Precious and the Mystery of Meercat Hill by Alexander McCall Smith Page B

tell you the names of everybody here,” said Precious, looking around the group of children. “So I’m sure that you’ll soon know everybody.”
    They talked until it was time to go back into the classroom. Even when she was a young girl, Precious was very curious to find out as much as she could about other people. That was why she
became such a good detective when she grew up – detectives have to keep their eyes open; they have to look at people and think I wonder who that person is. I wonder where he comes from. I
wonder what his favourite colour is . And so on. She was very good at all that.
    But of course one of the best ways of finding something out is to ask somebody. That was a rule that Precious Ramotswe learned very early in her life, and never forgot. So that morning, as she
stood under the tree and talked to Teb and Pontsho, she found out a great deal about the two newcomers just by asking a few questions.
    For instance, she asked: “How many people live in your house?”
    And Teb replied: “There are six people who live in our house. There is me and my brother here – that’s two. Then there’s our mother, and our mother’s sister. She is
our aunt. And then there is our grandmother and our grandfather. They are very old. Our grandfather has no teeth left but our grandmother still has two or three. They like to sit in the sun all day
and watch what’s going on. They are very kind to us.”

    And then Precious asked: “What about your father?”
    This time the boy answered. “Our father was struck by lightning two years ago,” he said.
    “That’s very sad,” said Precious.
    The girl nodded. “And so we had to sell the place we lived in. We moved here because my grandfather had a small house that he owned. We all live in that now.”
    There were one or two other questions that Precious was able to ask. She asked how long it took them to walk to school, and they replied that it took just over half an hour. She asked them
whether they believed in ghosts and Teb said no, although Pontsho hesitated a bit before he too said no. Then she asked them whether they liked apples, and Teb shook her head.
    “I have never tasted an apple,” she said. “Are they good?”
    Precious tried not to show her surprise. Imagine never having tasted an apple! She herself loved apples, which her father bought her every Friday from one of the village stores. And then she saw
something that she had not noticed before. Neither of the children was wearing shoes.

    It did not take her long to work things out. Teb and Pontsho must be very poor. That was why they had never tasted an apple and that was why they had no shoes. The thought made her sad. To walk
to school for half an hour on ground that could become burning hot during the summer could not be easy. Of course your feet got used to it, and the skin underneath became harder and harder, but it
must still have been uncomfortable. And what about thorns? Some of the bushes that grew at the side of paths were known for their vicious thorns. It would be only too easy to get one of these in
your foot, and she knew how painful that could be.
    She did not say anything, though. Sometimes people who are very poor are ashamed of it, even if they have no reason to be. Being poor is usually not your fault, unless it’s because you are
very lazy. There are all sorts of reasons why people can be poor. They may have not been able to find any work. They may be in a job where they are not paid very much. They may have lost their
father or mother because of illness or an accident or, Precious thought, lightning. Yes, lightning was the reason here, and it made her sad just to think of it.

    The bell sounded for the end of the morning break. “We have to go inside now,” said Precious. “But if you like, I can walk home with you and we can talk a bit more. Your house
isn’t far from mine.”
    “I would like that very much,” said Teb. And then she added: “And if you