Through The Storm Read Online Free Page B

going
to start by reading out what activities you will be doing today,
and on the way out, or later on, after your duties you can pick up
the list with your name on to find out what you’re doing the rest
of the week. Keep quiet because I’m not going to shout over your
mutterings. Here we go.” He looked down at his list. “Tennis with
Jane: Susan, Jo, Leah, Patrick”.
    Somebody wolf
whistled at Patrick’s luck, and Nick paused to glare. Silence
returned.
    “ Archery
with Owen: Jack, Maureen and Arthur. Skiing with Jerry: Ross,
David, Kerry, Dean, Rhiannon, Ray, Derek and Laura. All the others,
meet at the kitchen door for sweet making. That’s all this morning.
This afternoon it will be Canoeing with me: Kerry, David, Jo,
Arthur and Derek. Sailing with Jerry: Ross, Jack, Susan, Patrick,
Maureen and Dean. All the rest, Hill walking with Tess and Owen.
When I’ve finished talking, remember to get straight on with your
tasks, QUICKLY. Activities begin in half an hour. If you’re skiing,
you should be at the mini bus at this time. The others, except the
sweet makers, on the back patio. Lunch will be at 12.45, and
afternoon trips begin at 2.15. OK. Let’s go”.

    There was a mad
dash to tidy up and get going. In order to get the most amount of
time for skiing, allowing for the travelling time, the skiers found
themselves with the quickest jobs and were ready and waiting as
Jerry appeared with the mini bus keys twirling from his fingers and
his arm struggling to find his anorak sleeve.
    “In you get”,
he said, unlocking the doors and hopping out of the way of the
scramble.
    “Bags I sit
next to Jerry”, whispered Rhiannon as the girls headed for the
front seats. Jerry suggested they sing without him if they wanted
to as his cat was a better vocalist than he was, “I croak just like
a frog”, he laughed, “ so I’ll just concentrate on the
driving”.

    Ross was hard
put to find words to describe the wonderfulness of skiing. He tried
great, excellent and brilliant but they didn’t really get the
message across. Jerry was a clown, showing them what not to do and
what happens if you do, “Just to save you learning the hard way,”
he said, struggling up from the floor after his fourth fall. “Now
practise with me, the right way to do it”. The group dutifully went
through the motions, Rhiannon giggling at the daftness of doing
everything without actually going anywhere, but even she found it
the difference between success and failure when they really got
going. Only Dean, in his enthusiasm managed to forget the drill and
end up on his bum. Ross’s eyes lit up on his first run. The air
whizzed passed as he pushed off and glided down the slope, as
graceful as a swan. David was not far behind.
    “Winter
Olympics, here I come,” he yelled as his confidence and speed
increased.
    “Yippee!” Laura
screamed.
    “Can we ski, or
what?” Derek called as they all successfully completed their last
twist.

    “How did it
go?” Jack asked at lunch. He looked at the glowing faces. “No.
Don’t tell me. I can tell already. It was magic, right?”
    David and Ross
agreed. Jack wished he’d gone with them. “You know what? Arthur’s a
born Robin Hood. He’s probably Robin Hood reincarnated, but
Maureen’s too much of a tom boy to be Maid Marion. Me? I’m going to
stick to sailing. Every time it was my turn, someone moved the
rotten target.”
    Arthur was
listening. “He wasn’t that bad”, he said thoughtfully, “I think,
really, he was as good as us, but sometimes he was just a bit
impatient and kind of snatched at it”. He turned directly to Jack,
“When you did actually aim, you were spot on”, he said
sincerely.
    “And how often
was that?” David asked curiously.
    “Er”, Jack
said, “Nice sausages, these.”
    Despite several
more blunt questions about Jack’s ability as an archer, Jack
refused to go into detail, and Arthur said he was sworn to secrecy,
so they all concentrated instead on the