All day at school on Monday, Dale looked forward to seeing Clarence. He’d told everyone about the robot and by the end of the day, there was a big crowd at the school gates. But when Dale got there, everyone was laughing at something.

He pushed his way through the crowd. There was Clarence. He was grinning and wearing an enormous, purple flowery hat and a bright pink dress.

‘Where did you get that dress?’ Dale hissed.

‘A lovely woman in the street stopped me,’ Clarence beamed. ‘She said I had to wear these things to school.’

‘What did she look like?’ Dale asked.

‘She had a pointy nose,’ Clarence replied.

‘Mrs Smart,’ Dale whispered to Katie, as they hurried away from the laughing crowd of children. ‘She’s trying to spoil everything.’

But by the time they got home, Dale was feeling better. It was only Clarence’s first day, after all. He had to learn.

‘Just don’t talk to the woman with the pointy nose again,’ Dale told Clarence.

Clarence nodded and took off the hat and dress.

‘Homework time,’ Clarence said, ‘ I’ll make your tea.’

Dale did his homework. He didn’t hear the phone ringing.

Half an hour later, a burning smell wafted out from the kitchen. Dale ran downstairs. The kitchen was full of smoke. Choking and spluttering, Dale pushed open a window. As the smoke cleared, he saw Clarence standing there. He was smiling and holding two plates. On each plate was a pizza, some chips and some peas. They were all burnt black.

‘Let’s eat!!’ cried Clarence.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Dale, ‘I showed you how to cook.’

‘A woman phoned while you were doing your homework,’ replied Clarence. ‘I told her what I was cooking and she said I was doing it wrong. She said that food only tastes good when it’s black.’

Dale groaned, grabbed the plates and scooped the burnt food into the bin. Mrs Smart again! She was ruining everything.

‘Don’t answer the phone!’ he told Clarence as he made cheese sandwiches for himself and Katie.

When Mum came home, she sniffed the air.

‘Did Clarence burn something?’

‘Only a bit,’ Dale said.

‘OK,’ Mum replied. She looked at the three of them. ‘Why don’t you tell me about Clarence’s first day?’