Duncan, hearing all the playground noise stop at once, halted and stood paralysed with fear. He looked frantically around. Every face was staring at him. The only movement was from Gregory, still lurching towards him in that stiff zombie-like walk.
You could almost see the thought spreading across the playground, as everyone remembered all the mean things Duncan had ever done to them. You could almost hear the children thinking, If Gregory can scare Duncan like this – maybe I can, too!
One by one, all the other children in the playground stuck out their arms, and like silent robots, they began their stiff-legged march towards the boy who had made so many playtimes a misery.
“Aaaaaaaaaagggggggh!!!” Duncan screamed again. “Aaaaaaaaaagggggggh!!! Aaaaaaaaaagggggggh!!!”
And he bolted for the school door, and ran inside.
Chapter Seven
A Lousy Way to End a Story
Things were a lot more fun in school after that. Duncan was too scared to go into the playground for about a week, and even when he did go out there again he kept well away from all the other children.
He was much better in class, too. I was tempted from time to time to pop up on somebody’s head and talk to him, but I thought that might be just a bit too cruel.
Life was great for me. Every evening I went home with either Gregory or William; and I spent most playtimes racing around on Lizzy’s head. I never met the mad louse again, though. Perhaps he moved to another head – or maybe the Comb finally found his hiding place . . .
During lessons, I wandered around a bit, leaping from head to head and exploring. And feeding. Some of you were probably hoping this story would end with me becoming a vegetarian or something. Well, forget it. I’m a head-louse! I feed on human blood! I mean, I don’t see you lot feeling sorry for yoghurt, do I?
It’s not as if anyone ever feels it, anyway. But I’m always careful about choosing who I’m going to feed on – I don’t want to find myself unexpectedly telling really bad jokes or falling in love with some dopey pop star. Instead, by eating carefully, I’ve learned to dance, and draw, and – best of all – to read! And I think I could probably play the violin, too, if I could find one small enough.
All in all it was a great life for a head-louse; and I didn’t really see how things could ever get any better. Until the class outing . . .
It was nearly the end of the summer term, and everyone was very excited about the trip. For some reason Gregory, Lizzy and William had done everything they could to make sure I didn’t know where we were going. Even on the coach, Gregory insisted on wearing a baseball cap. It would spoil the surprise, he said, if I found out too soon.
So I sat in the darkness on Gregory’s head, wondering and waiting.
Until the coach stopped and we got off.
“Are you ready?” Gregory asked, taking off his cap.
And I saw it.
It was a ship. A tall, magnificent sailing ship just like the one in William’s book.
Just like the one in Treasure Island.
I stared and stared and stared. It was even more beautiful in real life than I had imagined. I could almost see Jim Hawkins climbing the rigging, helping to make the ship ready to sail to sea.
We went on board.
The ship was a sort of floating museum, to show people what life was like on an old-fashioned sailing ship. The crew – explained the captain, who was showing us around – were mostly teenagers who’d just left school, and they were having the time of their lives. For the last few weeks they’d been sailing around the country, showing the ship to schoolchildren and other visitors, and now they were preparing to go on a long voyage and really learn how to sail the ship properly.
Gregory put his hand up. “Excuse me,” he said, “but will it be a voyage like in Treasure Island?”
The captain nodded. “Just like Treasure Island, young man,” he said, “except without the pirates, I hope!”
Everyone laughed – except Gregory and me. He knew what I was thinking.
“You want to go, don’t you, Jim?” he asked later, when we were up on deck having a look round.
“Yes,” I told him. “Yes, I really do!”
“I think you should,” he said quietly. “Let’s tell William and Lizzy.”
William wasn’t happy about the idea. In fact, he nearly burst into tears. “Jim can’t go!” he said. “He can’t!”
“No, he has to,” said Lizzy. “Don’t you see? Ever since that first day, he’s loved Treasure Island! Remember when you showed him the picture of the sailing ship? This could be his only chance to sail on one! We can’t stop him, William; it wouldn’t be fair!”
“Anyway,” Gregorg added, “he’ll come back. Won’t you, Jim?”
“Of course!” I told them. “The captain said the ship would be back well before Christmas!”
“But how will you find your way back to us?” William insisted. “You don’t know how to read maps!”
“He’ll feed on the navigator, of course!” Gregory said, and we all laughed – a little sadly, because they were going to miss me, and I them. Then I leaped from head to head, telling each of them how much I loved them and what good friends they’d been to me, and promising to come back as soon as I could. And they told me how much they would miss me, and promised to think of me every day. And we all said goodbye.
“Come on,” Lizzy said, “before we change our minds!”
She marched up to a passing crew-member – a tall, skinny boy with red hair – and said to him,
“Excuse me . . . but we’re doing a graph on head sizes. Could you bend down so that we can measure your head?”
So it was that the next morning I found myself high in the rigging, as we set sail for far-away seas. The sun glittered and shone on the sparkling water, the great sails billowed in the wind, the land drifted away behind us.
I felt just like Jim Hawkins.
I missed my friends, but I was so excited about the adventure that lay ahead. I leaped from sailor to sailor experiencing everything that I could, seeing how the whole ship ran. Then, at the end of the first day, I returned to the red-haired crew-member.
“Can we put the light out soon?” asked one of his crew-mates from his bunk.
“In a minute,” the red-haired sailor answered, getting into bed. “I can’t get to sleep unless I read just a little bit first. And I’m really looking forward to this one –it’ll be just right for the voyage.” He settled down in his bunk, took a book out from under his pillow – and my happiness was complete.
It was Treasure Island.
He turned to Chapter One, and we began to read.
The End
About the Author
John Dougherty lives in Gloucestershire. A supply teacher with plenty of experience of classroom activities in primary education, he is also a singer-songwriter with one CD already available – and has appeared on TV when his living room was designed in a Gothic style by Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen. In 2004, he also ran the London Marathon to raise funds for a charity to help children in care.
Also available by John Dougherty, and published by Young Corgi Books:
ZEUS ON THE LOOSE
For more information about John Dougherty: www.visitingauthor.com
NITERACY HOUR
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 446 43097 2
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Young Corgi 9780552550825 2005
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