A bullet of chalk whizzed down the aisle and connected with the ear of the dozing Hugo Ow Zanzibar sir Once long ago Hugo had been right with the answer Zanzibar and he lived in hope of repeating his victory No you booby-brained mutton-head Otherjack Otherjack stood up Two roads lay before him and both led to trouble Give the wrong answer and Mr Bane might reach the end of his rope and get out the strap Mr Bane had a very short rope Answer the question correctly and Edwin the late-night basher would get him after dark Ah well Otherjack said to himself Better the trouble that lies around the corner than the trouble staring you in the face The purpose of snow is to keep plants warm in winter and to brighten our gloomy evenings sir Correct Mr Bane sounded disappointed He turned his pale blue eyes to the book in his hand Little Truths for the Instruction of Boys What is the purpose of A timid knock at the door saved the boys from further little truths Enter
A small warty boy put his head around the door Otherjack to Dr Keen sir
Otherjack stood up looking calm as a pudding
Breathing stopped all over the room A summons to the headmaster could cause many a stomach to come loose from its moorings Otherjack’s friend Marcus sitting in the desk behind him gave him a sympathetic punch between the shoulder blades Edwin abandoned his plans for a bashing But Otherjack stood up looking calm as a pudding Otherjack was the king of staying out of trouble In all his twelve years in all the twelve years he had lived at the Opportunities School for Orphans and Foundlings he had never once been flogged Otherjack had skipped over trouble danced around trouble slid under trouble melted away from trouble talked his way out of trouble and slipped between two close troubles like a cat through a picket fence He did not mean to break his record now He walked down the hall toward the headmaster’s study running his finger along the mustard-colored wall and breathing deeply to keep his stomach in place The ghost smells of years of boiled turnip dinners kept pace with him He sifted through his list of useful words Trepidation that was it Like fear but less so He came to the headmaster’s door so smooth and shiny
