I am trying to use the vlookup function to find data in one colum and then
return a value in a different row. I tried using a combination of vlookup and
offset to no avail and I could use some help.

To illustrate I have data set up like this:

A B
1 apple 17
2 15
3 16
4 pear 2
5 10
6 9


I want to use a formula that will lookup a given item in column "A" and
return the associated value in column "B" offset by one or more rows. Meaning
I would like a formula that would return "15" for apple and "10" for pear,
rather than the straightforward vlookup that would return "17" and "2"
respectively.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you,