The Piper 20

Being told to stay at home for three days was the least of their worries.

Michael and Chris had not been excluded, they had been advised. The advice was that it would be wise to keep away for a while whilst things had the chance to cool down. The days had passed quickly.

Returning to Shagness was not the problem they thought it was going to be. If they had been expecting a rematch – them against the rest of the school, say – it didn’t happen. Instead, they were welcomed by something that fell only a little short of indifference, an indifference that was mixed with not a little respect. The situation was made all the better by the non-appearance of their main antagonists; Podrall’s gang were not in school. Chris and Michael would soon come to realise that attendance was not quite as obligatory as it should have…