In which Caleb finds out that Grandpa has made an Incredible Counting Machine

It began as a rather ordinary day in Caleb’s rather ordinary looking house. I say ordinary looking house, because while his house appeared quite ordinary – the colour it was painted, the type of doors and windows and how the rooms were arranged, that sort of thing – there was a lot about the inside of his house and the things that went on there that weren’t quite so ordinary.

For one thing, Caleb’s Mum went to work and his Dad stayed at home and tried to look after him and his younger sister Beth. This wasn’t so bad, as Dad was quite a good cook and he wasn’t nearly as strict as Mum – so if they asked for something enough times they usually got it in the end.

For another, they did without the most of the usual services. Let me explain. Services are the things that come into our houses which other people provide and control – like TV, electricity and telephones. In Caleb’s house the electricity came from solar panels and there simply wasn’t a TV or telephone (though Mum did have a mobile phone, which she paid for out of her monthly allowance). The only exception was water. There was a limit to how much rain water Caleb’s Dad could collect and Mum put her foot down at re-using what went down the plughole – even if Dad was confident he could kill all the germs.

This had all come about because Caleb’s family had spent some time in a remote village in Africa when he was younger and had managed perfectly well without them then. Or so his parents said. If pressed, they would admit that it did make for more work, but it was more than compensated by something called “closeness to nature.” Caleb wasn’t so sure whether this was a good thing, but it was all he could ever remember and he had always been quite happy.

For another thing, Caleb’s Grandpa lived with them – in the loft. This was definitely a good thing as far as Caleb was concerned. While his Dad was quite interesting (he would often be fixing things, or making things, or painting pictures – and would usually encourage Caleb to join in) Grandpa was fascinating, and unpredictable to go with it. Every week he would have a new passion and you never could be quite sure where it would take him. And I say passion, because it was never just a mild interest, like some men have, but always an all-consuming passion. Once he had started on something it was impossible to get him to concentrate on anything else, he would be late for meals and often forget to sleep or even, I’m sorry to say, wash.

Now sometimes these passions had a useful outcome, like with the solar water heater that now provided their hot water for about two months of the year, when it wasn’t too cloudy. But sometimes they didn’t achieve anything useful at all, like when he had his phase with electromagnets. His greatest achievement then was to get a cordless steam iron to hover 6 inches above the table, which Dad said was more art than science.

Now, being the kind of person he was, Grandpa was always keen to share his passion with anyone who was interested. He wouldn’t force anything on others, but if someone happened to show some genuine interest he would happily explain whatever he was doing and answer as many questions as they could think of. Well, Caleb was full of questions if he was full of anything, so if he ever went into the loft, at any time of day or night, and began asking his Grandpa to explain something to him, he could be sure they would pass a happy hour or so together while Grandpa made sure he got a really good explanation.

The other thing I should say by way of introduction, is that Grandpa’s passions were not fed by books, like some people, but by action. And the particular kind of action that suited Grandpa best was making things. There was nothing he liked more than being surrounded by an assortment of wires, screws, bits of wood and metal and even, sometimes, chemicals – though Grandpa would be the first to admit that chemistry wasn’t his area of expertise. However, he’d try anything if it was necessary to create the thing he could see in the back of his mind.

Now on this particular day, Caleb climbed the ladder into the loft, not because he was bored or had a question to ask, but because he hadn’t seen his Grandpa for quite a few days. It had been a school week and the evenings had been busy too, with one thing or another. But this was a Thursday evening, and Thursdays were often quiet in Caleb’s house – his Mum and Dad usually complained of being ‘exceptionally’ tired on a Thursday.  So this time in a rather grown up kind of way, Caleb thought he ought to go and visit Grandpa – though he wasn’t sure if it was because he thought someone ought to be checking that Grandpa was OK or because it was just a friendly thing to do.

He pushed his head through the loft hatch and took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light (Dad kept promising to fix up some better lights) and to enjoy the comforting feeling of the warm air on his face (it was always a few degrees warmer in the loft than in the rest of the house). As usual, Grandpa was busy working on something at the other end of the loft – where the joining wall with the neighbour’s house was. His bed was near the loft hatch, under the sloping roof, mainly because he thought the wall was better used as a place to hang his tools. It was also a convenient place to put the Scottish calendar he was sent every year by his sister. A long, untidy work bench stretched the length of the wall and had started to make its way down both sides of the loft. The floor in between was covered in boxes, crates and piles of random things. In some ways just like you’d expect to find in a loft, but here there was a little more order and fewer cobwebs. Things were grouped so that they could be found more easily: a box of tools here, a crate of engine parts there, a pile of scrap metal in the corner.

Caleb’s favourite part of the loft was just inside the hatch where he and Grandpa had a small electric train set which they often played with when it was raining. Caleb loved lying on some old cushions listening to the rain on the roof, while he and Grandpa acted out stories. It was never a problem if they didn’t have something they needed – Grandpa would just make it.

“Caleb,” Grandpa called. “Come and see this!” Grandpa gave a quick wave of his hand, and turned his attention back to what looked like a large box on the bench. Caleb climbed up onto a tatty revolving chair and turned to face Grandpa’s latest creation. A dull desk lamp lit it unimpressively from one side. “I really think it works, now!” Grandpa said, apparently surprised at his own success.

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I hope you have enjoyed the first chapter of Caleb and the Incredible Counting Machine!

If you would like to read the rest of the book you can find details here of how to get hold of it.

I wonder where you would put your grandparents if they came to stay?! And do any of you have solar panels on your house? What would you miss most if you went to live in a remote village in Africa? Write a comment below and let us know!