The Journey to the End of the World (Joel Gustafson Stories) Read Free Page B

bother any more.
    Joel tried to assess quickly what the implications were. Was it a good or a bad thing? He decided it was good, because Samuel had shaved properly for once. He actually felt pleased. Ever since that letter had come from Elinor, something had changed. It wasn’t just that they would sit in the evening and talk about Mummy Jenny and the trip they were going to make in only a few more days’ time. But Samuel knew that Joel wasn’t thinking about anything else. And Joel knew that the same applied to Samuel.
    ‘You shouldn’t arrive before ten o’clock. We shall be rehearsing until then. And tidying up the classroom.’
    He ought really to have picked some flowers the previous evening, but he hadn’t got round to it. Two cars had crashed at the corner of Kyrkogatan and Snällmans väg. Joel had been close by at the time, and watched with interest how the two drivers had started arguing. Joel walked over to the window and stood on tiptoe. He could see a few yellow flowers under a tree where they’d been sheltered from the snow.
    Joel ate his sandwiches and brushed his teeth. Then he remembered that he ought to have put on his best shirt and a different pair of trousers in view of the forthcoming ceremony. When he returned to the kitchen he realised that he would have to hurry if he didn’t want to arrive late.
    Samuel was sitting at the table, looking at him.
    ‘Perhaps we ought to take a present,’ he said.
    Joel didn’t understand what he meant at first. A present for whom? For the teachers?
    Then he realised that his father meant a present for Jenny, of course. Joel hadn’t thought about that.
    ‘We must have something to take with us,’ Samuel said. ‘Get a move on or you’ll be late for school.’
    Joel thundered down the stairs. Sometimes Samuel could surprise him. Of course they must take a present for Mummy Jenny.
    He was already in the street before he remembered the flowers. He leaned his bike against the fence and ran back into the garden. Seven drooping cowslips would have to do. He added a few straws of grass to make the bunch look a bit bigger. On the way to school he thought about what they could give Jenny. But he found it hard to concentrate. He would have to get the school-leaving ceremony out of the way first.
    He entered the classroom at the very last moment. Miss Nederström looked disapprovingly at him. But she didn’t say anything. It was the last day. Then they would all go their different ways. Miss Nederström could just as easily become emotional as she could get angry. Today she certainly wasn’t going to quarrel with Joel nor anybody else.
    By ten o’clock the classroom had been tidied up and decorated. The parents were squashed in at the back. Joel had noticed Samuel when he arrived: he was trapped in a corner now. Miss Nederström was in a good mood and only asked questions she knew her pupils could answer. Joel was asked a geography question. After the demonstration lesson they sang a hymn and then processed to the church, class by class. The snow had melted away by then. When they were all assembled in the church, the headmaster gave a speech, all the pupils were given their Reports, and then it was all over. Miss Nederström had tears in her eyes when she shook Joel’s hand. He felt most embarrassed.
    ‘You ought to have gone on to college,’ she said.
    ‘I’ve got other things I have to do first,’ Joel replied.
    He’d been thinking about that for nearly a year now. If he ought to try and get a place at college. But the thought of four more years’ schooling was too much for him. He wanted to get out. Out into the world.
    Samuel was waiting for him outside the church.
    ‘I’m pleased that you could give the right answer to the question you were asked,’ Samuel said.
    ‘It’s just as well she didn’t ask me a question about history,’ Joel said. ‘I’d have been bound to get it wrong.’
    Then they went home. Just for once, Joel also had a cup of