Daisy May Johnson - How to Be Brave

The young Elizabeth lived with her parents in a big house in the countryside. Although she was an only child, she did not grow up alone. She had a dog that was so large and brown, he really was more lion than dog. His name was Aslan and when Elizabeth went to school, he would sit quietly at the front door and not move until he saw her coming back up the drive.

Elizabeths parents spoiled her deliberately and happily. They lived for the moment and her childhood was as perfectly formed as the diamonds on her mums wedding ring. She would have chocolate cake for breakfast and ice cream for lunch before going to bed at midnight and watching fireworks outside the window. And on the days when there were no fireworks and just the distant pink of a setting sun, Elizabeth would sit outside and think about how much she loved her life. It was a strange thing for a child to think, but Elizabeth North was a strange child who lived a strange life.

She went to school, of course, and mixed with other children, but the school was down in the village and not the sort of school that you and I might even recognize as a school. It was two rooms, and the older children sat in one, and the younger children sat in the other, and Elizabeth was sent between the two rooms because there was nobody else her age. Sometimes when she was sent from one room to the other, she would wander outside instead and feed the birds with the spare crumbs from her pockets.

On one Friday in July, when it was almost the end of term and everybody was thinking about the school holidays, the little ones had been allowed to do coloring but the older ones had had to do math. Elizabeth didnt want to do either, so she was on her way to slip outside. She had gone precisely three steps when Mrs. Fraser, her tall and sensible teacher, stopped her. Math, said Mrs. Fraser. You need to brush up on your times tables.

But thats not fair, said Elizabeth, folding her arms.

Mrs. Fraser didnt look concerned in the slightest. Life isnt fair, Elizabeth. Youll be doing math this afternoon and if you continue with this attitude, youll be staying behind and doing extra. I am quite happy to do my knitting while you do some more sums. I imagine it will be educational for us both.

You have no jurisdiction on me after school, said Elizabeth.

It was somewhat inevitable that Mrs. Fraser thought the opposite.

She kept Elizabeth in detention that very day and, straight after the last little one had been picked up by their parents, spent the next hour drilling Elizabeth on why X+Y=Z. In all honesty it wasnt a very productive session because Elizabeth did not want to be there, and neither did Mrs. Fraser.

But then everything changed.