How the main characters meet

In my last posting, I talked about how I started the book to try to give new writers an idea as to my thought processes, and in this posting, I’m going to discuss the section that introduces Marc and Toby. In case you haven’t read the book (if so I am shocked!), Marc, the main character has arrived at the cottage of an old friend of his called Jake who’s the handyman and gardener at an old English boarding school. While Jake popped out, one of the schoolboys named Toby arrives to pay a visit to Jake.

Toby swung around and was surprised to see a stranger sitting comfortably in Jake’s favorite armchair but no sign of his friend.

Toby managed to stammer out, “So… so… sorry, I thought Jake was here.”

The stranger seemed amused by Toby’s reaction and a shadow of a smile came over his face. It was strange, thought Toby, but he seemed somehow familiar.

“Jake will be back soon.” Marc said. “He’s got a couple of things to do at the school.” Toby was about to speak when the stranger added, “He’s picking up some dinner from the cook.”

Toby laughed nervously as Marc invited him to sit down.

“I’m Marc, by the way. Who are you?”

“Toby Tomkins, sir. I’m a friend of Jake’s.” Toby said, sitting and feeling that he had to explain why he’d simply just walked in. “I often drop in to see Jake in the evening for an hour or two.”

“Well, in that case, we can wait together as he shouldn’t be long.”

Toby looked around as if checking for an escape route.

“It’s all right, you know. I don’t bite.” Marc smiled and stretched again. “And, by the way, don’t call me sir.”

“Sorry, sir… er, sorry, err—”

“It’s Marc, just call me Marc.”

“Y-Y-Yes, of course, Marc.”

They both looked at each other for a few moments, then, to break the ice, Marc asked, “I guess you go to St Bart’s then?”

Toby nodded.

“How long have you been going there?”

“Just over a year now.” Toby replied, remembering not to add the sir before continuing, “It’s not as bad as I’d thought it would be. Do you go to St. Bart’s as well?”

Marc laughed. “No, I occasionally pass this way on my travels, and I always try to drop by and see my old Jake when I can.” Pointing toward his empty cup, he added, “He makes the best cup of tea I know. Fancy a cup?” Toby nodded and Marc got up, then proceeded to fill the kettle with water.

Toby also got up and moved across into the kitchen area, taking another cup out of the cupboard. “What school do you go to?”

Marc plugged the kettle in and stood back. “Oh, I don’t go to school.”

Toby was intrigued. “How come?” He stopped himself, thinking that he may have appeared rude. He followed with, “If you don’t mind my asking, you don’t look old enough to have left school yet.”

Marc peered up with an amused expression. “I’m not sure how old I am, so it’s a bit hard to say.”

Toby was puzzled. “Not sure? But everyone knows how old they are. When’s your birthday?”

Marc stood still and stroked his chin in a classic thinking posture. Slowly, he replied, “Not too sure. Do you know when yours is?”

Toby was lost for words for a second. “My birthday? Of course, I know when it is. Everybody knows when their birthday is.”

“Well, I don’t. Besides, I don’t worry too much about things like that, so why bother about keeping track? I always find it funny how people let clocks rule their lives. Why give yourself the hassle?”

Marc’s answer threw Toby a bit and he didn’t know what to make of that answer.

“You must have some idea.” Then, an idea struck him. “How many Christmases do you remember?”

Marc brightened at this idea. “Ah…Christmas. Not too sure, but let’s see—” and he started to count on his fingers. “There were a few in Scotland, a couple down on the coast, three or four over in Wales, half a dozen over Norfolk way, but most of them were around this neck of the woods… so, let’s add another dozen or so for good measure.” Marc popped a teabag into Toby’s cup and poured in the hot water.

Toby unconsciously backed away a step, convinced Marc was a little crazy. “Hang on, that doesn’t sound right.”

Marc stopped and thought hard while shaking his head. “Hmmm, you’re right, that really doesn’t sound right, does it?” and carried on making the tea.

Toby politely laughed at Marc’s attempt at humor.

Marc raised a finger. “I must have forgotten dozens. I’ll have a think about it some more and let you know.” Then, he promptly handed Toby his cup.

“Come on, sit down and drink your tea.” He paused. “What’s with the funny look on your face?”

“Sorry, it’s just I’ve never met someone who didn’t know how old he was, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s never bothered me.” He felt it was best to change the subject. “How come you’re at the school? Are your Mum and Dad loaded with money and want the best for their little boy?” he asked jokingly.

“No. Well, sort of…” Toby replied. “Mum and Dad work for the government and spend months at a time in different countries. They said it would be too tough on me to keep changing schools all the time.” A sadness came over his face. “I do miss them, though, and I know it’s for the best. Still…I’d much rather be with them.”

Marc was quiet for a moment before replying. “I can’t imagine how you’re feeling, but I guess it’s hard. I move around a lot, so I never really get the chance to get too attached. I just couldn’t stay in one place for too long, though. I think the longest I’ve stayed in any one place is about two months.”

“Two months? What do you do the rest of the time?”

“Oh, I go here and there.” Marc waved his hand around in the air. “I just walk until I get there.”

Toby was confused. “Get where? What do you mean by walk? Don’t you have a motorbike or a car?”

“Wow! You have lots of questions, don’t you!” Marc said with a laugh. “I just go until I arrive, and if I need to do something, I stay until I’ve finished, and then I move on.”

Toby felt like he was going around in circles.

“Do what? Arrive where?”

“Wherever I’m needed and whatever I’m sent to do.”

Toby felt as if he was being teased.

“Sorry, I’m missing something here.”

“Look, don’t you worry about it for now. Enjoy the tea.”

The front door opened, and Jake came barging in, the wind following him in with a howl.

“Hello, Toby! I see you’ve met Marc.” Jake took his coat off and hung it up next to Toby’s, then, clapping his hands together, he happily remarked, “And the two of you made tea?” Turning around to Toby, he asked in a low voice, “Is it drinkable?”

Toby sipped at his tea. “Seems okay, why?”

Jake laughed again and motioned in Marc’s direction. “Oh, Marc here, he may be good at saving the planet, but he can’t make tea to save his life. Let’s make you another cup.” Jake said, moving to fill the kettle again.

As you just read, Toby let himself into the cottage looking for Jake, but was surprised to find a stranger there instead. Toby was nervous and a little scared of seeing someone else with no sign of Jake, so I had Toby stammer a little. Earlier on in the story I had mentioned that Marc had a way of making people feel at ease when they met him and this comes across as Toby finds himself feeling that something about Marc was strangely familiar. I find that often referring back to something that has already been mentioned ties the storyline together.

Not understanding who Marc was, Toby was quite formal at the start calling him sir.

Sensing that Toby was nervous, Marc tells him that he doesn’t bite and encouraged the boy to call him Marc.

For this I put myself in Toby’s shoes and thought about how I would react. As I wouldn’t be sure if this stranger was associated with the school, I would treat him with respect, waiting for Marc to raise subjects that I could respond to. Think about situations where you have been in a similar position – it’s all about putting yourself into the character and imagining how you would react and what would you do.

Following Marc’s lead when asked if he attended the school, he noticed that Marc couldn’t be much older than himself, so he asked if Marc also attended the school although he knew that he hadn’t seen him before.  When Marc replied that he didn’t go to school and then that he didn’t really know how old he was, Toby seemed to forget his nerves and was confused by a mixture of feeling like he was being played with and wanting to get away from this crazy person!

Mar then started asking Toby about his parents and that’s when we learn that Toby is a loner and miss his parents who are away most of the time, hence the reason why Toby attends a boarding school. I think this idea came about from the movies and stories that I’ve read from the past where many parents who had more money that love in their hearts packed their kids off to a boarding school, some to ensure that their kids received a better education, but many to avoid having to deal with kids at home. It’s sort of sad actually so I wanted the reader to feel that Toby was a lonely boy who valued friendship.

I then had Marc explain that he wandered the country, never staying in places for more than necessary. Toby was confused as he’s always wanted somewhere to call home and along comes this person who seems to thrive on being homeless. Then I had jake arrive back at the cottage and make the first remark about Marc saving the planet.

So within a few pages, we’ve gotten all the main characters together and we can see that Toby’s nervousness at meeting Marc is now stronger than ever and has him convinced that Marc is either a joker or insane. This leads into the relationship between Toby and Marc overcoming that bad start and start to form bonds between them. It does take a awhile for Toby to start to believe certain things about Marc and as you read further, you’ll find Toby’s true strength start to come through, yet deep down he’s still this young schoolboy who’s yearning for love and friendship.

Let me say that my parents were great, but I was still a loner without many friends at school except two or three who I tended to hang around with. Even so, apart from some time with them out of school hours, I would spend most of my time using my imagination to entertain myself. We used to have a narrow back yard that once had an old apple tree two thirds of the way along it, When the tree got diseased, my dad took it out and as he now had this large hole and no earth to fill it in, he decided to put a fish pond in there instead with a pathway running around it – the amount of time I would spend scooting along on my hands and knees racing toys cars around that oval track! Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that even though I never attended boarding school, I was quite a loner myself and spent most of my time using my imagination. Part of my children has allowed me to relate to Toby’s character as nervous but never knowing how to break into the social circle. Hey, I was so nervous of some things that when we got our first telephone installed when I must have been about 10 or 11, I was afraid to answer it so when my first main job was that of a telephone engineer, I don’t know if my parents or me were more shocked!

It’s essential to establish how characters meet and start to mesh and while it is a part of the story which could be quite low key and feel like the story loses focus, I tried to inject some humor into the scene and you can imagine this schoolboy listening to a derange stranger and looking for a way out, the humor keeps the scene fresh and hopefully allows the reader to feel part of themselves in the situation.

OK, time for me to sign off, I would say at this point what section I will be discussing next but right now I have no idea so it will be a surprise to all of us!