Chapter Five A Nice Time to be Coming Home; Mr Strap and the School Thumbscrews, Stocks, and Gallows; and The Rawleighs Man.After a big breakfast of two burnt crumbs of toast and half an empty eggshell, Billy put on his school bag and set off to walk to school in Waharoa. “Come wind come rain!” cried his beautiful stepmother. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror, and danced widdershins around the kitchen.Wind off the Kaimais rolled Billy down to the Waihou River. There was no bridge in those days, so he tried to swim across. Rain fell, the river flooded, and the water was filled with floating thistles and gorse bushes.In his school bag, Billy had the balloon he’d found with his mother’s book. He had only just turned five the day before, but he was pretty quick-witted. He stuck his head inside his school bag and blew up the balloon in there, where it couldn’t be popped by thistles and gorse. He tied a knot in the end, did up the buckles so the balloon couldn’t get out, put his feet through the shoulder strap, sat on top, and tried to paddle across with a fence batten.
What do You think about Billy And Old Smoko (2012)?
