‘Not
only is the work ex-ceptionally hard,’ he continued, with savage emphasis, ‘but
there’s a huge amount of it. When I say huge, I mean huge as in colossal .
Most boys can’t keep up. And I’m talking about the clever ones. I don’t want to
discourage you but I really don’t see how you could possibly cope. You’d be
miserable at Glastonbury. Take my advice and go to some other school where the
academic standards are not so high.’
Arthur looked at his brother
enviously. ‘I wish I was clever like you.’
‘Well, you’re not,’ said Keir.
‘But that’s life. Men are not born equal. We can’t all be clever.’
That little mole of thought
burrowed around the top of Arthur’s nose. ‘If I was to start doing my homework
. . . ’
‘If I were to start
doing my homework.’ Keir wagged a
reproachful forefinger at
Arthur. ‘There, you see. How can you expect to get on in life if you don’t know
your grammar?’
‘What did I say wrong?’
‘You should have used the
subjunctive.’ ‘Is the subjunctive important, then?’
Keir’s lip curled. ‘Of course
it is, ignoramus. What kind of question is that?’
‘If I were to do my
homework,’ said Arthur carefully, ‘do
you think I could get into
Glastonbury?’ Like a hungry dog, his eyes feasted on Keir’s face, pleading for
a titbit.
Keir kept his kid brother
waiting. Opportunities like this were not to be squandered. ‘I tell you what,’
he said.
‘Yes?’ said Arthur eagerly.
‘If you were to study really hard.’
‘Yes?’
‘If you were to do your homework every
day.’ ‘Yes?’
‘If you were to stop dreaming.’ ‘Yes?’
‘And if you were to
start concentrating.’
‘Yes?’ Arthur’s mouth gaped with anticipation.
‘You still wouldn’t have a
cat’s chance in hell of passing the entrance exam.’ Keir writhed on his back,
shrieking with mocking laughter, bicycling his legs ecstatically in the air.
Overwhelmed by a profound sense of inadequacy, Arthur threw chunks of grass in
the water and watched them drift downstream with his hopes.
But Keir was wrong; Arthur
passed the Glastonbury entrance exam; what’s more, he passed it easily. Hector
was astonished, Elizabeth not at all. Arthur was happy about it, though perhaps
less surprised than might have been expected. When Keir came home for the Easter
vacation, he took his revenge on Arthur by being even more superior and
patronising than ever. No amount of tender loving care from his parents could
reconcile him to the fact that Arthur would be joining him at Glastonbury.
Would he never be free of the little wretch? Elizabeth did her best to reassure
him. ‘It will be alright. You’ll always be in a higher form than Arthur. You’re
a year older than he is, and that’s one thing that will never change.’ True
enough, but small consolation for Keir.
It was not long before he
picked a fight with Arthur and gave him a black eye. When Hector asked him how
he got it Arthur said he had walked into a door. Hector knew differently and
wanted to confront Keir, but Elizabeth persuaded him not to interfere. ‘It will
only make things worse.’
‘Then how do we stop him
bullying Arthur?’ he asked, and was surprised at his wife’s response e.
‘It’s not up to us. It’s up to
Arthur to stop him.’ Hector looked doubtful. ‘He’ll never do that.’ ‘When he’s
ready he will.’
Secretly Elizabeth doubted the
wisdom of sending both boys to the same school. As a mother, she understood
Keir’s chronic jealousy of his younger brother, and it troubled her to see his
pain. It troubled her conscience too, for if Keir was the child of her womb,
Arthur was the child of her heart.
Ten
2004
The cottage was half a mile from the
shore. The only other indication that there was, or ever had been, human life
on this barren island, were two ramshackle barns open to the sky, the ruins of
an ancient castle, and an abandoned lighthouse at the end of a rocky
only is the work ex-ceptionally hard,’ he continued, with savage emphasis, ‘but
there’s a huge amount of it. When I say huge, I mean huge as in colossal .
Most boys can’t keep up. And I’m talking about the clever ones. I don’t want to
discourage you but I really don’t see how you could possibly cope. You’d be
miserable at Glastonbury. Take my advice and go to some other school where the
academic standards are not so high.’
Arthur looked at his brother
enviously. ‘I wish I was clever like you.’
‘Well, you’re not,’ said Keir.
‘But that’s life. Men are not born equal. We can’t all be clever.’
That little mole of thought
burrowed around the top of Arthur’s nose. ‘If I was to start doing my homework
. . . ’
‘If I were to start
doing my homework.’ Keir wagged a
reproachful forefinger at
Arthur. ‘There, you see. How can you expect to get on in life if you don’t know
your grammar?’
‘What did I say wrong?’
‘You should have used the
subjunctive.’ ‘Is the subjunctive important, then?’
Keir’s lip curled. ‘Of course
it is, ignoramus. What kind of question is that?’
‘If I were to do my
homework,’ said Arthur carefully, ‘do
you think I could get into
Glastonbury?’ Like a hungry dog, his eyes feasted on Keir’s face, pleading for
a titbit.
Keir kept his kid brother
waiting. Opportunities like this were not to be squandered. ‘I tell you what,’
he said.
‘Yes?’ said Arthur eagerly.
‘If you were to study really hard.’
‘Yes?’
‘If you were to do your homework every
day.’ ‘Yes?’
‘If you were to stop dreaming.’ ‘Yes?’
‘And if you were to
start concentrating.’
‘Yes?’ Arthur’s mouth gaped with anticipation.
‘You still wouldn’t have a
cat’s chance in hell of passing the entrance exam.’ Keir writhed on his back,
shrieking with mocking laughter, bicycling his legs ecstatically in the air.
Overwhelmed by a profound sense of inadequacy, Arthur threw chunks of grass in
the water and watched them drift downstream with his hopes.
But Keir was wrong; Arthur
passed the Glastonbury entrance exam; what’s more, he passed it easily. Hector
was astonished, Elizabeth not at all. Arthur was happy about it, though perhaps
less surprised than might have been expected. When Keir came home for the Easter
vacation, he took his revenge on Arthur by being even more superior and
patronising than ever. No amount of tender loving care from his parents could
reconcile him to the fact that Arthur would be joining him at Glastonbury.
Would he never be free of the little wretch? Elizabeth did her best to reassure
him. ‘It will be alright. You’ll always be in a higher form than Arthur. You’re
a year older than he is, and that’s one thing that will never change.’ True
enough, but small consolation for Keir.
It was not long before he
picked a fight with Arthur and gave him a black eye. When Hector asked him how
he got it Arthur said he had walked into a door. Hector knew differently and
wanted to confront Keir, but Elizabeth persuaded him not to interfere. ‘It will
only make things worse.’
‘Then how do we stop him
bullying Arthur?’ he asked, and was surprised at his wife’s response e.
‘It’s not up to us. It’s up to
Arthur to stop him.’ Hector looked doubtful. ‘He’ll never do that.’ ‘When he’s
ready he will.’
Secretly Elizabeth doubted the
wisdom of sending both boys to the same school. As a mother, she understood
Keir’s chronic jealousy of his younger brother, and it troubled her to see his
pain. It troubled her conscience too, for if Keir was the child of her womb,
Arthur was the child of her heart.
Ten
2004
The cottage was half a mile from the
shore. The only other indication that there was, or ever had been, human life
on this barren island, were two ramshackle barns open to the sky, the ruins of
an ancient castle, and an abandoned lighthouse at the end of a rocky
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