Fifteen year old Matty Doolin lives at home with his parents in a city in the north of England. Although Matty is a big, strong boy he is very quiet and finds it difficult to talk. He is about to leave school but he is not sure what job he wants to do. Mr Funnell, Matty’s teacher, suggests that he works on a farm because he loves animals. However, Matty’s father wants him to become a ship-builder.
Matty is having problems with his parents. They will not let him go on a camping holiday with his friends Joe and Willie. They also want him to get rid of his old dog, Nelson, because he eats everybody’s clothes. One morning, Matty goes off on his own and returns to find that his dog has been killed by a car. Matty is very upset.
A few days later, Matty comes home to a big surprise. His parents have bought him camping equipment. He is going to camp on a farm in the hills with his friends. The farmer, Mr Walsh, is a friend of Willie’s father.
When they arrive at the farm, the boys are shown where to pitch their tents by Mr Walsh who is not very friendly at first. They meet Mrs Walsh and their twelve year old daughter, Jessica. Matty keeps away from her because he thinks girls are trouble. Matty immediately loves the hill farm and wants to stay there forever, but he knows he must return to the ship-building job.
The next day the boys help out on the farm. Joe and Willie think it is dirty work but Matty enjoys himself. That night there is a terrible thunder storm and their tent gets very wet. Mr Walsh fetches them and they sleep in a barn.
On the following day Matty goes alone with Mr Walsh to watch the sheep dogs working. Matty doesn’t say much because he feels that Mr Walsh doesn’t like him. Joe and Willie are starting to feel bored of country life so a few days later, Mr Walsh takes them into town. Matty stays on the farm and enjoys working hard all day.
Willie and Joe want to leave but Matty is determined to stay. On the morning that Willie and Joe are planning to go home, their school teacher
Mr Funnell turns up. He is an old friend of Mr Walsh. Mr Funnell realises that Matty would like to stay and work on the farm. He advises Matty to speak more to Mr Walsh.
The next day Mr Walsh, Joe, Willie and Mr Funnell take the sheep to market. Matty stays back at the farm and works. Jessica hangs around asking him lots of questions and Matty suddenly gets angry with her. She goes off into the mountains on her own. Mrs Walsh has to visit her brother and Matty is left alone on the farm. A storm comes and Matty sends Betsy the dog to look for Jessica. Betsy does not return. Matty goes into the mountains to look for the girl but he cannot see because of the mist. Eventually he finds her and spends half the night helping to protect her on the wet mountainside. They are rescued. Matty wakes up in bed the next day with his mother by his side. He is a hero for rescuing Jessica. Mr Walsh offers him a job on the farm and his parents agree. Matty is finally very happy.
background to the story
There are many people who do not do very well at school but who later go on to do great things. For example, Winston Churchill, one of Britain’s most famous prime ministers, was considered to be a mediocre pupil at school but became a world famous leader.