Read Online After the Mourning by Barbara Nadel - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barbara Nadel
Ads: Link
she said. ‘You know that Lily even offered a cure for my cough? Coltsfoot, apparently.’
‘Father Bowers, who is a friend of Father Burton, says that all types of magic and country ways come straight from the devil,’ Miss O’Dowd said, in that limp, almost apologetic way she has.
‘Oh, well, must be damned, then,’ I couldn’t resist responding.
‘Not you, surely,’ a sharp, familiar voice said behind me.
I turned and raised my hat. ‘Miss Hannah Jacobs.’
‘In the flesh.’ She was wearing an old if still stylish costume in cherry red. The skirt was short, as most women’s tend to be now, and it showed off her legs really well. Made up to the nines, as she always is when she goes out, Hannah had piled her hair up at the back of her head in a big French pleat, and topped it off with the fan-shaped hat I like so much. She looked a treat.
I heard Nan and the O’Dowd woman sniff disapprovingly in unison, but I ignored them and instead I reacquainted Hannah with the Duchess.
‘It’s very nice to see you, Miss Jacobs,’ the Duchess said, as she took Hannah’s hand and shook it between her own twisted, bony fingers. ‘You, like myself, must be curious about what is happening here in the forest.’
‘Yes. It’s amazing.’
Apart from Nan and Miss O’Dowd, we all chatted companionably until the Duchess suggested that perhaps Hannah and I might like to walk around while she sat with ‘the girls’. ‘You know that Lily’s father has a dancing bear,’ she said to me, as I bent down to bid her goodbye. ‘There’s plenty of card-reading and perhaps Miss Jacobs would like to see the Head.’
‘Yes, Duchess. We’ll see. Don’t get too cold out here, will you?’
‘Francis, please don’t fuss,’ she said as she waved us on our way.
I noticed that Hannah had frowned at my mention of the Head but I rolled my eyes to the sky and indicated that we should set off quickly while we could.
Once we were out of sight of my family I took one of Hannah’s hands.
‘Had your pocket picked yet, have you?’ she said.
I smiled. ‘No.’
‘How much they fleece you for a butcher’s at the dancing bear?’
‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘I haven’t seen him – this time. But I have spoken to Lily Lee.’
‘The Gyppo gifted with visions.’
‘If you want to put it like that, yes.’
‘She’s a fake,’ Hannah said. ‘And?’
I put my hand into my pocket and took out my fags. ‘I want to say yes,’ I said, ‘but not because of the visions. She just did a dreadful parlour trick for the Duchess and myself, a head on a table . . .’
‘Oh, the Egyptian Head. I know the bloke who does that,’ Hannah said dismissively.
‘Do you?’
‘David Green, calls himself the Wazir of the Pharaohs. His family lived next door to my auntie Esther in the Montefiore Buildings on Canon Street Road. Me and David was quite close as kids. Slimy thing when he grew up, mind. Been doing the halls with his magic act for years.’
Magicians are close about the secrets of their trade so I knew that if I asked, and even though I was a mate of Hannah’s, this Green bloke wouldn’t tell me how the Head trick worked. But I felt I’d like to see another version of it so that I had something to compare with what Lily was doing.
‘Do you know where David Green is playing at the moment?’ I asked.
‘No, but I can find out,’ Hannah said. ‘He ain’t no oil painting, though, David Green. You have been warned. Short, fat, bald and sweaty.’ She pulled a face. ‘Weird, he is, not in a nice way.’
She seemed disturbed, but then she said, ‘Not like you.’
It wasn’t easy getting away from the hordes in the clearing around the pond – there were even people camped among the trees. But after stepping over whole families of knitting women, not to mention numberless dirty-faced kids, we eventually came to a spot where we could be relatively private. I put my arms around Hannah and kissed her.
‘You know I
‘Father Bowers, who is a friend of Father Burton, says that all types of magic and country ways come straight from the devil,’ Miss O’Dowd said, in that limp, almost apologetic way she has.
‘Oh, well, must be damned, then,’ I couldn’t resist responding.
‘Not you, surely,’ a sharp, familiar voice said behind me.
I turned and raised my hat. ‘Miss Hannah Jacobs.’
‘In the flesh.’ She was wearing an old if still stylish costume in cherry red. The skirt was short, as most women’s tend to be now, and it showed off her legs really well. Made up to the nines, as she always is when she goes out, Hannah had piled her hair up at the back of her head in a big French pleat, and topped it off with the fan-shaped hat I like so much. She looked a treat.
I heard Nan and the O’Dowd woman sniff disapprovingly in unison, but I ignored them and instead I reacquainted Hannah with the Duchess.
‘It’s very nice to see you, Miss Jacobs,’ the Duchess said, as she took Hannah’s hand and shook it between her own twisted, bony fingers. ‘You, like myself, must be curious about what is happening here in the forest.’
‘Yes. It’s amazing.’
Apart from Nan and Miss O’Dowd, we all chatted companionably until the Duchess suggested that perhaps Hannah and I might like to walk around while she sat with ‘the girls’. ‘You know that Lily’s father has a dancing bear,’ she said to me, as I bent down to bid her goodbye. ‘There’s plenty of card-reading and perhaps Miss Jacobs would like to see the Head.’
‘Yes, Duchess. We’ll see. Don’t get too cold out here, will you?’
‘Francis, please don’t fuss,’ she said as she waved us on our way.
I noticed that Hannah had frowned at my mention of the Head but I rolled my eyes to the sky and indicated that we should set off quickly while we could.
Once we were out of sight of my family I took one of Hannah’s hands.
‘Had your pocket picked yet, have you?’ she said.
I smiled. ‘No.’
‘How much they fleece you for a butcher’s at the dancing bear?’
‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘I haven’t seen him – this time. But I have spoken to Lily Lee.’
‘The Gyppo gifted with visions.’
‘If you want to put it like that, yes.’
‘She’s a fake,’ Hannah said. ‘And?’
I put my hand into my pocket and took out my fags. ‘I want to say yes,’ I said, ‘but not because of the visions. She just did a dreadful parlour trick for the Duchess and myself, a head on a table . . .’
‘Oh, the Egyptian Head. I know the bloke who does that,’ Hannah said dismissively.
‘Do you?’
‘David Green, calls himself the Wazir of the Pharaohs. His family lived next door to my auntie Esther in the Montefiore Buildings on Canon Street Road. Me and David was quite close as kids. Slimy thing when he grew up, mind. Been doing the halls with his magic act for years.’
Magicians are close about the secrets of their trade so I knew that if I asked, and even though I was a mate of Hannah’s, this Green bloke wouldn’t tell me how the Head trick worked. But I felt I’d like to see another version of it so that I had something to compare with what Lily was doing.
‘Do you know where David Green is playing at the moment?’ I asked.
‘No, but I can find out,’ Hannah said. ‘He ain’t no oil painting, though, David Green. You have been warned. Short, fat, bald and sweaty.’ She pulled a face. ‘Weird, he is, not in a nice way.’
She seemed disturbed, but then she said, ‘Not like you.’
It wasn’t easy getting away from the hordes in the clearing around the pond – there were even people camped among the trees. But after stepping over whole families of knitting women, not to mention numberless dirty-faced kids, we eventually came to a spot where we could be relatively private. I put my arms around Hannah and kissed her.
‘You know I
Similar Books
