Half a Man Read online

  Dear Michael,

  See they bury me at sea. I want to be with Jim and the others. I want Annie there, and I want your mother there too. I want you all there together. I want things put right. Thanks for looking at me like you did.

  Love,

  Grandpa

  A few days later, Annie came over to Scilly for the funeral. She held hands with my mother as Grandpa’s ashes were scattered out beyond Scilly Rock. Grandmother, mother and son, all of us together. We were lucky. We had a fine day for it. The gannets were flying, and everyone was together, just as Grandpa had wanted. So he was right about gannets. He was right about a lot of things.

  But he wasn’t half a man.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. First published in Great Britain 2005 • This edition published 2014 by Walker Books Ltd, 87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ • Text © 2005, 2006 Michael Morpurgo • Illustrations © 2014 Gemma O’Callaghan • The right of Michael Morpurgo and Gemma O’Callaghan to be identified as author and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 • All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher. • British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library • ISBN 978-1-4063-6262-6 (ePub)

  www.walker.co.uk