Chapter 10

Content:

When Jess wakes up in the next morning, Mum sits next to her bed. She wants to talk with Jess about how she feels because Dad told her what was happened last night. Mum wants really make sure that they don't have to stay any longer at the cottage, if Jess doesn't want to. Although Jess wants to stay, because she doesn't want to erase Grandpas dream of finishing the painting at the cottage. Mum talks also about the picture. She wants that Grandpa finishes his picture as quickly as possible in order to get him into hospital.
So after a short time Jess and Grandpa sit at the river and Grandpa begins to paint, while Mum and Dad wait for Alfred in order to keep him away from Grandpa so that he won't be disturbed by Alfred.
Nevertheless Grandpa has a big problem with his fingers. He hasn't the strength to paint very accurately. It hurts him whenever he moves them. But somehow he's hard and also let Jess go for swimming. So Jess swims down to the river and has another meeting with the river boy. The boy doesn't seem to see her, but she sees him and his accurately swim-style. He swims like a fish.
Then Jess hears someone shouting help and swims as quickly as she's able to back to the place where she left Grandpa. However, there is no Grandpa and no painting at all. There is only Alfred with the empty wheelchair. How is that possible? Where is Grandpa? Mum, Dad and Jess begins to search him, but there was no sign of him. Then Jess finds him in the coffin (the package box of the car) however only after Alfred was gone. He says he hides himself and his picture because of Alfreds unexpected arrival.
Grandpa sleeps until 8, then he talks with Jess alone about his worry to go into hospital. He wants really finish his picture here, at the cottage and nowhere else. Jess goes away from Grandpa and Grandpa talks with Alfred who came back in the evening. Mum brings the two old men some soup and Dad talks a bit with Jess. He and Mum are anxious with Jess, although Jess says that everything is alright with her. There is no way for Jess to say anything about the boy to them.

My thoughts while reading:

I found this chapter really mysterious. How is it possible that an old man who is barely able to move can ensconce himself with a painting in a car box? Images of Grandpa changing his outward appearrance into the appearance of the river boy came to my mind.
Another point that really makes me interested is the relationship between Grandpa and Alfred. There aren't a lot information about this aspect. Maybe Alfred mustn't know anything about the picture. Maybe there's some coherence to an aspect like. I really don't know but I really convinced that the tension of the story rises up to its absolutely climax and I'm really curious about what happens in the next chapters.