Buddy spends the evening by himself at home doing his homework in the cold house. Writing about Richard the Lionheart’s death scares Buddy as he thinks about how he died, again showing his fascination with death.
While getting ready for bed, Buddy notices that his dad is still not home and automatically starts thinking the worst. Eventually his dad comes in and tells him to get plates as he has a Chinese take-away for them both. His dad tells him that he met an old friend who has offered him work but he becomes snappy when Buddy asks questions about the job so Buddy stops asking.
Buddy confides in his dad that he thinks about death a lot and that he didn’t used to think about it. He used to talk to his mum about this type of stuff and she’d calm him down but his dad instead tells him about a story, “that’ll give you the shivers.”
He tells him about a house on Croxley Street, number 56 that is supposed to be haunted. He tells him that a couple lived there about twenty-five years ago and that the husband cut the wife’s throat and then killed himself and that the ghosts still haunt the house. Buddy was terrified by the story and wanted the light on for the night but was too scared to ask his dad.
He lay in bed that night scared of the dark and worrying about Mr Normington and the jeans, his history speech and the image of the arrow killing Richard the Lionheart. He went to sleep trying to get a picture of his mum in his mind, showing how much Buddy was missing his mum.
Questions:
- Why did Buddy not put on the heating when he was doing his homework?
- Why was he so fascinated about the death of Richard the Lionheart?
- How did his dad make up for the row earlier in the evening?
- What news did his dad have?
- Was his dad acting suspiciously? Explain your answer.
- Imagine you are Buddy, write the diary entry he would write before he went to sleep. (Remember the 3 F’s: Format, Facts, Feelings)
Enda's English Notes 
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