Matty and Bill for Keeps Read Online Free PDF Page A

before.
    â€˜How’d you get away from Isabelle’s last night?’ asked Bill as he and Crispin sauntered towards the bubblers after the cricket game was over. ‘I mean, you left earlier than you were supposed to, didn’t you?’
    â€˜I’m not proud of myself,’ said Crispin. ‘In fact, I’ve never done anything like it in my life.’
    â€˜How come?’ asked Bill. ‘Tell me what happened.’
    The two boys sat down on a grassy embankment overlooking the oval and Crispin began to explain.
    â€˜You see, Isabelle, her parents and I were sitting at their dining table. It was very formal. Candles and so forth. That poor housekeeper was being treated like a servant, pouring our drinks and being ordered about. Mr and Mrs Farquay-Jones asked me a great many questions. I was coping quite well until the oysters were served. A big plate of them for each of us. I detest oysters. They taste like gristly, slippery tongues. I swallowed two, but I wanted to throw up. Then I started to pretend I was eating them. While I was miming, making my mouth look like I was munching, I was actually filling my pockets with as many oysters as I could fit. Sleight of hand, you see. Mat’s right. I’m into magic tricks.’
    â€˜Then?’
    â€˜Then I told Mrs Farquay-Jones a terrible lie – that I very much appreciated her garden; that it reminded me of my uncle Lord Greenthorpe’s garden, which had been designed by the famous eighteenth-century English garden designer, Capability Brown. And I asked if I could I see it by moonlight.’
    â€˜Why did you say that?’
    â€˜So I could escape outside and hurl those oysters away.’
    â€˜Did you?’
    â€˜Yes, I did. It was a challenge, of course, because I had Isabelle tagging along. But then things got far worse than pockets bulging with squelchy oysters.’
    â€˜Yuk,’ said Bill. ‘How could anything be worse than that?’
    â€˜How about Isabelle Farquay-Jones wanting to kiss you in the moonlight?’
    â€˜Crikey,’ said Bill. ‘Did you let her?’
    â€˜Of course not. I have my standards,’ said Crispin. ‘But I had to do some quick thinking.’
    â€˜So what did you come up with?’ asked Bill.
    â€˜This is what worries me. It might even be a bit illegal,’ said Crispin. ‘Promise you won’t tell?’
    Now Bill knew about promises and how important it was to honour them. He’d once broken a promise he’d made to Matty and the consequences were terrible.
    â€˜I must be straight with you,’ said Bill. ‘I do know how to keep a promise, but I have no secrets with Matty. She’s my best friend. If I can tell her, then your secret is safe with both of us.’
    Crispin hesitated.
    â€˜No pressure,’ said Bill, holding his hands wide open. ‘Don’t tell me if you’re that worried.’
    He started to get up from where he was sitting, but Crispin quickly said, ‘I think I need to get it off my chest, actually. And Matty is a kindred spirit.’
    â€˜Shoot, then,’ said Bill.
    Crispin took a deep breath then began, ‘I told Isabelle that we should play Princess and Evil Knight – that if she let me blindfold her and tie her up to a tree I would kiss her. Isabelle seemed to like the idea. She ran and fetched a whole lot of rope and two of her mother’s silk scarves. I used the scarves as the blindfold and to tie her wrists so it wouldn’t hurt. Then I got the rope and wound it around and around her and the tree trunk. I tied it really tight with granny knots. She was standing there with her lips all pushed out like a trout’s, ready for me to kiss her.’ Crispin shuddered at the memory.
    â€˜So what did you do?’ asked Bill.
    â€˜By a stroke of good fortune, I still had one oyster squashed into the very bottom of my right pocket. If you took the time to examine an oyster,