T_T_T

Moustache Girl lets you look at the shield again as the three of you sit in the loungeroom surrounded by boxes. There were still more in the car, but mum has said it was best to leave them there until you needed them, just in case you didn’t need them so they could be returned more easily.

Looking at the edge, you can make out all the layers through the clear packing tape. It’s easily as thick as your thumb, but that’s clearly a good idea as the shield doesn’t flap about at all — and you would know, because this wasn’t your first-time making things from cardboard for an adventure.

“Don’t some shields sort of —” Bow Kid motioned with her hands, her arms wide going down before curving and meeting in the middle. “Like pointy at the bottom?”

You nod.

“Yeah,” you agree, thinking about it.

Maybe you could look it up on mum’s computer?

“They’ve got round ones too,” Moustache Girl adds.

Bow Kid nodded at that.

“What about a sword?” you ask.

“Ah huh,” Moustache Girl replied, picking up her sword from the carpet. “This is my second one. My first sort’a worked, but then it got bent and it started to flop after that. So, dad gave me a stick to use — like one of those round sticks like you get at the hardware store.”

“Dowel,” interjected Bow Kid. “It’s called a dowel.”

Both you and Moustache Girl turn to Bow Kid in surprise. You didn’t know that.

“I think dad called it that?” Moustache Girl said uncertainly. “Or maybe he said towel? ”

You giggle. It sounded a bit silly.

“So, it goes in the middle?” Bow Kid asked.

“Yep, then you put two bits of cardboard on each side, and then I taped the edges together.”

“Then used loads of tape.” Bow Kid adds.

“Yep, so it doesn’t unstick.”

T_T_T

After asking mum, the three of you were allowed to go on her computer and look up shields.

“So, it’s not a kite shield?” asked Bow Kid, after finding the image.

“Maybe?” you reply uncertainly. There were loads of images and some said different things. “I think the really tall one is a kite shield?”

“That one there says a kite shield,” said Moustache Girl, pointing at the image on the screen.

It was of a really short shield that was sort of like Moustache Girl’s, but pointed at the bottom.

Still, you printed a couple of images out and the three of you went back to the lounge room. The boxes mostly had short sides and holes in the sides for carrying handles, but the bottoms were whole bits of cardboard. You could tell they used to have fruit in them because the one you had in front of you had a little sticky patch on it that smelt like oranges.

Cutting the sides off, you tried to draw the shape of your shield. It took a few goes to get the lines right and it looked a bit messy, but Moustache Girl pointed out that it won’t matter because you can put the pencil marks on the inside.

Looking up, you can see Bow Kid looking quite proud of only needing one try to get it right, but she was also a way better artist than you.

Unfortunately, the three of you learnt pretty quickly that bottom bit of cardboard was really thick and your scissors didn’t really work.

“This is way thicker than the boxes from home,” said Moustache Girl, examining the really rough cut. “It’s two layers.”

The sides were one layer and easy to cut, but the bottom is two layers.

“Maybe your mummy has bigger scissors?” Bow Kid suggested to you.

It seemed like a good idea, so the three of you got up to go look for her. Soon you found her in her study.

“Mummy — um —” you can see she looks a bit busy. “Can you help us with something? Please?”

Mum turns from her work computer and gives the three of you a smile.

“I can for a bit. What do you need?”

“We’re trying to cut some cardboard, but it’s way too thick,” Moustache Girl explained to yours and Bow Kid’s nods.

“Yeah, my scissors aren’t really working.”

“Sure thing,” mum replies, before opening her desk drawer and looking for something.

Soon, she pulls out a fluorescent green object that can fit in her hand and gets up. Not sure what it’s for, you none-the-less lead mum to the lounge room.

“Huh, that is pretty thick,” mum comments, looking at the sheet you tried to cut. “I think the box the refrigerator came in was like this.” Mum catches your curious expression and laughs lightly. You didn’t remember that ever happening. “That was probably before the three of you were born, and I threw that box out ages ago.”

“You could have made a really tall shield with that,” commented Moustache Girl.

You rise that she is correct, and that you could have made one of those really tall shields with it, like the three of you had seen on the internet. Mum smiles at her before turning back to the thing you need cut out.

“On the lines?” she asks you.

“The thicker ones.” You had gone over the right line a few times so mum wouldn’t mistake it. “Not the other lines.”

Grabbing a nearby box and turning it upside down, mum put your sheet on top. Then she held up the device she had grabbed from her drawer. With a ratchetting sound, you realised it was a knife, a blade extending from the end. Mum then began to easily cut the shape out for you.

“Anything else?”

“We need a couple of layers,” Moustache Girl says.

So, mum used the shape she cut out as a guide and cute several more shapes like it, before Bow Kid handed her shield over to be cut too.

“Come and knock on my door if you need some more cute,” mum said as she finished, standing up.

“Oh — um — so we can’t do it?” you ask.

Mum lightly laughs.

“Nope, sorry,” she replies. “Utility knives are really sharp and it’s really easy to cut yourself with one. And , if that happens, we’ll all have to go to the hospital, because you’ll need loads of stiches because of how easy it is to cut yourself deeply with one.”