Little Johnnie, Big Mr. Robertson and a Most Unusual Girl

By Ronald Devlin

A book either to be read by older children on their own or by an adult to younger children. An ordinary boy, living beside an unpleasant neighbour, embarks on a life-changing adventure in the company of a most unusual girl.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781326524005

Book preview

Little Johnnie, Big Mr. Robertson and a Most Unusual Girl

Little Johnnie, Big Mr. Robertson And A Most Unusual Girl

Ronald Devlin

Copyright Notice

First published by Lulu in 2015

www.lulu.com

Copyright © Ronald Devlin 2015

All rights reserved

Ronald Devlin asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Contact Ronald at [e-mail] or

Twitter @ronniedevlin

For everyone who has ever enjoyed reading a story to a child at bedtime. With thanks to all who have given me love and support. Ever.

ISBN 978-1-326-52400-5

1. It Was a VERY Long Time Ago

Long, long, ago, before almost everybody (no matter what their age might be) had a mobile phone, there was a small boy who was called Little Johnnie.

It was long before mobile phones were invented. In fact, it was so long ago that very few people had even an old-fashioned dial-up telephone in their houses.

And even fewer had a television – and if they were lucky enough to have one – that television only had one channel and showed blurred pictures in black and white only.

Nobody had an American fridge freezer made in Turkey. Rich families did, however, have a small fridge made much nearer home with a tiny icebox where they could just about store a small block of ice-cream.

And because washing machines were also a rarity, busy mothers had to wash their families’ clothes by hand.

It was before houses had two cars outside the door, or, for that matter, even one. And what few cars there were on the street were, almost without exception, old and grey or black. Or white, with bubbles of rust bursting through the paintwork.

It was before people went on holidays on planes. In fact, the closest that people normally got to a plane was when they spied an occasional silver speck crossing the sky. And, in those days, because a plane was so rarely spotted, even the adults would look upwards and wonder at how a thing so heavy could stay aloft in the heavens.

The early 1960’s really was a long time ago and the world was a different place to how it is now.

2. Little Johnnie – JJ

Little Johnnie was nine, going on ten. His name was really John but he was known as Little Johnnie to avoid being confused with his father, whose name was also John.

Little Johnnie had a head of curly red hair, just like his father. He lived with his grey-haired mother and his sister, Baby Emily. She was two and a half, full of mischief, and had glossy black hair, just as their mother had, many years ago.

Little Johnnie hated being called Little Johnnie. He told his mother that he was now far too big for that name and insisted that he be called JJ (short for John Junior). And seeing as this story is mainly about him, we will fully respect his wishes.

JJ had been told that his father worked overseas. His father hadn’t been home for what seemed to JJ to be forever. JJ had also been told that it was normal for fathers to be away from home because work was scarce where they lived. And he knew that people who were abroad didn’t come home very often. But once a month, JJ would receive a letter in the post. In these letters, his father always told him that he loved him and that he would see him as soon as possible.

JJ liked to play football in the back garden and he would kick his orange-coloured ball against the garden wall over and over and over again. As the ball came back to him, he would kick it before it came to rest so that the ball would pick up force and travel faster. Once it came back at him so fast that he tried to, but couldn’t, get out of its way – it knocked him over onto a large nettle that stung the backs of his legs.

The reason that the nettle was able to sting his legs was that boys in those days didn’t wear long trousers. Longers were only for boys who had reached their teens.

So nettle stings on legs were very common. As was the knowledge that the sting would stop hurting if one rubbed a dock leaf on it. JJ’s back garden had lots of dock leaves, particularly along the right-hand wall that divided his garden from Big