said.
Jasper nodded. ‘I’m not really surprised,’ he said. ‘Of course, it’s very unusual for us to take any new student at this point of the year, but his parents are having severe personal problems at the moment, which are apparently not helped by their son being at home and getting under their feet. Joshua was not due here until September,’ he added.
Suddenly the rugged features were dark with distaste as he went on. ‘In my view, vulnerable children are not things, to be put in convenient boxes at given times.’ He paused and leaned back in his chair. ‘But, after thinking long and hard about it, I decided that being here was perhaps the kindest option for him—and Matron and his House Mistress are well aware of his particular problem.’
‘Well, that probably does explain quite a lot,’ Ria said. She paused. ‘And it doesn’t help that he is so much smaller than the rest of his year.’ She didn’t want to confess that seeing Josh, with his brown eyes looking at her pensively through rather large thick-framed spectacles, had made her want to gather him up in her arms.
‘None of the others have been getting at him, have they?’ Jasper said suddenly. ‘No bullying, I hope?’
‘Not that I’ve seen,’ Ria said, hesitating for a moment before going on. ‘Though there is something that’s really bothering him.’ She paused. ‘It’s about the tennis tournament.’
‘What about it?’
‘A couple of boys have told him that anyone refusing to take part will be severely punished.’
‘Rubbish,’ Jasper said flatly. ‘It’s certainly true that we encourage everyone to participate because it creates team spirit, with House against House, and as a school we believe that competition exposes talent and breeds excellence.’ His mouth twisted slightly as he recalled the battles, masquerading as games of tennis, which he and Carl had fought in their youth, matching each other, shot for shot, each deadly serious and determined to win. He glanced across at Ria. ‘But punishing those who really do not want to take part is a fiction,’ he said.
Ria was relieved. ‘I didn’t believe it,’ she said, ‘but Josh does. So I’ll be able to put his mind at rest about that, at least.’
Jasper looked across at her thoughtfully. ‘You’ve obviously gained his confidence very quickly, Ria,’ he said.
‘Well, he does stay behind for a few moments after class, and we have a little chat,’ Ria admitted. ‘He told me that he’s never enjoyed anything to do with sport—to the annoyance and regret of his father, apparently.’
Jasper tilted his head to one side briefly. ‘Joshua is certainly a very academic child,’ he said. ‘His grasp of mathematics is awesome, I believe—so he probably prefers to grapple with complex theorems rather than hitting balls over nets, or anywhere else, for that matter.’
‘He told me he was often expected to play tennis for hours on end, and hated every minute of it,’ Ria went on. ‘Couldn’t see the point of it at all. Consequently, he was always rubbish at it—his words.’ She smiled, pausing. ‘The thing is—he’s afraid of looking a wimp in front of all the others when he misses the shots all the time or, worse, if he asks to be given dispensation.’
Jasper’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully, then, after a moment, ‘Um…well…I think we can fix that easily enough,’ he said. He leaned forward to scribble something down on the pad in front of him. ‘Joshua can be one of the umpires,’ he said. ‘At least in the early heats. He obviously knows the game through and through, so there’ll be no question of him getting the scoring wrong.’ He smiled suddenly. ‘It’ll make him feel very superior to be sitting up there above everyone else—a job usually given to the older students, but that’s not an unbreakable rule. Joshua can take his turn at doing the honours as well this time.’
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
