Ballet Shoes for Anna Read Online Free PDF

man who lived in a house called Dunroamin did not sound as if, without a word of warning, he would roam as far as Istanbul. He was also annoyed for he did not want an unknown companion landed on him for the flight home, so he bought four tickets in an aeroplane going to London and wired the flight number and time of arrival to Uncle Cecil. Then he called the children.
    “Go and pack, kids. We leave for London in two hours.”
    He gave an envelope to Francesco. “I don’t expect you’ll ever need this but if you do, write to me at this address. Nodoubt your Uncle Cecil is a splendid fellow but sometimes an outsider can help. Don’t worry if, having written to me, it’s weeks before you get an answer for I am always travelling, in fact I’m only going to stay one night in London then I’m off to Alaska. And, by the way, I’m holding on to your father’s picture for you. Some more may turn up but in the meantime it seems to be all you possess, so I should keep it a secret if I were you. Proper wolves there are in the picture business.”
    It’s impossible for anything to happen slowly at an airport. The children had only just got their breath back from the excitement of the journey when they found themselves staring at a strange man who was almost like Christopher only somehow quite the opposite.
    The man said:
    “I am your Uncle Cecil. Wait over there while I talk to Sir William.”
    Over there, which was by an advice counter, Anna whispered to the boys:
    “I wish he didn’t look like Christopher because I don’t think I’m going to like him.”
    “He speaks,” Gussie said, “like a very old dry biscuit.”
    Sir William during the flight had told Francesco a lot of things including the fact that they might not take to their uncle right away – nor he to them – there would have to be give and take on both sides. So now Francesco tried to explain this to the others.
    “S’William said we mightn’t like The Uncle at first but we must give time.”
    “I don’t need time,” Gussie retorted. “I hate him now this very minute.”
    Sir William was thinking that very same thing. He simply loathed leaving the children with their uncle but what could he do? This Uncle Cecil was their legal guardian. In any case in his travelling life there was no place for three children. So he did the best he could. He cut the goodbyes short.
    “Goodbye, kids,” he called out. “Let’s hear from you some time.” Then he waved, turned and was swallowed up in the crowd.

THE BOYS, WHO shared the larger of the two bedrooms, woke up early the next morning.
    Gussie sat up and looked round.
    “What a horrible room!”
    Francesco sat up too.
    “I think it’s just so clean and we aren’t used to rooms that are as clean as this.”
    “The hotel room in Istanbul was very clean,” Gussie argued, “but it didn’t look like this.”
    Francesco saw suddenly something what was wrong with the room.
    “There aren’t any pictures, even the hotel in Istanbul had pictures, not very nice but they had them. As a matter of fact there aren’t any in the whole house.”
    “I wish,” said Gussie, “we’d kept our picture, it would besomething of us, now there is nothing.”
    “S’William was right, though, if it was here it would be sold.”
    “What, by wolves like he said?”
    Francesco lowered his voice to a whisper.
    “No. By The Uncle. I do not think he is pleased we have no money.”
    Gussie tried to remember last night but it was a blur.
    “I remember The Uncle driving us in his motorcar, it was a long way and I went to sleep.”
    “When we got to this house The Aunt was in the hall and she said supper was ready and we should wash,” Francesco prompted him.
    “And did we?” Gussie asked.
    “Yes, and then we went into a room for eating and there was a dish rolled up in thick grey stuff like a blanket. The Aunt said it was steak and kidney pudding. You looked at it and at once you were sick so you went to