‘Yes, it has,’ I said simply.
‘I’ll give you a few minutes to read this,’ she said and slid the neatly typed script towards me. Then she walked over to the window and stared out at the distant hills.
My hands were shaking as I read the press statement. It was written in cold hard clear language with no room for ambiguity.
When I had read it I stood up and walked over to her.
‘Well?’ she said very quietly.
We stood there side by side and I followed her gaze. In the far distance, the cluster of beautiful villages at the foot of the Hambleton Hills shimmered in a summer heat haze.
I handed her the letter and sighed deeply as I recalled Beth’s words: Do you want to be a village teacher all your life?
For the first time the answer seemed clear.
And in a heartbeat I knew what I must do.
Jack Sheffield was born in 1945 and grew up in the tough environment of Gipton Estate, in North East Leeds. After a job as a ‘pitch boy’, repairing roofs, he became a Corona Pop Man before going to St John’s College, York, and training to be a teacher. In the late 70s and 80s, he was a head teacher of two schools in North Yorkshire before becoming Senior Lecturer in primary education at Bretton Hall near Wakefield. It was at this time he began to record his many amusing stories of village life. He lives in York and Hampshire.
Visit his website at www.jacksheffield.com
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VILLAGE TEACHER
A CORGI BOOK: 9780552157889
First published in Great Britain
in 2010 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Corgi edition published 2010
Copyright © Jack Sheffield 2010
Jack Sheffield has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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