Islands of the Gulf Volume 1, the Journey by Audrey Driscoll

Author:Audrey Driscoll
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: secrets, widows, doctors, acadians, herbert west, gulf islands, first world war, raising the dead, tramp steamers
Publisher: Audrey Driscoll

Chapter 11

A week before Alex was due back at school, I was going through his things, trying to put them in order and decide what needed mending and what had to be replaced. I would go to Victoria with him, of course, and could purchase some necessities there.

At the bottom of his trunk I found a couple of books and some papers. Fundamentals of Mathematics for Schoolchildren, and Exercises in Elementary Mathematics. Inside one of the books was an envelope, addressed to Mrs. R. Bellgarde. I had not seen it before, and opened it. The letter inside told me that my son was weak in mathematics and should have special tutoring over the summer. The accompanying books would be helpful, it said, and the examination should be administered before his return to school and returned with him. Otherwise, he would have difficulty in keeping up with his form, and might have to be kept back. It was signed by the maths master, a man with whom I had had a serious talk at the end of the winter term. I refolded the letter and returned it to the envelope. Then I went to find Alex.

He and some other boys were on the beach near the main dock, skipping stones, throwing sticks for assorted dogs, and waiting for something interesting to happen in the last half-hour before it was time to go home.

I cut Alex out of the herd and took him to the end of the dock for a private chat. Taking the envelope from my pocket, I held it out to him. “Why didn’t you tell me about this when you first got home, in June?” I asked.

He looked at his feet, looked at the water, looked longingly back at the other boys. “I forgot,” he said, finally.

“Forgot. Completely?”

“Well, at first there was lots of time. Weeks and weeks. So when I remembered, I thought I’d tell you the next day. Or the day after. Then I really forgot.”

“So what do you think we should do? Do you think you could pass this test?”

“You mean now?” The look on his face was answer enough.

I felt sorry for him, but I was annoyed too. If he had given me the letter at the beginning of the holidays, as intended, I could easily have found someone to tutor him. A teacher looking for a little extra money and a holiday from the city, perhaps. But now? I looked at the questions on the test paper. Most of them were problems of the sort that involve a train and a horse traveling toward each other at different speeds, and how long would it be before they meet? I might be able to work them out, but I was quite certain I wouldn’t be able to explain how I had done it. As for Captain B., it was hopeless. He was no teacher. With the best will in the world all he would do was confuse the boy and reduce him to tears.

The sound of an approaching boat was a welcome distraction.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.