Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne

Author:John Boyne
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780375899348
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2011-05-09T21:00:00+00:00

‘Well, it’s not just one more,’ he replied. ‘I mean, we can always go to Auntie Joan’s next Easter, can’t we? Or even later in the summer?’

Mrs Barleywater opened her mouth to reply but it seemed to take her an awful long time to find the words. She swallowed and looked away, and then leaned down and hugged Noah to her so tight that he thought she had gone mad.

‘What’s the matter?’ he asked nervously, pulling away from her. ‘Why are you acting so strange?’

‘Me? Strange?’ she said, clearing her throat and turning away from him. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now, how about we take a swim?’ she asked, walking over to the side of the pool. ‘Race you to the other side.’

And with that, the two of them dived into the cold water and reached the other side almost neck and neck but it was finally agreed that Noah’s mum had just edged it, although it was the only race she won for the rest of the afternoon, for Noah was a very strong swimmer and his mum seemed to get very tired quite quickly. Sandcastles were built, more swimming took place, and at just the right moment a picnic of sandwiches and fizzy drinks was served by a young man from the hotel staff, who seemed entirely unimpressed by what was taking place there.

‘Well?’ asked Noah’s mother, throwing a few grains of the sand in his sandwich so it would taste even more like they were at the beach. ‘Did you have a good time?’

Noah nodded quickly and looked at his mum, smiling widely. He wondered whether maybe she had some sort of allergic reaction to the chlorine in the water though, for her eyes seemed to be very red around the edges, as if she had been crying while she was in the pool. He was going to tell her that she should wear a pair of goggles in future, but his mouth was so full of egg sandwich at the time that he couldn’t get the words out without spitting it all over her, and a moment later, when it wasn’t, he’d already forgotten.

‘We have to make the most of days like this, Noah,’ she said quietly then, trying to pull him close to her again, but this time he pulled away because her swimsuit was too wet, and instead he jumped back into the water for another swim. He liked this new side of his mother, these unexpected days out. It was almost as if she was a different person.

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