A Kid Called Billy

A Gift, A Name, and A Summer That Changed Everything

When Billy McCarty’s aunt arrives from America in the summer of 1967, she brings more than just gifts—she brings destiny. Among the surprises is a denim jacket stitched with the name "Billy the Kid"—a name that sparks imagination, confidence, and a summer of unforgettable mischief for ten-year-old Billy in suburban Reading, England.

With his best friends, Pinky and Porky, Billy forms a gang of would-be outlaws, setting off on adventures through apple orchards, abandoned mansions, and lakeside escapades that toe the line between hilarity and humiliation. Beneath the childhood mischief, though, lie deeper currents of grief, loyalty, and faith. As Billy wrestles with the loss of his father, strange coincidences—ghostly visions, a mysterious bike-saving spirit, a haunting dream—hint at something greater steering his path.

Set against the nostalgic backdrop of 1960s England, A Kid Called Billy blends heartwarming humour with poignant themes of family, fate, and growing up. It’s a coming-of-age tale where innocence meets insight, and where even a scuffed denim jacket can carry the weight of destiny.

Step into Billy’s world and discover how one summer, one jacket, and one name changed everything.

Excerpt from the book

The euphoria of England’s FIFA World Cup win a year ago had subsided, but there was no denying that the popularity and enthusiasm for the game had increased amongst the population.

That is… for most people.

“Oi… you two, take that ball and clear off!” shouted Mr Arnold.

“Sorry, mister, we’re waiting for Billy to come out.”

“I don’t care if you’re waiting for Bobby Moore himself”—a reference to the captain of England’s World Cup-winning team—”go and play outside your own house. Now clear off, or I’ll call the police.”

Tommy and Adam looked at each other and then glanced up at Billy’s bedroom window.

“Where is he?” asked Tommy.

“There’s still no sign of him,” Adam replied, just as a figure appeared at the window.

Billy looked down at his friends on the street below. Adam grabbed his football and held it up so that Billy could see it.

“Are you coming out to play?” mouthed Adam.

“I can’t,” Billy mouthed back to him. “I’ve got to stay in.”

“Aw, come on.”

“I can’t,” he repeated.

And with that, he moved away from the window and returned to emptying the contents of his chest of drawers onto the bedroom floor.

Downstairs, his mum, Mary McCarty, lost in her own thoughts, was busy sweeping the kitchen floor with her newly purchased broom. The second-hand vacuum cleaner that she had been using for the last two years had broken down, and this was all she could afford to replace it.

With her sister due within the next hour, she was anxious to get it done before she arrived.

Suddenly, the silence in the house was broken by the shouting coming from upstairs.

“Muum!” There was no answer. “Muuuuum!”

“What is it, Billy? I’m very busy.”

“I can’t find my underpants,” he called back with a certain amount of exasperation.

“They’re in your chest of drawers… where I always put them.”

Billy surveyed his bedroom floor and the pile of clothes that he had just emptied out.

“Mum, they’re not in there.”

“Are you sure, Billy?”

“Yes, Mum, I’m sure.” A few seconds of silence followed.

“Check in Jack’s room. Maybe I put them in there by mistake.”

Jack was four years older than ten-year-old Billy and, since their father had sadly died five years earlier, was the self-appointed “man of the house.” Billy stood just inside Jack’s bedroom doorway.

“Get out of my room!” bellowed Jack.

But it was too late. Billy had just caught sight of him trying to hide something under the pillow that he was propped up against.

He looked at Jack and then at the wall opposite him. Balls of soggy paper decorated the floral-patterned wallpaper. Billy turned back to his brother.

“Have you still got that catapult Mum told you to get rid of?”

“Shut up, Billy… if you tell Mum I’ve still got it, I’m going to fart on your face every day for a week.”

Billy shook his head. That was not a punishment he fancied receiving.

“I won’t,” came the reply.

“Anyway, what do you want?”

“Mum said she put my underpants in your drawer by mistake.”

Jack reluctantly got off his bed and went over to the chest of drawers that was placed under the window overlooking the back garden. He opened the top drawer and made a half-hearted search.