Mr Stink. Quentin Blake

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      7pm Watercolour painting class

      8pm Dance class, ballroom

       Wednesday

      3am Choir practice

      4am Long-jump training

      5am High-jump training

      6am Long-jump training again

      7am Trombone lesson

      8am Scuba-diving

      9am to 4pm School

      4pm Chef training

      5pm Mountain climbing

      6pm Tennis

      7pm Drama workshop, Shakespeare and his contemporaries

      8pm Show jumping

       Thursday

      2am Learning Arabic

      3am Dance lesson, break-dance, hip-hop, krumping

      4am Oboe lesson

      5am Tour de France cycle training

      6am Bible studies

      7am Gymnastics training

      8am Calligraphy class

      9am to 4pm School

      4pm Work experience shadowing a brain surgeon

      5pm Opera singing lesson

      6pm NASA space exploration workshop

      7pm Cake baking class, level 5

      8pm Attend lecture on ‘A History of Victorian Moustaches’

       Friday

      1am Triangle lesson, grade 5

      2am Badminton

      3am Archery

      4am Fly to Switzerland for ski-jump practice. Learn about eggs from an expert on eggs (TBC) on outbound flight.

      6am Do quick ski-jump, and then board inbound flight. Take pottery class on flight.

      8am Thai kick-boxing (remember to take skis off before class).

      9am to 4pm School

      4pm Channel swimming training

      5pm Motorbike maintenance workshop

      6pm Candle making

      7pm Otter rearing class

      8pm Television viewing. A choice between either a documentary about carpet manufacturing in Belgium, or a Polish cartoon from the 1920s about a depressed owl.

      And that was just the weekdays. The weekends were when things really got busy for Annabelle. No wonder Chloe felt ignored.

      “Well, I suppose things at home are…are…” stammered Chloe. She wanted to talk to him about it all, but she wasn’t sure how.

       Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong!

      No, I haven’t lost my mind, readers. That was meant to be the church clock striking four.

      Chloe gasped and looked at her watch. Four o’clock! Mother made her do her homework from four until six every day, even in the school holidays when she didn’t have any to do.

      “Sorry Mr Stink, I have to go,” she said. Secretly Chloe was relieved. No one had ever asked her how she felt before, and she was beginning to panic…

      “Really, child?” said the old man, looking disappointed.

      “Yes, yes, I need to get home. Mother will be furious if I don’t get at least a C in Maths next term. She sets me extra tests during the holidays.”

      “That doesn’t sound much like a holiday to me,” said Mr Stink.

      Chloe shrugged. “Mother doesn’t believe in holidays.” She stood up. “I hope you liked the sausages,” she said.

      “They were scrumptious,” said Mr Stink. “Thank you. Unimaginable kindness.”

      Chloe nodded and turned to run off towards home. If she took a short-cut she’d be back before Mother.

      “Farewell!” Mr Stink called after her softly.

       4 Drivel

      Terrified of being late for homework hour, Chloe began to quicken her pace. She didn’t want her mother to ask questions about where she’d been or who she’d been talking to. Mrs Crumb would be horrified to find out her daughter had been sitting on a bench with someone she would describe as a ‘soap-dodger’. Grown-ups always have a way of ruining everything.

      Chloe stopped hurrying, though, when she saw that she was about to pass Raj’s shop. Just one chocolate bar, she thought.

      Chloe’s love of chocolate made her one of Raj’s best customers. Raj ran the local newsagent shop. He was a big jolly jelly of a man, as sweet and colourful as his slightly over-priced confectionery. Today, though, what Chloe really needed was some advice.

      And maybe some chocolate. Just one bar, of course. Maybe two.

      “Ah, Miss Chloe!” said Raj, as she entered the shop. “What can I tempt you with today?”

      “Hello, Raj,” said Chloe smiling. She always smiled when she saw Raj. It was partly because he was such a lovely man, and partly because he sold sweets.

      “I have some Rolos on special offer!” announced Raj. “They have gone out of date and hardened. You may lose a tooth as you chew into one, but at 10p off you can’t really argue!”

      “Mmm, let me think,” said Chloe scouring the racks and racks of confectionery.

      “I had half a Lion bar earlier, you are welcome to make me an offer on the other half. I’ll take anything upwards of 15p.”

      “I think I’ll just take a Crunchie, thanks Raj.”

      “Buy seven Crunchie bars you get an eighth Crunchie bar absolutely free!”

      “No thanks, Raj. I only want one.” She put the money down on the counter. 35p. Money well spent considering the nice feeling the chocolate would give her as it slipped down her СКАЧАТЬ