Billy Mack's War Read Online Free

It was addressed to Master Daniel Snell, Student, St Lawrence’s School. There was no stamp. He turned it over. There was no sender’s address either.
    Caleb leaned over. ‘Who’s it from?’
    Danny shrugged. ‘I guess I’m about to find out.’ He tore the letter open.
    Dear Daniel,
    On reflection I realise that I was a little hard on you the other day, and I would very much like to make things right.
    I appreciate that this is not entirely regular, but I feel very strongly that we must meet, or at least talk. Once you’ve shown this letter to your father and gained his permission, you might like to give me a call. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll accept that the matter is at an end. However, if you could get in touch I’d be most grateful.
    Yours sincerely,
    William McAuliffe
    His phone number was written at the bottom of the page.
    â€˜Well? Who’s it from?’ Caleb asked again.
    Danny could barely believe what he was reading. He read through the letter again, more slowly this time, and examined the signature closely. ‘It’s from him. It’s from Captain Mack’s son.’
    Caleb rolled his eyes. ‘Great, what does he want now? Is there something else of his that you’ve got?’
    â€˜No, of course not. He wants to talk to me, that’s all.’
    â€˜About what?’
    â€˜I don’t know, do I?’
    â€˜You don’t think he wants to give the medal back to you? Maybe he’s thought about it and decided —’
    Danny shook his head. ‘No, it’s nothing like that. He says he just wants to talk to me. Here, read it for yourself.’
    Caleb took the letter. ‘Do you want to talk to him ?’ he asked when he’d finished reading.
    â€˜I’ll ask Dad what he thinks.’
    â€˜Well, I think he wants to give you a reward,’ Caleb said.
    â€˜You would,’ Danny replied.
    Dad took the letter and read it all the way through to the end. ‘Well then, you’d better give him a call, hadn’t you?’ He handed it back to Danny.
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜Because he’s asked you to, Dan, why else?’ Dad poured boiling water into his mug. ‘It’s just polite.’
    â€˜But what do you think he wants?’
    â€˜It could be anything at all, couldn’t it? Maybe he wants to apologise, which is how it sounds to me. The letter’s certainly got a very apologetic tone to it.’
    â€˜And you don’t mind if I call him?’
    â€˜Of course I don’t mind. He’s been perfectly up-front about this, so I don’t see what he’s got to hide.’
    Danny took a deep breath. ‘Could you call him first?’ he asked. ‘Just to … you know …’
    Dad grinned. Then, still smiling, he shook his head. ‘You can make the call, Dan.’
    â€˜What will I say?’
    â€˜That’s up to you, mate. Do you want to see him?’
    Danny stared at the letter. He was looking straight at the words, but they weren’t making a lot of sense any more. ‘I don’t know.’
    â€˜I’ll tell you what. Just ring him up, talk to him, see if he gives you a hint.’
    Danny nodded. ‘All right. But I’m a bit nervous, Dad.’
    â€˜I know,’ Dad replied. ‘But are you more nervous than you were when you took the medal back last week? Or when you helped Captain Mack run away to begin with?’
    â€˜No, I was heaps nervous then!’
    Dad winked and tapped the letter with his finger. ‘Make the call, Dan. And before you hang up, I want to talk to him.’
    Danny rubbed his cheek. He could feel his hands beginning to sweat. ‘All right, here I go.’ He sighed as he stood up.
    â€˜You’ll be fine,’ said Dad. ‘I’ll be right here drinking my coffee.’
    Danny went into the hallway and picked up the phone. He wiped his palms on the legs of his pants before dialling