The Secret Dog by Joe Friedman Read Free Book Online Page B

before,’ his uncle began. ‘If you don’t get better grades, you’ll never have any choices in life. I didn’t do well at school and when I was eighteen all I could do was work on my father’s croft.’
    This didn’t seem so bad to Josh. He liked their life, though it was hard work at times.
    ‘You have to improve these grades,’ his uncle continued. ‘Which means you’ll have to spend less time on the commons. Until your grades improve, you’ll need to come home after school and study.’
    Involuntarily, Josh drew in a deep breath. If he wasn’t allowed to go on the commons, he couldn’t complete Reggae’s training. And if he couldn’t complete her training he couldn’t participate in the Gathering and Reggae would have to stay secret another year!
    He absolutely couldn’t let Calum continue in this line of thinking!
    ‘That won’t be necessary,’ Josh said, with a calmness he didn’t feel, ‘Yvonne, the vet’s daughter, has agreed to tutor me in maths and English.’
    Josh’s uncle tilted his head. ‘Yvonne? I’ve heard she’s very clever.’
    ‘She’s the best in my classes,’ Josh agreed.
    Suddenly, Uncle Calum became suspicious. ‘You haven’t mentioned Yvonne before  . . . ’
    ‘She helped me rescue a bird a while ago,’ Josh replied. He searched frantically through his mind for what he knew about Yvonne’s schedule. ‘She can tutor me after school one day a week, and another I can go to her house before dinner.’
    ‘You’ve already discussed this?’ Calum asked.
    ‘Absolutely,’ Josh lied. Reggae’s future was at stake.
    ‘Won’t we have to pay her?’
    ‘She offered to help. She could see I was having trouble with the Shakespeare play we’re doing.’
    Uncle Calum hesitated. ‘I don’t see how she’ll have time for all this. I often see her out with her father doing his rounds. I’ll have a word with him. I’ll see him next Wednesday at the Forestry Trust meeting. If it’s all right with him, then we’ll see if this is enough to improve your grades. But if it doesn’t, you’ll have to stay in after school. I’ll write to the school to ask for them to give you extra homework.’
    Josh didn’t see that why it was necessary to go
that
far. But he said, ‘That’s fair. I’m sure it will make a difference.’
    He’d have to ask Yvonne before Wednesday. He was pretty confident she’d agree to tutor him. But even if she did, he wasn’t sure anything could help him at school.
    But at least this bought him enough time to finish Reggae’s training. Which was all that mattered.
    ‘I’ll tidy up,’ Josh said.
    ‘Are you sure? It’s my turn.’
    ‘You read the paper.’
    Josh cleared the table and set to work washing up. His uncle retired to his favourite armchair. Josh scraped the leftovers into a bowl and then added the water from the vegetables and the fat from the lamb steaks. This would make a special treat for Reggae tomorrow morning. This was why he didn’t mind doing more than his share of tidying.
    ‘What’s that?’ Calum’s voice cut into his reverie. He’d come into the kitchen with his empty mug.
    ‘Leftovers.’
    ‘I can
see
that. Why are you collecting them?’
    Josh hesitated for a moment. A half-truth, he thought.
    ‘It’s for a wounded animal I’ve rescued,’ he said.
    ‘I’ve seen you coming out of the shed at the far end of the field, near the woods. Do you keep them there?’
    Josh’s knees almost gave way. His uncle
had
noticed him going to the shed. He willed his voice to stay steady. ‘I’ve fitted it out as a field hospital.’
    Calum chuckled and said warmly. ‘A field hospital. I should have guessed.’
    He handed him the mug and returned to the kitchen. Josh tried to get control of his breathing. He’d done the best he could under the circumstances. He didn’t like lying to Calum. But he – and Reggae – were now in greater danger of discovery. Calum could drop by any time to see the animals in the ‘field