Can anyone help me find the title of this book?!

[GinIsTheOnlyTonic]

I remember reading this novel in Y8 English - 1999-2000 ish. I'm pretty sure it had a runaway kid in it. Probably a boy. And I think it had a hermit in it too and they became friends. I have tried all kinds of variations of searches with no luck! Any ideas? I don't know if my memory has somehow mixed two separate books up and that is why I can't find it. It wasn't a very big book I don't think as I remember we read it during class time over a few weeks all reading a paragraph or whatever each. Thanks for you help if you have any suggestions!

What time period was it set in?
British? American? Somewhere else?
Was the hermit an adult or a child?

For some reason (maybe because he's a popular author for schools reading) the first book that came to my mind is "Kingdom by the Sea" by Robert Westall

OMG I think that might actually be it! Thank you so much for replying! I'm going to download it on my Kindle and give it a read later so I will come back to update tomorrow. Thank you so much

Oh brill, I hope it's the right one!

Was it called Moses beech? We read something similar in year 8 although I'm probably a bit older than you.

Stig of the Dump?

Oh year 9, probably not then!