Danny, the Champion of the World

Danny sleeps for over 10 hours and is woken up by the ambulance bringing William back home with his leg and foot encased in a plaster. Doc Spencer comes in with a large, delicious cold meat pie made by his wife for Danny and William, which Danny gulps down. After a day of rest, William is back to walking Danny to school and life almost returns to normal, but Danny notices a difference in his father, who seems preoccupied. Eventually, William tells Danny what is bothering him. Everyday, Mr. Hazell drives past the filling station in his fancy car and looks over at William with “a sneer under his nose and a smug little smirk around his mouth” (89), ruining William’s mood for the rest of the day.

William tells Danny that the pheasant shooting season begins in a few days, and every year Mr. Hazell holds a “grand opening-day shooting party” (89), where dukes, lords, and every other “fancy folk” in the country come. Danny is not sure why his father is telling him this, but William continues. He tells Danny that no one likes Mr.