One of the problems we had at The Gap home was mice. This particular time they were everywhere. Mum went on a mission and bought a dozen or so mouse traps from the supermarket and asked us boys to help her set them up. Now setting these traps is not for the faint hearted. One slip and WACK, the spring-loaded device would inflict pain on any finger silly enough to be standing in its way. David of course made a game of it called “Think Quick”. This game involved setting the trap and throwing it at a brother with the warning “Think Quick”. The trap was harmless against anything flat but was the sworn enemy of anything protruding. So the quick thinking involved placing that part of the body in the way of the trap that did not have any possible appendages. All I will say is – sometimes it worked – sometimes it didn’t! Now at the same time of this ‘City of London’ plague extermination drive, Dad had set up a study/photo lab under the house. One day when I was helping him out with some photos he was developing, he asked me to get a container from the top draw of the filing cabinet. As I opened the draw I saw to my horror a group of mice nestled in the corner. As I stepped back in fright and pointed to the draw with a ready description of what I had just seen, Dad said “Its OK – they are field mice. The mother has been living in there for some time and has just had a little family. I have had to keep them there to protect them from your mother.” So, now I understood where David inherited his “Don’t tell Mum” line from.
