Free The Blue Horse by Marita Conlon-Mckenna Page A

they have all done the tests I’ve given them, difficult enough if you have been in and out of schools too often.’
    Mam reddened.
    ‘As I told you our classes are very large here, we cover a wide catchment area, and there are very few places … however, that said, I can only offer one place.’
    Katie looked anxiously at Hannah, whose eyes were wide, full of hope.
    ‘One of the boys – Brian, isn’t it?’ he added.
    Katie gasped. Brian! Only him? How could it be?
    ‘His learning skills are just about right for his age and his marks are very good; some problems with spellings but we do have a remedial teacher here to help with things like that.’ The man was staring at Brian with a smile on his face.
    ‘But what about Paddy? The twins have never been separated.’ Mam looked at Paddy who had slumped in the chair as if an unknown assailant had suddenly pounded him in the guts. ‘What class will Paddy be in, or Hannah?’
    ‘Well that’s it, that’s my problem, Mrs Connors, they won’t be in any class. I’m full up. Paddy, even if I had a place, would be about two classes behind Brian. They would not be together anyway. He needs to work a lot harder to catch up. I don’t know if putting him in a big class and letting him fall behind would be doing him any favours. Hannah, well!’ He turned to Hannah. ‘Do you understand about reading at all, Hannah?’
    The little girl looked scared out of her wits, her blue eyes huge like an animal caught in a trap. Katie felt like hitting the middle-aged greying man in his striped suit for the pain he was causing her.
    ‘Come on, don’t be afraid to say what you feel.’
    ‘I don’t understand it, not any of it. The words all have strange sounds and when they’re all spread out on a page it’s like a big puzzle and I’m meant to make sense of it. Most of the time I can’tmake any sense of it. I’m not very good, am I?’ With a wobble in her voice she raised her head and stared straight at the man.
    ‘Did you go to school at all?’ Mr Searson asked gently.
    ‘Indeed they did, Mr Searson. Hannah and all of them have been in schools all over the place. Wherever we moved to we always tried to get them into a school or there would be someone to take a few of them and teach them their letters or what they needed to know to get them ready for their communion. We did our best for them.’
    ‘I know, Mrs Connors. Life on the road is hard, and moving around for no matter what reason or what the cause is not the best thing for a child’s education.’
    ‘We’re travellers, that’s our life,’ Mam interjected stubbornly.
    ‘Yes, well, taking that into account I’d like to make a suggestion. We’re very lucky that there’s a special school for travellers on the far side of town. The children are collected by bus. It’s a good school, and Hannah and Paddy would both do well there and hopefully be able to re-learn the basics.’
    ‘But the twins have never been split up. They go everywhere, do everything together. I’d hoped the three of them would go to the same school, the one nearby.’ Mam was staring at him.
    ‘Look, Mrs Connors, it’s the best I can do. I have an enormous school to run here. None ofmy teachers has the time to teach Hannah on her own, the time has to be shared between thirty-five other children too. I have to be fair to everyone!’ He stopped for a moment considering an idea. ‘Maybe if you or your husband could do a bit of reading work with them?’
    Mam was silent for a second.
    ‘Mr Searson, I’m on my own at the moment and … well … I can’t read nor write myself.’
    The headmaster was embarrassed and began to trip over himself trying to apologise.
    ‘I’ll help her, I’ll help them both,’ Katie volunteered. ‘I’m good at reading.’
    ‘Now that’s the idea,’ Mr Searson smiled. ‘Where do you go to school?’
    ‘Nowhere.’
    ‘There’s a very good Community School close by. You might consider it. Otherwise