In the Deep End by Pam Harvey Read Free Book Online Page A

can turn the paper over and start.’
    Hannah stared at her paper as though she thought it might fly away. Angus rolled the edge of his and stared at the box of art materials on the table. E.D. tipped his chair back so it balanced on its two rear legs and gazed at the ceiling like it was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.
    ‘Ready? Forty-five minutes from…now!’ Mr Taylor checked his watch and the room filled with the noise of rustling papers turning over.
    The first section was a series of short questions. Hannah read the first one:
1. Which of the numbers should replace the question mark?
    She studied it for a moment, then circled her answer: B.
    There were five questions like the first one, and then some complicated mazes to find your way out of.
    Hannah glanced over at Angus and E.D. before she started the next section. Angus was reading each question, frowning, and then carefully putting an answer down. E.D. was drawing a picture of a two-stroke engine in the margin of the first page. Hannah shookher head slowly, smiling. Then she read the next bit.
In an athletics contest between the army, the navy and the air force, each team entered three athletes in a particular race. The winning athlete scored eight points, the runner-up seven, third place six, and so on down to none for last place.
    Once the race was run, the judges needed a photograph to separate the first two army men to finish. A member of the navy’s team finished last. When the points were totalled, all three teams were found to have the same score.
    Find by team the order in which the nine athletes finished.
    The smile nearly left Hannah’s face. It took her a while to answer but at last she wrote: Navy—first, fifth, ninth. Air force—second, sixth, seventh. Army—third, fourth and eighth.
    After that, there were words to put meanings to. Hannah started smiling again. Not a problem, she thought as she worked her way through them.
    That left only the model to build. There was a choice of things to copy: Uluru, the Opera House or the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
    Shame it isn’t a motorbike, thought Hannah, glancing again at E.D. who was flicking spit balls at the boy in front of him. Or the Flemington grandstand, she thought, looking at Angus who was staring horrified at the question about the athletes.
    At thirty minutes, Hannah was almost done. She’d chosen the Opera House, and her model wasn’t bad. At least it didn’t look like either the Harbour Bridge or Uluru. She took a break, stretching her arms in front of her. Most people still had their heads down, concentrating hard. Dave Kelly had a trace of sweat on his forehead. Sarah Townsend looked as though she was going to be sick. Angus had his head so close to the page she wondered how he was reading anything. E.D. had turned his paper over and, to Hannah’s surprise, was reading the book on deserts he’d found earlier.
    At thirty-five minutes, Angus pushed his chair back and stood up. He looked at Hannah and shrugged. ‘Got to go and help Dad with the young horses,’ he muttered, and walked up to the front, handed in his paper and disappeared.
    E.D. was staring out the window when he saw Angus walk past. He leapt up, crashed his chair over, picked it up noisily, rushed to the front,gave his empty paper to an astonished Mr Taylor, and raced outside. Hannah saw them go and shook her head. They don’t realise how serious this is, she thought, putting the finishing touch to the Opera House.
    At forty-four minutes, Mr Taylor cleared his throat to warn everyone that time was nearly up. A minute later, he tapped his hand on the table. ‘That’s it, everyone!’
    Hannah stared at her paper intently. She’d gone over it twice. She’d done all she could to the Opera House. There was nothing she wanted to change. It was all pretty good, she thought. She smiled as she handed her paper and the model to Mr Taylor. He didn’t smile back. In fact he frowned slightly as if he didn’t really like