From the 20c table at St Christopher's.

This was one of my favourite books when I was a child.

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I remember the year I discovered this book in my school library. I must have read it so many times that year that I'm surprised they didn't just issue it to me permanently.

What's surprising now is how little of it I remembered. Yes, I remembered the overall plot, and a couple of details had stuck in my head, but re-reading it now it amazes me just how much I'd forgotten.

Reading it as an adult is (of course) a totally different experience to reading it as a child. I'm afraid a lot of my enjoyment was ruined by the nagging adult thought of "where were social services when all this was going on?" I mean, a 10 year old and an 8 year old are wandering around the country on their own, and not one of the friendly adults they encounter thinks to contact someone in authority??? Yeah, right!

But if you can turn off that adult part of your brain, it's still a cool adventure.

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Given to awhina, who thought the kitten might like it.

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