Holding the Horse by J L Williams

Author:J L Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: history stories for teens, horse books for teens, horse stories for teens, horse books for boys, horse stories for boys, young adult coming of age, young adult family and boys and men
Publisher: Cave Books
Published: 2022-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

Fight at School

Sid glanced around the classroom. No Beryl. His heart sank every time he saw her empty seat. She’d be in Miller’s, selling buttons and lace and elastic. He seldom had a chance to speak to her these days. He avoided looking at Sarah. One glimpse of Sarah and guilt gnawed and squirmed inside him like a rat in a barrel of apples. In broad daylight, the night riding seemed insane.

What if she ever found out? What if her father found out?

His head hurt. Mr Cowley kept them working hard all morning, and as a reward, he was going to read to the class before lunch. Great Expectations. Very apt. Or ironic. Desk lids banged as everyone put their work away.

Mr Cowley opened the book. “Everyone sitting comfortably? Now, where were we last time?”

Usually, Sid loved listening, but today he just wanted to put his head down on the desk and fall asleep. Sid tried to stay awake, but his eyelids kept closing. He felt Rick’s elbow in his side.

“Don’t fall asleep.”

“Shut up, Rick, I’m all right.”

***

The scraping of chairs on the wooden floor jerked Sid awake. He scrambled to join the class as they shuffled and pushed their way to the cloakroom to get their lunches.

“Nice sleep?” Rick was right behind him, breathing in his ear. “Couldn’t help noticing, mate. Your snoring gave you away.”

“I don’t snore,” said Sid.

“No?”

“Just shut up, Rick.”

“Alright, you didn’t snore,” said Rick. “But your head kept clunking down like it was going to fall off your neck. It was painful to watch.”

The boys grabbed their lunches and hurried outside. Sid unwrapped his sandwiches. They were the usual—limp lettuce and marmite. He normally wolfed them down, but today he was so tired he could hardly even look at them.

Rick eyed him anxiously. “What’s the matter? Are you tired from working after school?”

“No,” said Sid. “Well, yes. But it’s not that.”

“What then?” said Rick.

“What do you mean?” asked Sid.

“You can hardly keep your eyes open,” said Rick. “What are you up to?”

Sid had been expecting it. Rick knew him too well. “You have to keep quiet about it,” he said.

“If you say so.”

Sid took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. “You mustn’t tell anyone.”

***

“Shhh, Rick, do you want everybody to hear?”

“Nobody’s listening.” Rick crumpled his sandwich paper. “Sid, you must be mad. You’ll be in so much trouble if anything goes wrong.”

“Nothing’s going to go wrong,” said Sid.

“What if the horse has an accident? Remember Glenys?”

“I’m not Glenys,” said Sid. “I used to ride Hugh on the beach all the time.”

“You’re going to fall asleep in a lesson, and old Cowley’s gonna roar. He’s not stupid - he can see who’s listening and who isn’t.”

“I can handle it,” said Sid.

“You’ll get sick.”

“You’re an old granny,” said Sid.

“I just don’t want to see you get into trouble,” said Rick.

“Speaking of trouble,” said Sid, “here it comes now.”

Roger Dyson swaggered up, his mates trailing after him. “Morning, Everett. Sleep well? In class, I mean?”

Sid bristled. The memory of Roger spooking the Captain’s horse was still fresh in his mind.

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