By JOY COWLEY
Brian swam to the opposite bank and back again. Under the willows the river was black and cold against his sunburnt skin. He couldn't touch the bottom.
Further away, the water came out from its green cover and spread over stones, shallow and noisy, full of sunlight,
but this was the best swimming hole.
A dozen laps and his arms pimpled with the cold. He climbed out, tied his towel round his waist and carried his clothes up the slope to the cowyard where he dressed in the sun.
The concrete was so hot that his wet footprints shrank and dried in seconds. Before he'd buttoned his shirt, he was sweating again.
His parents were in town for the day. They'd been so apologetic and insistent about leaving him behind, that he guessed they were planning to buy him a birthday present.
He would be eighteen in two days time. They'd probably be going from one shop to another, arguing in their slow, serious way, looking for something that was at once birthday present, consolation prize and bribe, a gift designed to solve all problems.
Actually, he had only two problems but they were big enough to fill his life. He'd failed Bursary and he couldn't get a job.
Publisher: Scholastic
Price: $13.95
Age group: 10-13 years
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