The Christmas Pig Read online

  To David

  — J.K. Rowling

  For Sandy and Lola

  — Jim Field

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Part One: Dur Pig

  Chapter 1: Dur Pig

  Chapter 2: Mum and Dad

  Chapter 3: Changes

  Chapter 4: Holly Macaulay

  Chapter 5: Holly’s DP

  Chapter 6: More Changes

  Chapter 7: Not Jack’s Dad

  Chapter 8: The Toilet Roll Angel

  Chapter 9: Christmas Eve

  Chapter 10: The New Angel

  Chapter 11: Lost

  Chapter 12: The Christmas Pig

  Chapter 13: The Night for Miracles and Lost Causes

  Chapter 14: Shrunk

  Part Two: Mislaid

  Chapter 15: Beneath the Tree

  Chapter 16: Mislaid

  Chapter 17: The Three Doors

  Chapter 18: The Prisoner

  Chapter 19: Horsey Things

  Chapter 20: The Wicker Donkey

  Part Three: Disposable

  Chapter 21: Disposable

  Chapter 22: Adjustments

  Chapter 23: The Plan

  Chapter 24: Lunch Box

  Part Four: Bother-It’s-Gone

  Chapter 25: Bother-It’s-Gone

  Chapter 26: Addie the Address Book

  Chapter 27: Mayor Cheese Grater

  Chapter 28: Crusher

  Chapter 29: Poem and Pretense

  Chapter 30: The Tunnel

  Part Five: The Wastes of the Unlamented

  Chapter 31: Compass

  Chapter 32: The Broken Angel

  Chapter 33: The Story of the Blue Bunny

  Chapter 34: The Bad Habits

  Chapter 35: The Loser

  Chapter 36: Thistles

  Chapter 37: Train Tracks

  Chapter 38: The City Gates

  Part Six: The City Of the Missed

  Chapter 39: The City of the Missed

  Chapter 40: Followed

  Chapter 41: The Performers

  Chapter 42: The King’s Invitation

  Chapter 43: The Palace

  Chapter 44: The Royal Family

  Chapter 45: The King

  Chapter 46: Power’s Plan

  Chapter 47: The Last Two Guests

  Chapter 48: Flight

  Chapter 49: The Story of Hope

  Part Seven: The Island of the Beloved

  Chapter 50: The Island of the Beloved

  Chapter 51: The Truth

  Chapter 52: A Famous Friend

  Chapter 53: The Sleigh Ride

  Chapter 54: Return to the Wastes

  Part Eight: The Loser’s Lair

  Chapter 55: The Crater

  Chapter 56: The Loser’s Lair

  Chapter 57: The Last Hope

  Part Nine: Home

  Chapter 58: Found

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Excerpt from The Ickabog

  Also by J.K. Rowling

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Dur Pig

  Dur Pig was a small toy pig made of the same material as a soft towel. He had little plastic beans in his tummy, which made him fun to throw. His squishy trotters were exactly the right size to wipe away a tear. When his owner, Jack, was very young, he fell asleep every night sucking Dur Pig’s ear.

  Dur Pig got his name because when Jack started to talk, he said “dur pig” instead of “the pig.” When new, Dur Pig had been salmony-pink, with shiny black plastic eyes, but Jack couldn’t remember Dur Pig looking like that. Dur Pig had surely always been as he was now: grayish and faded, with one ear stiff from all the sucking. Dur Pig’s eyes fell out, leaving tiny holes in his face for a while, but then Jack’s mum, who was a nurse, sewed little buttons in place of the missing plastic beads. When Jack came home from nursery that afternoon, Dur Pig was lying on the kitchen table wrapped up in a woolen scarf, waiting for Jack to take off the little bandage covering his eyes. Mum had even made Dur Pig a set of medical notes: “DP Jones. Operation to attach buttons. Surgeon: Mum.”

  After his eye operation, everyone started calling Dur Pig “DP” for short. From the time he was two years old, Jack would never go to bed without DP, which often caused problems, because when bedtime came, DP was usually nowhere to be found. Sometimes it took Mum and Dad a long time to find DP, who turned up in all kinds of places: hiding inside one of Dad’s shoes or scrunched up in a flowerpot.

  “Why d’you keep hiding him, Jack?” Mum asked every time she found DP curled up in a kitchen drawer or hidden beneath a sofa cushion.

  The answer was private, between Jack and DP. Jack knew DP liked cozy spaces where he could snuggle up and sleep.

  DP liked doing exactly the same things Jack did: crawling under bushes and into hidey-holes and being thrown up in the air, Jack by his Dad, and DP by Jack. DP didn’t mind getting dirty, or being dropped accidentally in a puddle, as long as he and Jack were having fun together.

  Once, when Jack was three, he put DP in the recycling bin. When he’d heard Mum say the bin was for recycling, Jack thought it had something to do with bike rides, so he waited for Mum to leave the kitchen, then dropped DP in there, imagining he’d have a little spin around when the lid was on. Mum laughed when Jack explained why he was peeking in the bin to try and catch the things moving. She explained that “recycling” meant something very different to going for a bike ride. All the things in the bin were going to be taken away and turned into other things, so they’d have a whole new life. Jack definitely didn’t want DP to go away and be changed into something else, so he never put DP in the recycling bin again.

  All his adventures gave DP his interesting smell, which Jack liked very much. It was a mixture of the places DP had gone on his adventures, along with the warm dark cave under Jack’s blankets, and just a trace of Mum’s perfume, because she always hugged and kissed DP, too, when she came to say good night to Jack.

  Every now and then, Mum would decide DP had gotten a bit too smelly and needed a good clean. The first time DP ever went in the washing machine, Jack had lain on the kitchen floor and screamed with rage and fear. Mum had tried to show Jack how much DP was enjoying swirling around in the washing machine, but it wasn’t until DP was back in the cave under Jack’s blankets that night, soft and dry and smelling of washing powder, that Jack really forgave Mum. He soon got used to DP going in the washing machine, but he always looked forward to DP returning to his natural smell.

  The very worst that ever happened to DP was when Jack was four, and lost him at the beach. Dad had already packed up the towels and Mum was helping Jack back into his sweatshirt, when Jack suddenly remembered burying DP somewhere, though he couldn’t quite remember where. They searched until the sun was setting and the beach was almost empty, and Dad got really cross, and Jack wailed and sobbed, but Mum kept telling him not to give up hope, and digging all round with her hands. Then, just as Dad was saying they’d have to leave without DP, Jack dug his bare foot into the sand and his toes hit something squashy. Jack pulled DP out, sobbing with happiness, and Dad said that DP was never to come to the beach again, which Jack thought very unfair, because DP loved sand, which was why Jack had buried him in the first place.

  Chapter 2

  Mum and Dad

  Shortly before Jack started school, a letter arrived telling all the parents that the children should bring their favorite cuddly toy with them on their first day. Everybody in Jack’s cla
ss brought a teddy, but Jack, of course, brought DP. Each child took his or her turn to walk up to the front of the class and explain what their cuddly toy’s name was, and why they liked it. When it was Jack’s turn, he explained why DP was called “DP,” and about the operation on his eyes, and about the day he got buried on the beach and was nearly lost forever. The stories of DP and his adventures made the class laugh and when Jack finished talking, they all clapped. DP was easily the funniest and most interesting toy, even though he was one of the shabbiest. At playtime, Jack and a boy called Freddie played catch with DP. Just before the end of break, Jack dropped DP in a puddle. That night, DP had to go in the washing machine again.

  If Jack ever had a bad day at school—if he got a low mark, or had an argument with Freddie, or if somebody made fun of Jack’s wonky clay pot—DP was waiting at home to wipe away a tear with his small, squishy trotters. Whatever happened to Jack, DP was there, understanding and forgiving, and carrying with him that comforting smell of home, which always came back, no matter how often Mum washed it off.

  One night, soon after he’d started school, a noise woke Jack up. He felt for DP and drew him close in the dark.

  Somebody was shouting. The voice was a bit like Dad’s. Then there was a crash and a lady screamed: it sounded like Mum, but not as Jack had ever heard her. Jack was scared. He listened for a few more moments, pressing DP against his mouth and nose, and he knew DP was scared, too.

  Jack thought Mum and Dad might be fighting a burglar together. He knew the number you had to call for the police, so he got out of bed in the dark and crept out onto the landing. Still holding DP, he tiptoed downstairs. Dad was still yelling and Mum was still screaming. Jack couldn’t hear the burglar’s voice.

  Then the sitting room door banged open and Dad strode into the hall. He wasn’t wearing his pajamas, but jeans and a sweatshirt. Dad didn’t notice Jack on the stairs. He opened the front door, walked out, and slammed it behind him. Jack heard the noise of the car engine in the drive. Dad drove away.

  Jack crept into the sitting room. The lamp was on the floor and Mum was sitting on the sofa with her face in her hands, crying. When she heard Jack’s footsteps, she looked up, startled, then cried harder than ever. Jack thought she’d explain everything and make it all better, but when he ran to her, she only hugged him very close, the way he held DP when he was hurt or sad.

  Chapter 3

  Changes

  Dad didn’t live with them anymore after that.

  Mum and Dad explained to Jack separately that they didn’t want to be married anymore. Jack told them he understood. He said that other people at school had mums and dads who didn’t live together. He could tell that they needed him to be all right about it all, so he pretended he was.

  But some nights, after Mum had kissed him and closed the door, Jack cried into DP’s limp body. DP knew and understood everything without being told. He knew about the hard lump in Jack’s chest. His trotters wiped away Jack’s tears. Jack didn’t have to pretend in the dark with DP.

  Soon after Jack’s sixth birthday, Dad took Jack out for a burger, gave him a big box of LEGOs, and explained that he’d gotten a job abroad.

  “I can talk to you all the time, though, Jack,” said Dad. “You can fly on an airplane to visit me. It’ll be fun, won’t it?”

  Jack didn’t think it sounded nearly as much fun as having a dad around to play with, but he didn’t say that. Jack was getting used to not saying things.

  Next, Mum told him it might be a good idea if they moved to be closer to Gran and Grandpa, who could take care of Jack when she needed to work late. She had a new job at a big hospital, and Grandpa had found them a lovely house with a garden, just two streets away from Gran and Grandpa’s house. Gran and Grandpa owned a very naughty dog called Toby. Jack found Toby-the-dog funny.

  “But will I have to leave school?” asked Jack, thinking of his best friend, Freddie.

  “Yes,” said Mum, “but there’s a school very near our new house. I know you’ll love it.”

  “I don’t think I will,” said Jack.

  He didn’t want to move and he didn’t want a new school. Mum didn’t seem to understand: Jack didn’t want any more changes. He wanted to stay with his school friends and in the old house, where he and DP had had so many adventures.

  Gran and Grandpa talked to Jack on the phone. They told him how much they were looking forward to him and Mum coming to live near them, and what fun they’d have playing with Toby-the-dog in the park. So Jack said it was all right, but he didn’t really mean it. The only person who seemed to understand was DP. Jack knew DP would miss all their favorite hiding places, too.

  A few weeks after Mum had told Jack about the new house, Jack said goodbye to his teacher and Freddie. The next day, the removal men came and took away everything that made the old house look like home, and Mum drove Jack and DP a hundred miles in their car.

  Jack had to admit the journey was fun. DP sat on Jack’s lap, and Mum and Jack played I Spy and stopped for pizza and ice cream halfway. Mum let Jack buy two gobstoppers out of the gumball machine, one for him and one for DP (although, as Jack explained to Mum back in the car, he’d have to eat DP’s for him).

  He hadn’t expected to, but Jack liked the new house. His bedroom was next to Mum’s and there was a tall tree outside his window. Gran and Grandpa arrived five minutes after they did, with bags of food to fill up the fridge. The first thing Toby-the-dog did was to try and snatch DP out of Jack’s hand.

  “No, Toby, you know DP’s mine!” said Jack. He shoved DP down the front of his sweatshirt to keep him safe, but with his head sticking out so DP could see what was going on.

  The removal men lifted all their familiar furniture into the house. Mum and Gran put away all the kitchen things while Jack, Grandpa, Toby-the-dog, and DP explored the garden. It had lots of interesting hiding places and excellent high perches for DP, but Jack kept him close, because he didn’t trust Toby-the-dog not to try and snatch him again.

  That night, Jack held DP in bed, breathing in his familiar comforting smell, and they silently agreed that moving day hadn’t been nearly as bad as Jack had expected. There were no curtains on Jack’s window yet, and DP and Jack watched the leaves fluttering against the darkening sky outside, before they fell asleep.

  Chapter 4

  Holly Macaulay

  When Monday arrived, Mum caught Jack trying to sneak DP into his schoolbag.

  “No, Jack,” she said gently. “What if he got lost?”

  The thought of DP getting lost at a new school among strangers was dreadful, so Jack put DP back in his bedroom, but he felt very lonely and frightened as he approached the school gates.

  “I’m sure you’ll have a lovely day,” said Mum, hugging him before the bell rang and he had to go inside.

  Jack didn’t say anything. He was frowning with the effort it took not to look scared.

  The children in his new class all stared at him. They seemed bigger than the people in his old class. The teacher spoke to him kindly and asked his name. Then she asked the rest of the class to come to the front one by one, to show what they’d collected for the nature topic. Jack didn’t have anything, of course, so he watched while people showed leaves, acorns, and conkers to the class.

  Then came break time. Jack found a corner where nobody would bother him.

  After break, the teacher told everybody to take out their reading books. She gave one to Jack. Then she told the children that today was a special day, because some older students were visiting the class. Everybody would get a partner who’d help them with their reading.

  The classroom door opened and in came lots of big children from the top year. They were all grinning and a few of them waved at younger children whom they knew. Jack felt more scared than ever.

  One tall girl stood out from the rest. She had long black hair, which she’d tied back in a
ponytail. She wasn’t giggling behind her hand like a lot of the other big girls. She stood calmly while the teacher invited the older children to pick a partner. When the tall girl caught Jack’s eye, he quickly examined his fingers.

  The big children began moving among the desks and Jack’s classmates all began whispering, “Holly! Holly! Over here, Holly!”

  The girl sitting beside Jack was whispering, “Holly! Holly!” too.

  When she saw Jack looking at her, the girl next to him explained, “See her, with the long black hair? That’s Holly Macaulay. She’s a really good gymnast. She’s been on TV.”

  “Hello,” said a voice a long way above Jack’s head.

  He looked up. Holly Macaulay, who’d been on TV, was looking down at him.

  “You’re new, aren’t you?” she said.

  Jack tried to say yes but his voice wouldn’t work. Everyone was staring at him, and the frantic whispers of “Holly, Holly, Holly, over here!” became louder than ever.

  But Holly Macaulay ignored all of them. She pulled up a chair and sat down beside Jack.

  “I’m going to be your partner,” she said.

  It might seem strange to compare a floppy little pig to a tall eleven-year-old girl who’d been on TV, but not to Jack. DP had brought him friends on his very first day at his old school, and Holly Macaulay did the same for him at his new school. After just one hour with Holly as his reading partner, Jack was no longer the quiet new boy. He was the boy Holly Macaulay had chosen, the boy Holly Macaulay called “my mate Jack” when she saw him at the packed lunch table later.

  The rest of his class was impressed. They wanted to talk to him now. After he’d finished his sandwiches at lunchtime, a boy called Rory asked Jack if he wanted to play football. Rory knew lots of good jokes. When Mum picked Jack up at the end of the day, Rory tugged his mum over to Jack’s mum, and the two mothers made arrangements for Jack to go and play at Rory’s house later in the week.

  DP was delighted Jack had had such a good first day at his new school. He loved hearing about Holly Macaulay and Rory. Of course, Jack didn’t have to say anything out loud. Snuggled under the blankets, with the sound of rustling leaves just outside his window, DP knew and understood everything without being told. Jack fell asleep with DP’s bean-filled body against his cheek, his familiar smell mingling with that of the new paint in Jack’s room.