Dad!
Everybody likes Uncle Tom. How could you dislike him? He’s always cheerful and tells jokes – the ones that really make you laugh. My mum says he’s handsome, and only if my dad’s listening she adds that Uncle Tom is almost as handsome as my dad.
The other thing about Uncle Tom is that he’s really good at almost everything. He’s good at sports, for instance. He does extreme sports like hang-gliding and windsurfing at the weekends. Believe it or not, I even went with him once! Well, I didn’t actually fly by myself. He held me underneath him and we jumped off the top of a mountain in Wales. It was amazing! We flew over a spectacular green valley for about twenty minutes. It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life so far! But I’m only twelve years old.
At home, in Hay on Wye, Uncle Tom has a farm where he builds things for his animals. Once, he made a little house for the cows so that they could go in, early in the morning, and milk* themselves while he stayed in bed. It was really clever. Uncle Tom’s good at that sort of thing.
My dad’s a schoolteacher at a secondary school. But I don’t go to the same school as he does. Dad said it isn’t a good idea and I agree with him. His name is Henry, but everybody calls him Harry. It’s a nice name, I think. He teaches kids who aren’t very clever and don’t pass their exams. I don’t think he’s invented anything clever for the kids though. You know, something like a robot that teaches them things while my dad stays in bed.
Dad is older but he isn’t as tall as Uncle Tom and he doesn’t have as much hair either. He isn’t bald, but he wears a hat to school to cover his head. He isn’t as good at sports as Uncle Tom, but he plays football with me in the park whenever I ask him to. I always beat him at shooting at the goal though. I don’t think he’s very fit, really (used to say what is true, also, not really).
I really like my dad. I just wish that he was better at sports and things – like Uncle Tom. Sometimes, I feel sorry for my dad. I think he feels ashamed sometimes because Uncle Tom organizes everything – he’s the leader and we all follow. My dad never complains though, I mean, Uncle Tom is never nasty, in fact, they both get on really well. Uncle Tom often calls him ‘my big brother’ and laughs and gives him a big hug.
Then Uncle Tom bought a boat in Spain so that he could go out fishing and invite all the family. It isn’t a very big boat but big enough and comfortable enough for all of us to get into and find a place to sit. So, that’s Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary, their little daughter, Cindy, (she’s 4, I think) my mum, (whose name is Angela) and Dad and my little brother, Ben, (he’s 6 – almost 7 now). And also me, of course. My name’s William or Will as everybody calls me for short.
Last summer we went to a city called Cadiz in the south of Spain and we stayed together in a villa* at the seaside. It was great! We had our own private swimming pool in the garden! Last year, in first of secondary school, I had swimming lessons at the local sports centre, so I got really good at swimming. I swam from one end to the other of our pool at the villa* ten times without stopping.
I raced Uncle Tom in the pool, but he beat me - just. But perhaps he wasn’t trying his hardest. I raced my dad too but he can’t swim very fast because he won’t put his head under the water. He says it’s because of an injury inside his ear that he got when he was a child.
The second day of the holiday was the fishing trip. It was a hot day in August and the sky was a beautiful blue. But there was a cool breeze that came from the sea. We’d all taken tablets in case we got ill from the boat moving all the time on the waves – except for Uncle Tom because he had been in the marines* during the war and he was used to being at sea.
We walked down to the harbour to get on the boat. There were about fifty or more boats there bright and shining against the dark blue of the sea. Uncle Tom’s boat was a beautiful white with a roof over the cabin in case it rains. Uncle Tom showed my little brother and I how to untieb2 the ropesb2 while the others climbed in and made themselves comfortable. Aunt Mary had brought a picnic for everybody – sandwiches, pies, crisps, hot tea, sparkling orange drink and a big cake, which had all been carefully packed in a basket.
A friend of Uncle Tom’s had been invited too, Steven Liddle, who also spent his summer holidays on this part of the Spanish coast. He met us at the boat. I could see my mum and Aunt Mary didn’t like him very much. I think they wanted it to be just a family event. My dad went quiet when Uncle Tom introduced Steven to everybody, but he was polite and stood up as he came on board and shook his hand.
Steven brought three fishing rods*. One for Uncle Tom, one for Dad and one for himself he said.
‘Don’t women and children fish then?’ said Aunt Mary in a quiet voice.
‘Sorry, Mary. Would you like my rod*? You can use it if you like?’ said Steven, and he offered the rod* to her. Of course, Aunt Mary said no, and she turned her head and looked out towards the water.
‘I’m sure everybody can have a go,’ said Uncle Tom with a big smileb1 and he got up to switch on the engine.
‘One more thing before we leave,’ said Steven, and he stepped out of the boat again and picked up a box of beer bottles. ‘Fishing is hot work!’ he said with a laugh. Now, all the adults in my family have a beer occasionally, you know, with a meal. But there were about twelve pints in that box. Nobody said anything. It looked like it wasn’t going to be the quiet family, fishing trip we had been hoping for.
‘Well, drinking and driving isn’t a good idea. We don’t want to sink the boat!’ joked Uncle Tom. ‘Anyway, I suppose we might have a small one.’
‘I’ll put the box up here on the roof,’ said Steven.
‘Is that a good place to put it?’ my dad asked. ‘It might fall on someone.’ But I think I was the only one who was listening.
‘Do you kids want to come and see the engine?’ smiled Uncle Tom.
‘Yes, please!’ we all said together. So my cousin, Cindy, and my brother Ben and I followed Uncle Ton into the cabin to watch him switch on the engine. I was surprised at how much noise it made.
‘Won’t the noise make the fish swim away?’ I asked.
‘Don’t worry about that, Will’ he replied. ‘Have you ever seen a fish with ears?’ He laughed, and we did too.
The boat moved slowly out of the harbour and we were soon out at sea, where the waves suddenly got bigger. We all had to sit down to stop ourselves from falling over. It was great fun!
Then we got the rods* ready for fishing. Steven explained what the different bits of equipment were. The best bit was the bait*. That’s the part at the end of the fishing line* that attracts the fish and makes them bite it. The bait* was a colourful plastic fish that moved up and down when it was pulled through the water. Under each plastic fish were six very sharp metal hooksb2, which, hopefully, would catch a fish.
When the three lines* were in the water, we put the rods in metal things that held them.
Then Aunt Mary opened the picnic basket.
‘Who would like a sandwich?’ she asked.