unwanted Guests
Chapter 3 – Debrief
Chapter 4 – In the Laboratory
Chapter 5 – Tempest
Chapter 6 – Beasthunt
Chapter 7 – Rehash
Chapter 8 – Forgiveness
Chapter 9 – Birthday Cake
Epilogue
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Parameters:
Primary Character 1: Winemaker
Primary Character 2: Athlete
Non-Human Character 3: Reptile
Setting: Chemistry Lab
Issue: Birthday Disaster
Random Words:
 Hectic
 Fascinating
 Cantankerous
 Furry
 Curious
7
Surprise
“Aussie, Aussie, Aussie – Oi! Oi! Oi!” She looked up, her vision swaying as she
heaved in each breath. She had done it, finally. Ripples of green and yellow
rolled across the ocean of people, as their countless cheers erupted like a lion’s
roar. She had done it; she had won the marathon. Exhausted from the race but
elevated by her excitement, she raised her arms with sheer joy. Not even the
excruciating pain of her arms and legs could take the happiness of this moment
away from her. She savoured the occasion, breathing in the excitement of the
atmosphere, and exhaling relief. Her eyes glistened with pride. The crowd
started chanting her name. “Jenna… Jenna… Jenna… Jenna Claremont.” Who
was that? Why do they sound angry? Jenna turned around hesitantly, not
wanting this moment to be interrupted.
“Jenna Claremont.”
She stared, confused, at the man before her, noticing the gleaming badge on his
coat. Her expression slowly shifted, the harsh realisation of what was
happening mercilessly strangling her joy.
“Jenna Claremont. My name is Gerald Sampson. I need to ask you to come with
me.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Her voice quivered, the last of her happiness dying
away. The crowd stopped cheering, a confused mutter humming relentlessly
throughout the stadium.
“Ms Claremont, you’ve been disqualified from the race. You need to come with
me immediately.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“We know you’ve been taking performance enhancing drugs. Someone told us
they saw you taking them before the race and turns out they were right. We
found them in your bag.”
“That’s not true! Who told you that? Let go of me!”
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Jenna squirmed desperately, but her attempts to escape the arms of the official
were futile. The crowd started getting louder, their excited chants now jeers of
anger and confusion. How could this be happening? Why would anyone set her
up? The crowd slowly disappeared, the noise muffled by the walls of the exit
hall. Then, she saw her. The sight sent tears tumbling down Jenna’s face. She
couldn’t believe it was her. Jenna watched in anger as the crowd returned to
their chanting, but this time it was someone else’s name they were glorifying.
“Abigail… Abigail… Abigail!” Jenna’s anger intensified as she watched her
closest friend claim the prize she had worked so hard to get.
“Surprise!”
Jenna shut the haunting memory from her mind,
attempting to comprehend the sight before her;
the balloons floating from the trees, the countless
plates of food set out on tables and the shining
streamers festooning the braches overhead.
Jenna’s confusion subsided. How could she
have forgotten?
“Happy 21st, Jenna!”
9
Unwanted Guests
“Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming?”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have done all of this Uncle Waldorf.” Jenna stared around
the room, embarrassed by the unwanted attention. She felt the blood vessels of
her face enlarge, pink flourishing across her cheeks. Everyone was there; her
coach, manager, fellow competitors. She longed for them to disappear. Every
single one of them reminded her of that day; the day she wanted to forget. Jenna
was ashamed. What must they think of her now? She knew none of them
believed her. None of them backed her up when she needed them to most. Now
she had to spend an entire evening talking to them. Jenna squirmed at the
thought.
“We couldn’t miss out on celebrating the birthday of a champion… I mean a
cheat.” The rude party-goer accompanied her cruel joke with heartless shrills of
laughter.
“Abigail. How nice of you to come,” Jenna knew the
sarcasm was obvious, but she had no intentions of hiding
her feelings to the girl she was almost certain betrayed her.
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. How’s life treating
you nowadays Jenna?”
“Not as well as you, I’m guessing. How are your
preparations for the Commonwealth Games going?
Rumour has it you’re hot favourite for the gold medal.”
“Oh you know… I’m pretty confident now that my only
competitor’s out of the question.”
“Well, I’ve moved on, you know. Bigger and better things
are awaiting me.”
“And what would that be… working at your uncle’s
vineyard?”
10
“I don’t need a medal to know that I’m a great athlete.” Jenna tried her best to
convince Abigail that she was speaking the truth, but she knew that even if she
did, she could never convince herself.
“Oh, sure. It must feel great winning at your local athletics club.” The sting of
Abigail’s words reiterated Jenna’s low self-esteem. She desperately wanted to
leave, but Abigail just wouldn’t stop. “There would be tough competition out
there, with what, a couple of obese women attempting to lose weight during
their middle-age crisis? You can never underestimate your competitors.”
“Yeah, anyway, it was great to see you again Abigail. I think I’m going to check
out that birthday cake.”
Jenna felt sick in her stomach, the palms of her hands shivering with nerves.
Why couldn’t she just get over it? It had been long enough. But Jenna knew she
wouldn’t, still holding on to Abigail’s betrayal as a way of justifying her failed
career. She walked towards the table of food, resisting the determination of the
memory to re-enter her mind, but she didn’t have the mental strength.
11
Debrief
Jenna was still angry and upset about the cruelty of Abigail’s cold words. Her
red hair whipped in the increasingly strong wind. The dark clouds rolling over
the vineyard matched her mood; piercing green eyes glared at Waldorf. He had
invited the only people in the world which could cause her to feel miserable on
any day; let alone her birthday. His quirky expression showed curiosity;
apparently he had not yet realised the mistake made when planning the party.
She sat alone in a row of the vineyard.
Heavy footsteps of Jenna’s old cantankerous coach, Athol, paced towards her, a
disappointed expression on his face. Athol trained her to perform at her best for
the Commonwealth Games Marathon, and after the incident, he lost all respect
for her. Despite insisting she was innocent, nobody believed her.
“C’mon Jenna, if everyone else can enjoy your party, you can too! Stop being a
party pooper…” Athol complained.
“Sorry coach…” Jenna replied unconvincingly.
“You can’t call me your coach anymore Jenna, I don’t train athletes who cheat!”
Athol stated sharply.
Attempting to mask her emotions, Jenna walked away from him and back
towards the party.
She rushed passed Waldorf trying to avoid the conversation in which she would
have to explain her feelings, however, she was unsuccessful.
“Jenna! Happy birthday! Why the glum expression? Today is your birthday…
Are you upset?” Waldorf curiously questioned.
“What was your first clue?” she sarcastically responded.
“Well, I first noticed your mood worsen when you realised your old friends
were here, then earlier you seemed annoyed because of the look you gave
me…” he tapered off. Waldorf was never good with sarcasm. Jenna took a few
deep breaths before speaking again.
12
“Waldorf listen… I’m annoyed because nobody believes me about the race.
Everyone thinks I committed the offence... And you inviting all of those people
from the event just upsets me even more, especially because it’s my birthday,”
Jenna said calmly.
“Okay, I understand. Try and forget about the incident… Move on.” He
attempted to brighten Jenna’s mood. She thought about saying: “It’s hard to
move past the incident when you force me to converse with people involved in
it!” However, she stopped herself, realising it would only add unnecessary
conflict.
Lightning in the sky flashed before growls of thunder followed. Rain started
pelting down shortly before large hail stones began to fall onto the guests. Like
an army of ants escaping the shoe of a child, everyone ran towards the
chemistry lab. Whiffs of fermenting wine and assorted chemicals assaulted the
noses of the visitors; however this was a small price to pay for shelter from the
storm.
13
In the Laboratory
The chemistry lab was filled with cylindrical containers connected by a
complex network of piping. The room hummed and squealed as the pipes went
about their business, relieving pressure and sending grape juice through the
network. At the very end of the lab there was a door slightly ajar. Through the
crack Jenna saw a dusty, barely lit room filled with half-finished experiments,
beakers and paper littering the floor. “Well this is just great!” Waldorf
exclaimed. His yellow gumboots were filled with water, making his every step
squelch.
“Well this just had to happen at the ‘Jenna Claremont’ birthday party!” Abigail
said sarcastically, her brunette hair a hectic mess, and black mascara running
down her olive skinned face.
“As if I knew it was going to rain; I didn’t even know I was going to have a
party,” Jenna said, her face flustered and reddened from her rage.
“Oh my god! Not now, not now!” Waldorf exclaimed his eyes fixed on the
winged, golden lizard peeking out of from behind the door. Everyone stopped
now, their eyes fixed upon the curious animal. The lizard had reflective rain
drop scales and golden spikes running down from the top of its head to the tip of
its tail. Yellow horns crowned his head. Its underside had lighter scales, which
slowly deepened into a glistening orange. “Carlos! How did you escape?”
Waldorf said. The lizard’s eyes darted around examining each party guest, its
small, scaled claws digging into the floor as if ready to pounce. The vineyard
lab shook and the guests screamed as lightning struck the ground outside.
Carlos scurried out and disappeared into the thick wall of rain and wind.
14
Tempest
The bold black clouds smothered the light, unnerving the partygoers. Jenna was
whipping her head around searching for any sign of Carlos, but the
demoralising storm was sweeping away any optimism of finding him.
“Can you see anything out here?” Waldorf bellowed.
“Yeah… I can’t really find any trace of him. This rain is stinging my whole
body, have you got a spare coat?” Jenna asked, shivering, her dress providing
no protection from the cold wind.
“I’ve got my old brown coat in the car; I’ll just grab it for you. I’ll get it started
and we can look for him in that,” Waldorf suggested while pulling the keys
from one of his many pockets.
His unstable stepping was no match for the unrelenting force of the storm. With
a hunched back and buckling knees, the aged man mustered the full extent of
his power and trudged on. Jenna stalked his progress, tracking him from the
shelter of the laboratory’s slanted roof, which shielded her from the everlasting
assault of the menacing storm. Waldorf shut the door behind him, entering the
car’s warm protection. An insidious surge in the sky penetrated the dense clouds
above, latching itself to a towering tree. The enormous strain of the lightning
ruptured the roots of the tree as it fell, pulverising Waldorf’s car and
imprisoning him in the small confines of the metallic cage.
“Wal! Are you okay?” Jenna screamed, charging forward without hesitation.
The other partygoers rushed towards the scene and immediately began to try
and free Waldorf.
“I’m okay,” Waldorf answered amidst the carnage, “Jenna, I need you to find
Carlos. If anything happened to him in this storm I...”
“No, I’m helping you out of there, you’re more important to me than some
lizard,” Jenna answered on the verge of tears.
“Tell your friends to help me out of this jam, you get after Carlos. Do whatever
it takes!”
15
Jenna sensed the urgency in his voice as she nodded and turned, sprinting into
the ferocious torrent towards the vineyard.
16
Beasthunt
Her foot hit the damp ground as her eyes searched frantically for the reptile. She
skimmed over the untidy bushes and around the small car park, only to see
Carlos had disappeared. Her thoughts ran wild, anxiously thinking of where he
could have waddled off to. Her eyes landed on the long rows of vines that lied
ahead in the distance. She paced over to the trellises scanning the landscape.
Jenna walked through the muddy grass attempting to avoid the tangle of vines
and thorns surrounding her.
“Come on Carlos. Where are you?” she muttered to herself.
Jenna continued to skim the aisles when a rustle in the brushes broke her train
of thoughts. She spun around hoping to discover the reptile, only to see the
person she despised most: Abigail.
Her fists clenched as she plastered a polite smile on her face, the person she
held responsible for the demise of her career responding with a snarl. The
person who took first place right out from under her, without even an ounce of
sympathy.
“Here for something?” Jenna spoke sternly.
“Um… to help?” Abigail replied in a timid voice.
“How about you help yourself and walk away?” Jenna retorted as she turned
around to continue her search for the beast.
Her eyes continued to skim the creepers when a flicker of yellow passed
through a row in the distance. She ran between the grapes hoping not to lose
the beast ahead of her, when she heard sounds of footsteps from behind.
“You know stalking is usually frowned upon in this country?” Jenna
sarcastically said knowing Abigail would hear.
“You know, I alw…” her voice was cut off by Jenna attempting to quieten her
in the search for Carlos.
17
“Look, I don’t really care about your opinion;” Jenna spoke harshly, “all I care
about is finding the damn lizard.”
The sound of thunder roared over the skies as rain bucketed down. She turned
her head to walk away when a shimmer of gold caught her eye from afar.
Staring at the beast ahead, Abigail followed Jenna’s line of vision to spot the
reptile. They gave each other a wary look.
18
Rehash
Slowly, perhaps even decisively, every fibre of muscle in Jenna’s body
contracted like a wound up spring. Charged energy pumped within Jenna’s
veins as she leapt from her paralysed state. The race was on. Rain relentlessly
hounded her front, making her vision furry. Jenna’s subconscious mind seized
the spotlight. Painful memories from a month ago flooded her brain. The sweet
smell of achievement and scenes of victory flashed through her mind, soon
ruined by the devastating burglary of the title. This was the time to win. This
was the time to prove herself. She wasn’t a cheat, a fraud or a liar! She’d won
that race honestly and justly. Her chance of competing in the Commonwealth
Games had been completely obliterated. It was all Abigail’s fault. Someway,
somehow, Abigail had managed to frame her. But why? They’d been best
friends for years. Why would she betray her? The thick air between them had
been tense ever since.
Jenna glanced reluctantly at her opponent sprinting furiously beside her. She
scolded herself – focus was a priority. The harmless and oblivious Carlos
became a golden beacon of success. If Jenna could reach him first, the guests’
belief in her would be restored. Jenna couldn’t believe it yet though, was she in
actual fact a more competent runner than Abigail? Could she defeat this major
rival?
As these thoughts slipped away, Jenna’s surroundings became more
pronounced. Hail pommelled and stabbed Jenna with persistent force. The
simultaneous and repetitive thump of feet on the ground was gradually
becoming off beat. Slowly Jenna was inching ahead. The grape vine’s tendrils
sporadically flicked her pumping arms. Heaviness and lethargy began niggling
at Jenna’s limbs, but she refused to accept their presence. A sudden jolt of pain
alerted her senses. Jabbing rose thorns had decided to complicate this race
further. The sky, layered intricately with black and grey tones, pressed in upon
the two runners, creating a tunnel towards the waddling and still absent-minded
lizard.
Abigail, realising what was going on, started to elbow Jenna.
She had attempted again to take her out. Jenna desperately
19
restrained her urges, not allowing herself to become sucked into the petty fight.
The nudges, however, became increasingly worse. A nudge became a push and
push became a shove until Jenna had no choice but to defend herself. Fatigue
was reaching the both of them and shallow breaths were quickening. A sharp
bolt of lightning flashed before the enemies’ eyes igniting a final spark of
energy inside Jenna. Almost clearly ahead, Jenna whispered repeatedly under
her breath the words ‘prove myself’. Finally, emotions running high and Carlos
in the foreground, Jenna dived towards the stunned lizard concurrently with an
unmistakeable yell.
20
Forgiveness
Jenna felt Carlos’ scaly skin under her fingers; she had done it. She had finally
triumphed against Abigail, the one person who had betrayed her, stopping her
from achieving her goals. Jenna had proven to herself that she was better, faster,
and had the ability to win. She held Carlos close to her chest and turned to find
Abigail on the ground.
“My ankle hurts,” said Abigail. “I think I twisted it.” Jenna glared down at
Abigail. Why should she have to help her? She had stolen her victory, her
happiness, her confidence. Memories flashed through her mind as Jenna
prepared herself once more for the tormenting moment she just couldn’t let go
of. But it was a different memory which emerged, one so unrecognisable that
she had almost forgotten it. She remembered back to before the fight, to when
they used to be friends, laughing and partying all night after a race; waking each
other up at all hours of the morning to start the day with some intense training;
sitting beside each other in the hospital bed when one was injured; back in the
good old days. ‘Why did things have to change? Why did she have to go behind
my back and lie about me? Why was she so jealous? Did she need that light of
glory?’ she thought to herself.
Jenna took Abigail’s hand and lifted her to her feet. Abigail’s face scrunched up
into a wince and a tear filled her eye.
“Are you okay?” Jenna asked in a concerned tone.
“Once again, you beat me. What a surprise,” Abigail said sarcastically as she
tried to keep herself standing. “Jenna you are much faster than me. It’s a pity
that last month someone had something against you.”
“Something against me? That was you! Don’t blame other people for your
actions Abigail”
“What? You’re blaming me? Jenna, I don’t think you understand. Why would I
ever frame my best friend?”
21
“Don’t lie Abigail. You were jealous and wanted to win for once.” Jenna could
feel her temperature rising. She could not believe what she was hearing. The
rain continued to pound down on them as Carlos attempted to snuggle into
Jenna.
“Jenna, you were my best friend. I swear I would never do anything like that,
not to you.”
“Then who did?”
“All I know is that you need to stop blaming everyone else. You have the talent,
you just need the belief. That day at the race, you won. They may not have
acknowledged you for it but you did. And you can do it again.”
“But…”
“Just stop refusing to try Jenna. You need to move on and realise your true
potential. Life isn’t going to wait for you.” Abigail sighed and embraced her in
an overdue hug as the rain started to ease.
“I’m sorry,” Jenna whispered as the sun broke through the thick darkness.
“Me too,” replied Abigail.
22
Birthday Cake
Carlos walked next to Jenna, his eyes fixed upon the reinstated champion, filled
with loving affection as though he was a Golden Retriever and she was his
master. Jenna had one arm over Abigail’s shoulder supporting them as they
walked back toward the laboratory. Waldorf stood upon the top of the hill, in
the threshold of the lab, his body only slightly bruised. As Jenna started
climbing the gradual incline of the hill, Waldorf extended his left arm. A smile
crept upon his face; his shaggy white mess engulfing the back of his head. As
Jenna reached the top of the hill, Waldorf embraced her with his one good arm.
However, Abigail, as she was supported by Jenna’s arm, found herself thrown
into the intimate embrace. Waldorf whispered to Jenna, “Thank you for
bringing Carlos back to me.”
“It’s all good Wal; it’s not every day that I
get to chase a golden lizard through a
vineyard, while the earth shakes from a
colossal tempest,” said Jenna playfully.
Waldorf laughed, shaking the three of
them.
“If you guys don’t mind I’d kind of like to
sit down for a bit,” Abigail said, her face
clearly revealing her pain. The embrace
ended abruptly. Jenna sat Abigail down at
a seat.
“I have a surprise for you,” Athol said, as
he walked back into the wine-making
laboratory. Moments later, Athol revealed
himself carrying a three layered, round edged ice- cream cake.
“Okay Carlos, this is your time to shine, just light the candles on fire,” Waldorf
said, placing candles on the top tier of the ice cream cake.
“Wait, this lizard knows how to handle fire?” Abigail asked, confused.
23
“Not exactly…” he said. Carlos waddled up to the front of the cake, inhaled
deeply, and blew forth tongues of purple fire. The flames engulfed the cake,
causing it to explode and splatter melted ice-cream across the faces of the partygoers. “By the way, he is a dragon.” The guests erupted in laughter at the
fascinating creature, wiping the gallons of liquid ice-cream off their faces.
24
Epilogue
Jenna caught a glimpse of green and gold in the corner of her eye. Her legs
cramped but she pushed a little harder. She longed for it to be over, to be at the
finish line, but she knew it just wasn’t that easy. She now knew that she could
do it, she had the belief that she could win. Jenna took another step, lunging
towards the ribbon that would change her life; the ribbon she had worked so
hard for; the ribbon she had lost. Just a few more steps now. Abigail was behind
her, her breathe audible. Jenna’s legs ached as she made them take one last step.
The ribbon snapped as she stepped across the finish line. She looked up but the
crowd was a blur of colour. “Congratulations Jenna! You did it! You won! You
did the team proud!” Abigail wrapped her sweaty arms around her.
“Thanks, you did amazing too.”
Two sets of beaming eyes stood out from the blur as Waldorf and Carlos raced
towards her from the stands.
Jenna felt two little claws wrap around her leg. She glanced down and saw
Carlos’ happy face. She looked up to Waldorf, and wrapped her arms around
him.
“I did it, I actually won!” she exclaimed.
“I knew you could, you always had it in you. All you needed was the belief,” he
said, as he hugged her tighter.
Jenna made her way up to the podium, and smiled at Abigail. This was what she
had been waiting for. She climbed up onto the podium, and thrust her fist into
the air in victory. She looked to Carlos and Waldorf, both as excited as her. She
felt the medal being slung over her neck, and at the same time a weight being
released from her shoulders. She had done it, she had shown everyone what she
was capable of. More importantly, she had shown herself that she could do it.
She could win. She could be a champion.
Abigail turned to Jenna from the 2nd place podium.
25
“So Jen, you want to go out tonight?”
Jenna could not help but give a big grin, “Just like we used to.”
26
What happens when a framed Commonwealth athlete
attends a party with an eccentric wine maker? Why does
the wine-maker have a pet lizard? Within these pages is a
thrilling tale of an athlete regaining her honour and
reinstating herself as the champion of the British Empire.
But can she restore the pieces of her shattered life back to
their former glory?
27