Hope Farm by Peggy Frew Read Free Book Online Page A

extra meaning.
    â€˜It’s brutal ,’ he said, as we sat on the damp grass, the pile of balls between us. ‘Just brutal . But it always has been. I’m pretty tough, you know. I might not look strong, but I’ve got resilience.’ He took an apple from his pocket, bit into it, and spoke wetly. ‘They’re just brutes , Dean Price and his … cronies . When they can’t understand something, they just stomp on it. I’ve been getting stomped on for eight years now, but they’ll never truly crush me. Because I —’ he made a sudden, rattling noise and began to cough.
    Timidly, I reached out and banged with the heel of my hand between his shoulder blades. The knobs of his spine were sharp through his jumper. He nodded, still coughing, and I banged harder.
    â€˜Okay, okay. Enough.’ He held up a hand. ‘Thank you.’ He cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. ‘Where was I?’
    â€˜They’ll never truly crush you.’
    â€˜Oh, yes. They’ll never truly crush me because I —’ he looked intently at me with his still-watery eyes. ‘You’re going to need to know all this,’ he said.
    â€˜I know.’
    â€˜I have strategies .’ He leaned back on one elbow and gestured with the other hand. ‘Three main ones. The first is avoidance . Simple. Keep out of their way. Know the safe places. Know their movements and plan yours accordingly.’
    â€˜Where are the safe places?’
    He held up a finger. ‘I’ll get to those. But first, the other strategies. The next is resilience . You can’t always hide. There will be situations in which you are unable to.’ He paused for a moment and his face darkened. ‘Phys Ed,’ he said, in a terse voice. ‘Changing rooms. Toilets.’
    â€˜I know what you mean.’
    He heaved a sigh. ‘It’s unavoidable. And when they find you, you just have to endure. Don’t provoke them. Don’t fight back. Just put your head down and wait for them to tire of you.’
    I swallowed. This school sounded rough.
    Ian was looking at me earnestly. ‘You think that’s cowardly? You think I’m weak , not fighting back?’
    â€˜Oh no. I —’
    He spoke over me. ‘I’m a realist,’ he said. ‘I plan to survive, and move on. I have no desire to enter their primitive battles, to engage with them on their level.’
    â€˜I didn’t —’
    He went on, finger upheld. ‘And now for the third tactic. This one is equally as important as the first two, in fact it’s crucial , because it preserves morale.’
    I waited.
    â€˜Revenge.’ He smiled. ‘Revenge is very important. Without revenge, you go under.’
    We both looked at the heap of balls.
    â€˜Yes,’ said Ian. ‘That’s what the balls are for. I have taken something from Dean Price, and I can revel in the knowledge that I have caused him some suffering.’
    I smiled.
    â€˜But,’ he went on. ‘You must be as vigilant in carrying out your revenge as you are in practising your avoidance. You must plan, and use stealth . You must never take risks. It is absolutely not worth it.’ He reached out and picked up the soggy cricket ball. ‘Dean Price will never know why his precious balls keep disappearing. And that’s important for two reasons: one, my relative safety is assured, because if he was ever to find out it was me that was taking them he would quite possibly actually kill me; and two, the thought of his ongoing anguish makes my revenge so much more delicious .’ For the second time he tried to toss the ball and catch it again, and for the second time he missed. It rolled to nestle with the others. ‘I like to picture his face,’ he said, ‘as he tries to figure it out. The cogs in his head slowly crunching round.’
    I tried to smile politely. But I had a vision of Dean Price,