The Key to Finding Jack by Ewa Jozefkowicz (best classic books to read TXT) 📕

didn’t have to turn around to know that it belonged to Duncan. I felt his gaze again, and this time I stared right back at him. His cheeks reddened and I felt a strange satisfaction at having caught him in the act.

After lunch we had geography, and were starting a new project about building a school in a remote part of the developing world. We had to choose a country and a region, and then research its people, politics and natural resources. We were asked to think about the challenges that we might come up against when planning our new school.

I decided to choose Peru, even though I worried that the tiny drummer might raise his sticks. I typed ‘Arequipa’ into the search bar and zoomed in on the area of the Peruvian Andes that appeared on the map. I discovered that it was a city with beautiful white buildings made of volcanic stone and framed by three volcanoes. I imagined Jack exploring with his new friends, struggling under the weight of his rucksack. He was never good at packing light. He always thought of things that might be useful, like a big ball of rubber bands, or an old wind-up film camera, which he insisted on bringing on holiday to France.

On the national tourist board website, I found that the area was close to the picturesque Salinas National Park and had plenty of fertile land for growing crops. Education was compulsory and free up to secondary school, but apparently there were many remote regions where it was not known if children actually attended school. There were some schools being built in these areas by charity organisations, but it seemed as if there was more demand than schools being built.

I flicked through the images of Peru that came up in the online gallery, and saw photos of the Inca ruins, the Nazca lines (huge patterns in the rock made by ancient civilisations), and backpackers trekking through the rainforest. In one image of a traveller, I thought I saw Jack’s grinning face and quickly moved on to another website.

‘For your homework,’ Mr Bemowski said, ‘I’d like you to prepare the first part of your PowerPoint, which will give an overview of the country you’ve selected. Next week, I’ll select five of you to present, and then I’ll give you individual feedback through the usual online homework system, so please be sure to submit everything by 7 p.m. on Sunday.’

I found myself strangely looking forward to this project. I couldn’t wait to go home and get stuck into the research. I could even use the photo album that Grandma had given me as one of my sources. I had such a connection to Peru, and yet I knew so little about it. And I needed to change that fast – because somewhere on its vast sand dunes, among the rainforest rivers and valleys of lush greenery, or maybe in one of the bustling cities with their unusual buildings and architecture, was my brother. And wherever he was, I was determined to find him.

Ten

When the final bell went that day, we headed for the library to wait until the end of orchestra practice.

‘Why don’t we go to Sutty’s to see if Simon is there?’ Keira asked.

But I couldn’t face seeing both him and Finny in one day, so I persuaded Keira to do some geography homework with me instead.

I could tell the entire time that her mind was drifting and as five o’clock struck she pulled me in the direction of the school hall.

‘Where are we going? Aren’t we supposed to be waiting outside the staffroom for Mr Finnegan?’

‘What would you do without me, Flick?’ she asked, winking. ‘He’s obviously not going to be in the staffroom. In fact, he’s hardly ever there. Mostly he’s in one of the music rooms or the school hall, doing band practice.’

Keira was proving to be an excellent detective herself. I was so glad to have her working with me on this.

I’d seen Mr Finnegan, a.k.a. Finny, many times before, but I’d never actually spoken to him. Finny had long, dark hair tied in a ponytail, and a wispy beard that seemed in urgent need of grooming. He was extremely tall and thin, so that whenever he sat down he looked as if he was folding himself into quarters.

He had a reputation for being adored by his students and I’d heard how he would high-five his class when they’d played a piece particularly well. We waited for ages at the back of the hall as he finished talking to members of the orchestra, giving them tips on different aspects of their performance.

It was only when he picked his bag up to leave that Keira pulled me towards him.

‘Hi,’ she said cheerfully. ‘I’m Keira and this is Felicity, Jack Chesterford’s sister.’

Finny’s face immediately fell. ‘I’m so sorry about what’s happened,’ he said gently.

I wasn’t expecting such sympathy, so I awkwardly stood there, not knowing what to say. Luckily Keira came to my rescue, as she always did.

‘Do you mind having a quick chat with us? Obviously Flick is missing Jack a lot, and we thought… that it would help to talk with you about his music. She doesn’t have any of his recordings at home, do you, Flick?’

‘Erm… no.’ I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but Finny seemed to take the bait.

‘Absolutely, have a seat,’ he said, motioning to two vacant orchestra chairs.

I sat down where one of the violin players had been sitting, and Keira perched on a piano stool.

‘Where to start? I mean, the guy really loves his guitar. Seriously, he has an ear for music. When he came to me for the first time, I was sure that he’d been playing for years. He did “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica and I was completely speechless. Do you know it?’

We both shook our heads, but if Finny’s opinion of us went down a notch, he didn’t