Sarah Lean - Jack Pepper

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“Sarah Lean weaves magic and emotion into beautiful stories.” Cathy Cassidy

“Touching, reflective and lyrical.” The Sunday Times

“… beautifully written and moving. A talent to watch.” The Bookseller

“Sarah Lean’s graceful, miraculous writing will have you weeping one moment and rejoicing the next.” Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Praise for Sarah Lean Praise for Sarah Lean Praise for Sarah Lean Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Read an extract from Hero About the Author Also by Sarah Lean Copyright About the Publisher “Sarah Lean weaves magic and emotion into beautiful stories.” Cathy Cassidy “Touching, reflective and lyrical.” The Sunday Times “… beautifully written and moving. A talent to watch.” The Bookseller “Sarah Lean’s graceful, miraculous writing will have you weeping one moment and rejoicing the next.” Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan

Chapter 1 “Stop the car, Dad!” Ruby said. “look, Sid, look at the lamp post.” Sid pressed his nose to the back-seat window. “What is it this time?” Ruby’s dad said, enjoying trying to guess what Ruby might come up with next. “A ghost? A flying cat?” They’d had a long drive home after a day out at the Flight Museum, which meant Ruby’s imagination was in full swing, keeping them all entertained. “No, not this time! Now you’ve gone past it. Please stop, Dad!” Ruby said. “No, look, another one! Dad, stop there, under the next street light.” The urgency in Ruby’s voice made her dad steer the car towards the kerb. Ruby unclicked her seat belt and jumped out of the car. “Where are you going?” her dad called. He turned round as he heard Sid’s seat belt clunk and the back door open too. Sid joined Ruby under the copper beam of the street light. Ruby was mesmerised by a poster stuck to it, a hand-drawn picture of a small white and ginger dog. It said: Please help us find Jack Pepper. “It is him, isn’t it?” Ruby said. “You wouldn’t forget that dog,” said Sid. Ruby took in every last detail of the drawing. It couldn’t be a coincidence. There couldn’t be two dogs like this, two dogs called Jack Pepper.

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Read an extract from Hero

About the Author

Also by Sarah Lean

Copyright

About the Publisher

“Stop the car, Dad!” Ruby said. “look, Sid, look at the lamp post.”

Sid pressed his nose to the back-seat window.

“What is it this time?” Ruby’s dad said, enjoying trying to guess what Ruby might come up with next. “A ghost? A flying cat?” They’d had a long drive home after a day out at the Flight Museum, which meant Ruby’s imagination was in full swing, keeping them all entertained.

“No, not this time! Now you’ve gone past it. Please stop, Dad!” Ruby said. “No, look, another one! Dad, stop there, under the next street light.”

The urgency in Ruby’s voice made her dad steer the car towards the kerb. Ruby unclicked her seat belt and jumped out of the car.

“Where are you going?” her dad called. He turned round as he heard Sid’s seat belt clunk and the back door open too.

Sid joined Ruby under the copper beam of the street light. Ruby was mesmerised by a poster stuck to it, a hand-drawn picture of a small white and ginger dog. It said: Please help us find Jack Pepper.

“It is him, isn’t it?” Ruby said.

“You wouldn’t forget that dog,” said Sid.

Ruby took in every last detail of the drawing. It couldn’t be a coincidence. There couldn’t be two dogs like this, two dogs called Jack Pepper.

The world was upside down as Ruby slipped through the sky, lying back on the swing, looking at nothing but blue. She kicked against the invisible air. The weight of her body rocked from her head to her feet. The swing chain creaked; the fixing clicked.

Creaked. Clicked.

Creaked, like an aching heart.

“Thought you’d be here,” a voice said.

Ruby sat upright, dizzy. She scuffed her toes through the sand to stop the swing.

“What are you doing?” It was Sid.

“Nothing, just swinging.”

Sid punched his football at the ground and caught it. Bounced it again. He saw the park was empty, and Ruby looked sad, which wasn’t like her at all.

“Are you playing something by yourself?”

Ruby spun herself in the swing until the chain was taut, but it unfurled again as if it couldn’t stand to be twisted. “I’ve got things I’m trying not to think about because it’s too hard to think about them,” she said. “It’s easier on my own.”

“We are on our own.” Sid grinned, but there was barely a flicker of a smile from Ruby.

Ruby sighed. “My brother,” she said. “Nothing’s the same since he’s been born and that’s all I’m going to say about that right now.”

“I won’t say anything about that right now either,” said Sid.

He glanced at Ruby to see if this was OK. Ruby caught his eye, blew out her cheeks, shrugged. The best agreement she could give.

“So I’ll stay then,” Sid said.

Ruby nodded. It was hard to be angry and sad, all mixed up. But Ruby knew if anyone could make her feel better Sid could. Sid wouldn’t make things harder.

“Do you want to play football?” he said.

“Not really.”

Sid dropped the ball, rolled it under his foot, thought hard, kicked it up and caught it.

“We could play your game?” he said.

“Which game?” Ruby said. Nothing was fun right now.

But Sid knew Ruby was the queen of disguising herself in her imagination.

“The adventure game, the one where we can be whoever we want to be,” Sid said. “Then you won’t have to think at all.”

Ruby leaned her head back, squinted at the cloud above her collapsing and blooming from a ship with sails, to a giant face, into the shape of something yet to be. She allowed herself a smile.