Exercise 26

On Sunday we went to Exeter, to visit my aunt Maryan and my uncle Jâgô, and my cousins Jûlyan and Vernôna. Powl was our driver on the way there. Both there and back in the car I was on the back seat with my brothers. Danyel behaved appallingly all the way to Exeter. And it’s a long way – a hundred miles! Unfortunately there’s hardly any proper signal on some parts of the route, and me trying to use the apps on my phone. In Exeter we all had Sunday dinner, and went for a walk in a park with their dogs, three little ones, in the afternoon. And I presented my violin solo piece from the concert. Vernôna’s in her school orchestra, playing flute, and she sings in the choir, but she can’t do a good solo. Mum drove us home. Luckily Danyel was asleep on the way back, so we were spared his noise!

Exercise 28

Elen Tonkin was married once before. Demelsa Pentreath is her child from that marriage. Elen and her first husband were soon divorced. Their relationship didn’t work out well at all. Demelsa still sees her father regularly, in accordance with the court order, and they get on pretty well. Most of the time.

Demelsa had three half-brothers. But something awful happened. The first brother, Ross Tonkin, died in an accident a year ago. He was thirteen. He was on his bike, and a lorry knocked him down, and he broke his neck. Elen and Powl are devastated by the death of their son, and the three other children are sad too. Elen and Demelsa in particular visit the grave often. But the family is determined to carry on with their life without becoming depressed. Ross will always be remembered with all their love.