مدرسه‌‌ی دهکده

Chapter five

The Village School

The next morning the boys got up at six o’clock. They took some sandwiches and a bottle of cold tea, and they began to cut the long grass in Mr Wood’s biggest field.

The field was near a quiet road. At the side of the road was a small school. It stood in a garden. There were flowers and vegetables and a few fruit trees. But no children were there. The school was empty. It was summer and the children were on holiday.

The sun shone down angrily. The boys were hot and thirsty. At eleven o’clock Tony went for a drink, but the bottle was empty.

‘I want a drink of water,’ he said to Pip and John. He took the empty bottle and went into the school garden. There was a tap there and he turned it. No water came out. He went to the door of the school. He pushed - and it opened.

There was a little kitchen. Tony turned on the tap. He took a long drink and filled his bottle. Then he decided to look around the little school. It did not take him long. There was one classroom. The desks and chairs were very small, because it was a school for young children. Tony went back into the kitchen. ‘It’s July,’ he thought. ‘Everyone is on holiday. School doesn’t start again until September. I can put the piano here. No one will come here. I’ve got six weeks. And in six weeks perhaps I can find a home for my piano.’

He went back to the field.

‘You were away a long time,’ said Pip. ‘Did you have a drink, or a holiday?’ They all laughed.

‘Listen,’ said Tony. ‘The school door is open. The school’s empty. I’m going to put my piano in the classroom.’

‘Don’t be stupid’ said John. ‘What will the teacher say?’

‘He won’t say anything! He’s on holiday,’ said Tony. ‘You’re on holiday too, aren’t you? When do you go back to school?’

‘September the ninth,’ said John.

‘That’s right’ said Tony. ‘Listen - the door’s open. The key’s in the door. I’m not going to steal anything. I’m just going to keep the piano in the classroom for a week or two. Can you help me? We’ll put the piano on the lorry, and we’ll take it to the school.’

‘When?’ asked Pip.

‘Tonight,’ said Tony.

The three boys worked very hard. They cleaned out the building. They cleaned the windows too. Then they put the piano on Mr Wood’s lorry.

‘What time are we going’ asked Pip.

‘Eight o’clock,’ answered Tony.

Linda gave the boys their supper that night. Mrs Wood was at a meeting in the village.

‘Boys,’ said Linda, ‘Father says you are borrowing the lorry tonight.’

‘Yes, that’s right,’ said Pip. ‘I’m driving.’

‘Please, can you take me to the village? Catherine is ill.’ Catherine was Linda’s best friend. ‘I want to visit her.’

‘But’ began Tony He looked into her kind brown eyes and he told her his story. He told her about his old school. He told her about Mrs Lark. He talked about the village school, and the open door, and the quiet, empty classroom. Linda listened. John and Pip listened too. Then Linda smiled.

‘Thank you, Tony. Now I understand. And I want to help you.’

The boys drove Linda to Catherine’s house.

‘Please come back at half past nine,’ she said to Pip. She spoke loudly because Catherine’s mother was listening. Then she said, very quietly, ‘Good luck, Tony - and be careful!’

The boys drove the lorry to the little school. Then they moved the piano. It was very heavy, but they were young and strong. They pushed it into the classroom and stood it against a wall.

‘It looks beautiful here,’ said Pip. He touched the keys. They made a loud, unmusical noise.

‘Listen to that’ said his brother. ‘You had piano lessons for three years, but you didn’t learn anything. Play something for us, Tony.’

Tony sat down and began to play one of Mrs Lark’s songs. The music sang in his mind. It travelled along his arms His fingers danced over the keys. He did not look at his hands. He did not look at the keys. His eyes were closed. He was in another world.

His friends listened. Tony was not clever. He was big and quiet and slow. But there was music in his big, strong hands.

That summer was a happy time for Tony. Every evening after supper he borrowed Linda’s bicycle. He cycled to the school, and he played the piano. When it was dark he cycled back to the farm again. He was afraid to turn on a light in the school. He did not want anybody to see him.

‘I think Tony has a girlfriend,’ said Mrs Wood to Linda. Linda just smiled.

Tony learned to read music. Linda brought him a book of easy songs. She showed him the music. He looked at the little black notes and the five thin black lines on the pages of the book.

‘This is easy,’ he said to Linda. ‘It’s like writing. The notes tell your fingers what to do.’

‘That’s right,’ said Linda. She showed him the long notes and the short notes. She taught him to read the words at the top of the page.

‘Look’ she said. ‘That’s Italian. Lento-slow.’

But Tony was not slow. He learned very fast. Linda was a good teacher. Both of them enjoyed her lessons.