Even more to Noah’s surprise, Danny Gibbs gave in. “Oh, go on then,” he said grudgingly. “You can mark Bas, as he seems to think you’re so good now. Oh – and Noah’s Ark – keep up with us, yeah?”
“Yeah, sure. No problem. Oh – and Gibbsy?”
“What?” The Under-11s captain turned once more, impatient to begin.
“Stop calling me Noah’s Ark. My name’s Noah. Just plain Noah. Yeah?”
And he turned, happily, and ran off to join Basil.
When the bell went to mark the end of the lunch break, Noah and Jack started to head back to the classroom. There was some kind of commotion going on in the far corner of the playground, and as they drew closer they could see Pigface surrounded by a jeering group of three or four older boys from Danny Gibbs’s class.
“Yo, Pigface!” Noah heard them say. “Beg for them! Beg!”
The tallest of the boys was holding Pigface’s glasses high above his head, waggling them around as they all jeered at him. “Beg! Beg!”
Then the boy with the glasses held them out in front of him, as if he was about to drop them on the ground. The chant turned to “Smash, Smash!” while Pigface just stood there, half-blind without his specs, blinking and screwing his face up and looking small and scared and defenceless.
Noah was filled with a huge surging feeling that roared in his head like the surf buffeting the shore. It drove him forwards, towards the boys with Pigface in their midst. “Leave him alone!” he bellowed.
Jack tried to hold Noah back. “Don’t!” he gasped. “They’re bigger than you! There’s four of them! They’ll kill you!”
But Noah carried on, heedless of Jack. So what if there were four of them? Hadn’t he just stood up to Danny Gibbs, Under-11s football captain and bully, and won? “They can’t take his specs away!” he exclaimed. “He can’t see a thing without them! It’s just not fair! Leave him alone!” he yelled again. “Give him his specs back!”
He felt strong, invincible – capable of anything. There was no doubt in his mind that the boys would do as he said, and sure enough they did. They handed Pigface his glasses and sidled off, muttering; although to be fair Noah suspected it had as much to do with Mr Carstairs, who was on duty, bellowing across the playground at them to get cracking and into class.
“Noah was brilliant,” Jack said afterwards, full of admiration, to anyone who would listen. “He shouted at them to give Pigface his specs back, and they did, just like that! I thought they were going to batter him.”
“So did I,” Pigface admitted. “I thought he was dead meat.”
“I didn’t,” Noah declared, still full of bravado. “They wouldn’t have dared. Not with Sir around.”
“It was still brave of you,” said Basil unexpectedly. “I was bullied at my last school, and nobody ever stuck up for me.”
They all stared at him.
“You were bullied?” said Jack.
“You?” said Noah, in amazement.
“Yup,” said Basil. “Me.”
“But why?”
Basil shrugged. “Who knows? Don’t know, don’t care. I just hope it never happens again.”
“Blimey,” said Pigface, in wonderment.
“You,” said Noah again.
“Bullied,” said Jack.
They all looked at each other slowly, all four of them.
“Anyway,” said Basil, “it’s over now.”
“Yeah,” said Pigface quietly. “But thanks for sticking up for me, Noah. Nobody’s ever done that before.”
“Don’t be daft.” Noah beamed at him. Who’d have thought standing up for someone would have made him feel so good?
“Look,” Basil said suddenly, “why don’t you all come over to my place sometime? We can play on the computer – I’ve got some wicked new games.”
“All of us?” said Noah.
“All of you,” Basil said firmly. “I want to be friends with you all. I’ve only ever wanted that. You can’t have too many friends, in my opinion.”
Noah still wasn’t sure about being friends with Basil. But he was clearly trying to make an effort, so perhaps Noah should as well. “OK,” he said. “Thanks.”
“What about me?” asked Pigface in a very small voice. “Am I invited too?”
Basil looked at him, and then smiled. “’Course you are, Pigface. The more the merrier.”
Pigface opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it again. Noah’s eyes met his. All that had happened over the past couple of days passed through his mind, like a video on fast-forward: the farm, the cows and the sheep, and the sows with their piglets. Helping Sid with the Land-Rover and the fan belt. Kim and Jess, barking and snarling at him like mad creatures, and how terrified he’d felt, and then Pigface’s calm, masterful voice commanding them to lie down and be quiet.
And then today. Finding the courage to tell Gibbsy not to call him Noah’s Ark, and Pigface’s specs being held tauntingly out of his reach to the jeers of the older boys, and how terrified he’d looked. They had both been afraid, of different things, and they had rescued each other, Noah realized. Helped each other out. Like friends do.
Noah took a deep breath. “Listen,” he said. “There’s something I want to say. I think we should stop calling him Pigface.”
The others looked at him in astonishment.
“Stop calling him Pigface?” Jack said.
“But why?” Basil asked, puzzled. “He’s always been Pigface, hasn’t he? Doesn’t he like it any more?”
Noah turned to Pigface – he was looking at the floor, his face pink. He was too shy and too embarrassed about making a fuss to speak up for himself. So Noah did it for him.
“No,” he said, “he doesn’t like it. He never has. And I don’t blame him. I mean, would you want to be called Pigface?”
“So what do we call him, then?” Basil asked.
“I think we should ask him,” said Noah. “And I think we should stop talking about him as if he’s not here,” he added.
“OK,” Basil said, nodding reasonably.
“Right,” said Jack. “So what would you like us to call you, then?”
The three of them – Basil, Jack and Noah – looked at Pigface expectantly.
“Harry,” he said, suddenly raising his eyes from the floor and looking right back at them. “You can call me Harry.”
And his eyes met Noah’s again and they both smiled, a tiny secretive little smile that only they understood.
THE END
About the Author
Catherine Robinson has had several books published for older readers, including TIN GRIN and CELIA (Scholastic). PIGFACE is her first book for Random House Children’s Books.
YOUNG CORGI BOOKS
Young Corgi books are perfect when you are looking for great books to read on your own. They are full of exciting stories and entertaining pictures. There are funny books, scary books, spine-tingling stories and mysterious ones. Whatever your interests you’ll find something in Young Corgi to suit you: from families to football, from animals to ghosts. The books are written by some of the most famous and popular of today’s children’s authors, and by some of the best new talents, too.
Whether you read one chapter a night, or devour the whole book in one sitting, you’ll love Young Corgi books. The more you read, the more you’ll want to read!
Other Young Corgi books to get your teeth into
Black Queen by Michael Morpurgo
Sink or Swim by Ghillian Potts
The Shrimp by Emily Smith
For more information on Catherine Robinson
visit www.catherinerobinsonbooks.co.uk
PIGFACE
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 19751 4
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Penguin Random House Company
This ebook edition published 2015
Copyright © Catherine Robinson, 2002
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br /> Illustrations copyright © Sam Hearn, 2002
First Published in Great Britain
Young Corgi 9780552548601 2015
The right of Catherine Robinson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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