Chapter 19-27 and the sad ending

Chapter 19

The two men sit in the car and they call on him to get in. Jamie gets in and Jamie blackmails them by saying that hey won’t see the money if they drive them anywhere and they should leave the girl alone. Also he blackmails them with a –none exist- video which shows the two men. The men agree Jamie tells them where the money is and they let him out in the nature.
This chapter show that Jamie is very clever, because he lies to the men by saying that there is a video, but in real there is no video, but the two men believe in it.


Chapter 20

In Chapter 20 Jamie meets Abby again, but he is very wondered about her baby she will get in short time. Jamie helps her very well and assists her by the birth. When she gave a birth the boy, they pull the boy and relax. Jamie tells Abby that he paid the men and says that his best friend Spider borrows him many money therefore. Then they are lying together in the darkness and sleep. When they wake up, Jamie asks Abby for the boys name and she calls him ‘Jamie’. Jamie feels very confused and then he finally learns her name, too.
I think this chapter is very surprisingly, because I don’t reckon that Abby get a baby, but this Chapter also shows that Jamie is a very helpful person and that he likes Abby very much.


Chapter 21

Abby and her baby want to go to Cumbria to Cartmel Fell and Jamie goes with them and helps them. Abby wants to hitch-hike and tries to stop a car, because driver more likely to stop for a girl on her own. Then a transit van with a man stops and takes the three kids. In the car the man asks Jamie for their life and what they are doing. During Abby sleeps, Jamie tells the man a wrongly story about them and I think that he tells the life story he would likes to live. Afterwards they hitch-hike with other cars, so that they only 8 miles have to walk and Jamie says that he will go with them till the end.
This chapter shows how unlucky Jamie is with his life, because when he tells his story, it seems to be as a dream-story. He tells all this things, which are different on his own life and this shows that he would likes to be another person.


Chapter 22


The walk through the night seems to be endless, but after a long walk they finally arrive the women’s house. Abby can’t stand a longer time and so they decides to push the bell, yet. Savita, the matron receives them. Abby tells her that she already called to her and Savita lets them in. She shows them their room and first, they eat something. Afterwards they go sleep together in one bed and Jamie enjoys this situation very much, he’d never seen a so beautiful and softly girl like Abby.
I can put myself in his position well and I believe that Jamie enjoys this situation very much, because he never met a so lovely and softly person like Abby and he didn’t know that feeling before.


Chapter 23

Jamie wakes up in the morning light and sees Abby, who wears new clothes and took a shower. She tells him that Savita is searching for some men clothes and that he can takes a shower, too, if he wants to. Jamie asks Abby for Savita and her life. Abby tells him that Savita builds this sort of commune for some women who have nothing and no one. Then Jamie asks Abby for her life and Abby begins to tell. She says that she ran away from home when she was fourteen and all she wanted was to go away. Then she met Angelo, the taller one of the two mysterious men, who found her when she was at her most vulnerable. He took her and was good to her in the beginning, but then she realized that he just wanted her for one thing and when he got bored with that, he decided to use her for something else. Jamie asks her for the money and Abby says that this money was money she had earned for him and she had borrowed it a friend called Jude to go away. Then Abby went away, because she wanted to meet her family in Ashingford and she tells Jamie that the other one of the two men is Vittorio, Angelo’s brother, who is even more dangerous than Angelo and they’re half-Italian, half-English. Abby tells that she met her father in Ashingford, but he ignored her like in the past and that’s the reason, she ran away. Jamie asks why her father ignored her and then she tells him that she has a twin, who was only loved by their father, because he is a winner type. When Jamie asks what her brother is a winner at, she answers: “Danny’s big thing has always been squash.”
I think that’s a real shock for him, because he finds out that the girl, he attends the whole time, is the sister of his biggest adversary. I would need a few days to realize this, because this would be a very big shock for me. Also I would be very angry about Bob Powell, their father, because he ignored her all the time and only loves Danny, the winner type.


Chapter 24

The next few days it was hard for Jamie to accept the message and he decides to go back home and Abby relates his decision, because she also thinks, that they’re two different characters in two different parts of live and Jamie has to go home. Abby doesn’t will go home. Never…
When they lied in the bed together so close, Abby says that she can’t make love with him and Jamie agrees that and has the same position. He encourages her and suddenly she gives him a kiss. Abby says that Jamie has to go the next morning without saying goodbye, because it’s better for both and she says: “Whenever you see your shadow, Jamie, remember you’re looking at me.”
I think this sentence is the most important one in the novel, because the symbolic of the word ‘shadow’ has an important role there. Abby means with this sentence that she will follow him everywhere and every time and she will always be by his sight, so he’ll never forget about her.


Chapter 25

Jamie is back home, but he can’t find his mother or his father. His home looks like every time, but it’s curious that all foot and drinks are full of a sort and everything is clear in his house. Before he goes to the squash hall he eats something and makes his way to Ashingford.
He goes into the changing room, thinks a while about Abby and then he goes to the
Tournament registration desk, because today are the regional Championships. All people are wondered about Jamie, because he missed a long time.
His adversary is Danny and Jamie plays only for Abby, so he wins the match with ‘nine-love, nine-love and nine-love’. Then he goes upstairs to Bob Powell and hits him very hard without saying anything. His dad goes with him into the changing room and Jamie represents him that he’ll go away again, when his father beats him again, but his father doesn’t want to hit him, he has a very hart message for him: Jamie’s mother is dead.
For me, this message would be a really hard shock, because it was very surprisingly and no one can guess this.
I can follow Jamie’s reaction against Bob, because of the behaviour to Abby he feels very angry. He ignored Abby and doesn’t love her and so she goes away from home.


Chapter 26

In the beginning of chapter 26, Jamie finds out how his mother dies. His father tells him that she read before his secret book and she thought that she’ll never see him again and was very sad, so she takes an overdose and…dies. Jamie thinks that he has the obligation for this.
Afterwards he talks with Spider, but he had already decided that he would never tell anyone about Abby, not even Spider. Jamie finds out that Angelo died and Vittorio takes all the money for himself. Spider nobody tells that he knew where Jamie is and he is very happy about it and tells Spider that he is the best friend he could ever have.
This scene shows the big relationship between Spider and Jamie. Jamie should be happy that he has got a friend like Spider. He borrows him many money and didn’t tell the police that he knows something about Jamie. In my opinion, a real friend!


Chapter 27

The last chapter of the novel deals with a last dialogue between Jamie and his desperate father. Jamie tells him his story and his father tells Jamie that he read his secret book and afterwards he realizes what he has done. He realizes all his mistakes and thought about it a long time, so he decided to change his live and behaviour against Jamie. Jamie feels happy about this and his father also says that he will give him the money, Spider borrows him.
In the night he thinks about his life, about his mother…and about Abby. Then he goes quietly as he can to his shed, turns on the lamp and…sees his shadow… and Abby’s words comes back to him: “Whenever you see your shadow, Jamie, just remember you’re looking at me.”
I think this is the perfect ending of the novel, because he talks with his father and his father decided to change his life. The ending with seeing the shadow and remember the words, I like very much.
Last and after reading this novel I ask me these questions:

• Does Jamie and Abby meet again?
• Does Jamie play squash again?
• Are Jamie and his father able to start a new life without the help of the mother?
• What happened to Abby and her son?
• Are they able to start a new and also happy life?
• Is Jamie beaten by his father again?