"ALISTAIR!" I tried to block his voice out "ALISTAIR!" but the booming words penetrated my pillow and found my ears. "ALISTAIR!" I groaned and climbed out of bed, I knew it was no use ignoring it as if I did he would simply come upstairs. As I came out onto the landing I could already see him at the bottom of the stairs, arms folded and eyebrows drawn in tight.
"Alistair," he said ominously "Is it true what I've been hearing from school?" he continued when I said nothing. "That you've been playing a truant again and haven't handed a single piece of homework in?" I looked at my feet and nodded, to scared to make eye contact with him. "Look at me boy!" he yelled. I looked up, his face was livid with anger so much so that I could almost feel it oozing out of his skin into to hallway. "Get down here now and go stand outside" he barely whispered.
I went down the stairs and out the back door. I could hear him follow me out the door. I heard him close the door. Then I heard him snap a branch off a tree. I was going to get it good tonight.
I woke up the next morning to sunlight streaming through my window. I could feel my body throbbing with pain. I crawled out of bed to get ready for school. I could barely move but I knew I'd be in for it if I didn't go into school today, but I also knew I couldn't face it. Not with Mr Hill making us do circuits and giving us the cane if we stopped and Mr Smith teaching us arithmetic. I would be sent out for my "Appalling long division and attitude to arithmetic" again which my father would then find out about. Lunch time wouldn't be any better either, not with Henry Mason patrolling the playground. I would have my sandwiches stolen again after he'd given me a black eye, again. No, there was no way I was going back to school. I sat on the edge of my bed wondering what to do. I remembered hearing about the sea at school and how some young boys go to be cabin boys on ships. As soon as the thought entered my head I knew what I was going to do. I got changed into my uniform as they were the best clothes I had, but I packed my other clothes into my school satchel. I also put my pen knife and wooden carving of an angle my mother had made me before she died into the satchel. I took one last look around my room, at my bed and my cupboard, before creeping down the stairs. I breathed a sigh of relief when I closed the door softly behind me, my father still snoring in his bed.
The morning was crisp and my uniform did little to keep me warm. I walked through the back streets out of town towards the road to the sea. As I came out of the town I found myself surrounded by fields and trees, the greenness appeared to stretch on forever. As I walked along I saw a gypsy camp in a nearby field. Two boys my own age were playing with a catapult, firing them at dented tin cans on a log. They were laughing as they both missed and hit someone's clean washing that was hanging out between two nearby trees. I began to ponder about what it would be like to live with them; to be able to have someone to talk to and have fun with.
My thoughts were abruptly interrupted as a carriage tore past flinging me into the hedgerow. As I lay in the hedge I could hear people, I couldn't quite make out what they were saying but they sounded worried. It was only as a face appeared in front of me that I realised they were probably talking about me. I saw the person's lips move but no sound appeared to be coming out. A hand moved across my face, once, twice, three times. I blinked. The face immediately looked relieved. The person's lips moved again and then I felt hands prise me out of the hedge and carry me.
I watched as the persons face changed to three faces; then there were no faces, just the sky as I was carried somewhere. After awhile I could smell fish cooking and I noticed the smell was getting stronger. Eventually the sky disappeared and a canvas ceiling replaced it. The people placed me down on a bed and promptly disappeared.
I tried to look around but every time I tried to move or sit up I felt a sharp pain rip through me. I decided to make do with what I could see or feel from where I was. I could feel the mattress under me was scratchy, made of straw I presumed. The ceiling above me was steep white canvas with a gas lantern hanging from the centre. From my peripheral vision I could see the entrance was about five metres away, outside was a maze of tents and brightly coloured caravans. Inside I could see an open trunk; it was full of clothes which poured out onto the floor. There was a huge variety of clothes from threadbare linen long johns to purple velvet jackets with brass buttons. I wondered who would need or want such a variety of garments.
Outside I could see some people coming towards the entrance. They stopped just outside and began talking to each other. I could see that there were two gentlemen and a lady. The lady was wearing a long maroon dress with a white pinafore; her long brown hair was tied back in a bun and covered by a blue scarf. One of the gentlemen wore a long scarlet jacket, white tights, black polished shoes with a brass buckle and a top hat. He was very tall and had a small goatee. The other gentleman looked much younger and was dressed in a small waistcoat, shirt and very ragged trousers. I noticed that he was also barefooted. His face was covered in soot with tangled blond hair all over the place.
He must have said something wrong as the gentleman in the long jacket reached out and struck him round the head. The gentleman in the long jacket then strode away leaving the younger man on the floor. The lady just shook her head and came into the tent.
She walked over to me and stroked my hair off my face. She then began to talk but all I could hear was a dull mumble. I supposed this was an improvement from earlier when I couldn't hear at all but it still wasn't much use. My head began to throb from trying to decipher what she was saying so I gave up and closed my eyes. I heard another mumbling, which I assumed was her saying something else, followed by the sound of something being dragged across the ground. I opened my eyes again and saw that she had got a chair from somewhere and was now busying herself fixing a hole in a shirt. I took this as permission to go to sleep and so closed my eyes and dreamt of the seaside.