Scrambled Read Free Page B

exhaust ever, dressed head to toe in the blackest leather, the Black Rider ascended the crag overlooking the Rec, and then stopped at the very top. Lyndon and the boys, even Dwayne, stopped riding and spitting for a moment toadmire the powerful faceless figure above them. The helmet was black, the visor revealed nothing. The Rider slowly raised a gloved hand and pointed.
    At Davidde.
    Then the figure beckoned him over. Davidde couldn’t believe he’d been picked out over the other boys. He was uncertain, and a bit scared, but he obeyed anyway. He made his way over, through Lyndon’s gang, who looked on in awe. The rider was utterly still, looking down like a statue carved from granite.
    Davidde climbed up the crag, and faced the rider. When he was level, the rider put their hands to the sides of the helmet and slowly started to raise the visor. Inside seemed to be a perfect blackness. The Rider, head bowed now as if in prayer, had the visor completely open. The helmet was raised and Davidde was able to see that instead of eyes the rider had a pair of… ‘Prawn balls, Dai? I got some Chinese for us, butt.’
    His father was back, and was sitting on Davidde’s bed, sharing a takeaway with him. He seemed a bit happier, as he often did when he came back from the pub.
    ‘Bit early to be kipping, isn’t it?’
    ‘Tired, Dad.’
    Davidde tried to eat a prawn ball, but it was making him feel ill, as if he was eating an eye. But whose eye? And what message did they have for him?
    His dad left him to get some rest, but Davidde found it difficult to relax, and had a fitful night’s sleep, although he didn’t dream of the Black Rider again.
    At least not that night.

3
    It was Art again. Dwayne Tight had got hold of a knife and was hacking lumps out of the table. When he had a row, he tried hacking lumps out of Ceri Fuss. When he had a row for that, he started hacking lumps out of himself.
    Miss Pughes-Pervis had explained the two-year course to the class and had started them off on their first project, which involved the class drawing a still life of a flattened hedgehog. Then she took Kaitlinn and Davidde to one side to talk them through the first part of their course.
    She opened up a booklet with the list of projects in it.
    ‘Obviously you need to keep all your planning sheets and preparatory work and put it together with your final piece to make it a proper job. Nowthen, here we go – choose one from the following list of five!’
    She clapped her hands together with excitement.
    ‘One: Phlegm through the Ages. Hmm – interesting – suggests sculpture to me. Two: Horsepower – that could be one for you, Kaitlinn!’
    Kaitlinn loved horses, and with her longish face and sizeable nose, Davidde sometimes thought she’d started to look like one. Miss Pughes-Pervis, though, didn’t suggest Kaitlinn try a self-portrait.
    ‘Three: The Joy of Wrecks. Sounds like landscape to me. We could organise a trip to the seaside or something. Four: The Sky at Night. That could be one for you, Davidde – you like stars and planets and Astrology and all that.’
    ‘Astronomy, Miss.’
    ‘Whatever. Five: Pterodactyl Soup. That sounds a bit weird to me – and I’m an Art teacher!’
    She turned to her A-grade students and asked them what they thought.
    ‘Horses,’ said Kaitlinn, thinking that she could use her own horse, Alfie, in some way.
    ‘The Sky at Night,’ said Davidde. He was going to buy the telescope this week. Mr Leighton had been helping him choose one online, and they’dalmost come to the end of the decision-making process.
    ‘That’s great. Well, you can start on a few planning sheets, and it would be lovely if you could come back to me a week today with something to show me, and with some idea of what your final piece is going to be.’
    They went to different tables to start gathering a few ideas. Kaitlinn worked with her back turned to Davidde.
    ‘I’m drawing Alfie,’ she said.
    ‘I’m sketching