Free The Life and Afterlife of Charlie Brackwood (The Brackwood Series Book 1) by Stacey Field Page B

man's true character by the way in which he treats animals.  My father and I would often have arguments about animal welfare and the financial burden attached to it. 
    If an animal was clearly suffering I’d argue with my dad for days to try and get him to call a vet to save its life, but he would always argue that it made better financial sense to have the animal destroyed instead.  This was the part of farming that I found frustrating, and quite often heart-breaking.  I struggled with the concept that the farm animals in my care were first and foremost my family's livelihood and, in the end, I realised I was not cut out for the life I had always hitherto seen myself living.
    Russ ended up with very bad A-level results and had no ideas about his future career.  Eventually he decided he wanted to work in construction and so enrolled in a relevant course at the local college.  He actually appeared to enjoy it and hoped one day to master the art of dry-stone walling.  That was an important skill to have when you lived in the Yorkshire countryside and in time he was in high demand.
    One evening in August Lucy came to see me as I was at work in the fields.  I saw her approach as I loaded lambs into a truck before I transported them to a field with better grass.  I had just captured an escapee and was out of breath.  The lamb in question had been making its way towards the intriguing sight of Mrs Brown’s bloomers hanging up to dry in her garden.  Just before he was about to take a bite out of the frilly specimens I caught him, threw him over my shoulders so that his legs dangled down to each side, and carried him back to the truck, ignoring his very vocal protests.
    Lucy was wearing a white blouse decorated with small embroidered flowers, and denim cutoff shorts.  She was grinning, half running towards me.  I set off to meet her with the lamb still draped around my shoulders, seemingly relaxed now as his protests had come to an end.
    “Guess what?” Lucy said, practically jumping up and down.
    I wracked my brain and tried to come up with a reason for her change of mood.
    “You’ve found Archimedes?” I asked hopefully.
    Her shoulders slumped.
    “Sadly not,” she said, and paused for a minute before whipping her arm from around her back and waving a piece of white paper in front of my face. 
    I managed to grab it off her. “What is this?” I asked.
    “It’s my exam results,” she said proudly.
    “Wow, you got straight As,” I said as I scanned the information on the flimsy sheet.
    “Yes, but look at the grade for biology.”
    It took me a while to find it but when I did I gasped in disbelief.
    “A-star?” I exclaimed.
    She grinned and nodded, the look of disbelief on her face matching my own.
    “But how?”
    “I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine. I actually thought you might’ve had something to do with it.”
    I shook my head.  “Definitely not.  I wish I had.  Maybe they gave you your predicted grade instead?”
    “No, they only do that in cases of severe illness, and because I wasn’t ill they put me down as a no show.  I should’ve got a fail for that exam.”
    “Maybe someone made a mistake?  Either way, I wouldn’t shout your mouth off about it.”
    She nodded, suddenly serious, and I instantly regretted the lecture.  In an effort to lighten the mood, I waved the paper at her.
    “This is bloody fantastic, Luce!” I exclaimed before folding her in my arms for a celebratory embrace.
    I was proud of my friend but also relieved that the biology grade had worked out OK in the end, just like I’d promised.  However, I hadn’t made it happen.  Which set me wondering: who had?  Whoever it was deserved my thanks and Lucy’s gratitude, but sadly I would only find out the answer to that burning question after my death.  For years I assumed that a kind-hearted teacher had taken pity on Lucy and given her a predicted grade.
    In the years that followed, as Lucy matured I