A Bridge to the Stars (15 page)

He can't understand why his dad is in such a good
mood whenever he meets Sara – but then, he's realised
that grown-ups are hard to fathom. Only the grown-ups
who think like children and act differently are
understandable.

Like Simon Windstorm and No-Nose Gertrud.
Simon is old and Gertrud's a grown-up.

He can understand them, and enjoys being with
them.

One evening when his dad is with Sara, Gertrud
comes to visit Joel and he shows her
Celestine
. They
examine her closely, and Joel tells Gertrud which are
the most dangerous passages in all the seven seas . . .

Before he knows where he is, term comes to an end. It
comes so quickly that it hasn't really registered until he
wakes up one morning and realises that he doesn't have
to go to school again until the autumn.

Then he leaps out of bed, gets dressed at top speed
and cycles away on The Flying Horse.

Summer is boundless . . .

And the dog.

The dog that's heading for a star.

He never sees it again.

He thinks it might have been running so fast that it's
already reached its star.

But then he thinks that this is a childish thought. Not
something a nearly twelve-year-old ought to be
thinking. But still.

He picks out a star shining brightly the other side of
The Plough.

That's where his dog is.

He can't be childish for much longer, he knows that.
Then his dog will vanish.

But it's still OK for now. He can still stop his bike
and look up at the sky. And be confident that the dog
got to where it was heading.

He likes that thought. It's a thought he'll never be
able to share with anybody else. It's a thought that
makes him who he is, and nobody else.

I'm me, he thinks. And I can still spare a moment for
a dog heading for a star. And getting there.

Then he rides off.

There's so much he has to do this summer . . .