The Unexpected Find by Toby Ibbotson

Author:Toby Ibbotson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic UK
Published: 2019-09-04T16:00:00+00:00

In Stefan’s room William was on the floor, lying on his mattress and leafing through an old leather-bound volume that he had found in the living room, where there were ten of them in a row. It was some kind of encyclopaedia, and among the closely written texts were old, black-and-white photographs. Some were of interesting things. He had found a picture of stern-looking men with moustaches and waistcoats standing on the bank of a wide river. Several of them were holding long poles, topped by hooks exactly like the one he had found.

Stefan was sitting at his little table with a pencil in his hand and a school textbook open in front of him. William heard a sigh and a muttered Swedish word that Stefan had told him never to use in front of Farmor, although Stefan had used it at least twice in the workshop. It was a bit odd to see those wide shoulders and that broad back all hunched up. One elbow was on the table and the left hand, with its work-flattened finger-tops, grimy nails and a big scar across the base of the thumb, was pressed up to his head.

Stefan felt William’s gaze on him and looked up.

“Work for school.”

“Homework. It’s called homework. Maths.”

“Yes, how do you know?”

William didn’t answer that. It was so obvious. When someone who was strong and kind and could do almost everything – even rush down hills on skis – had a look on his face like that, it had to be maths.

“I’ll get Judy.”

William left the room, and came back a few moments later with Judy in tow. She came in and looked around. They had been there almost two weeks now, but she had never been into Stefan’s room before. It wasn’t the typical boy’s room she had been expecting, with stuff lying about all over the place. It was neat and simple, with a chest of drawers, bed and small table, and a shelf full of books that seemed, at a quick glance, to consist entirely of manuals of various kinds. On the wall there was a small hanging cupboard. Nothing else.

Stefan looked up at her.

“William said you needed help,” she sounded tired, and serious.

“No, not at all. And you cannot help. I am in final year. It is very difficult. Tomorrow is a big test.”

Stefan wasn’t good at being helped at the best of times. Some people are like that. He preferred to stand and fall on his own efforts. And Judy was probably at least a year younger than him, maybe even more, and she was a girl. A lot of the girls in his class sat and giggled and talked to each other in little groups and said that they didn’t “get it” before the teacher had even finished explaining. And the boys weren’t much better, sitting at the back and acting up, treating the girls like idiots. Most women worked much harder than most men, he knew that. And the farm would fall apart in a month if it wasn’t for Farmor, no matter what Stefan did.

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