Read Online Body Line by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - Free Book Online
Authors: Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Ads: Link
sides, don’t you? Well, and what about old Mellors coming in? Did she blush! Old friend, indeed – and he went straight upstairs. She’s shacking up with him.’
‘Quite possibly.’
‘It looks as if she has a bit of a thing for horny-handed sons of the soil. OK –’ he forestalled Slider – ‘Rogers was a doctor, but he started out with coal dust in his hair.’
‘Greasely, not Greaseborough,’ Slider said, for the second time of what he was afraid would be many. ‘Different sort of place entirely.’
‘Still, she seems to like sinning below her station.’
‘Did you catch the smell from Frith when he came in?’ Slider pondered.
‘We don’t all have a hooter like yours. What was it?’
‘Horses.’
Atherton didn’t know what to make of that bit of information. They had reached the car. The gritty wind, rollicking unchecked across Ealing Common, slapped a greasy sandwich paper against the side window, just missing his sleeve. He peeled it off with flinching fingertips. The homeward-bound traffic was pouring across the junction into Hanger Lane and backing up, like water pouring into a jar. Dusk had come, and it wasn’t any warmer, and he still didn’t have an overcoat on. He shivered, and his mind turned naturally to crackling fires, old oak beams, naff crimson carpets and the sultry gleam of horse-brasses.
‘Fancy a pint?’ he asked.
‘I thought you’d never ask,’ Slider said, unlocking the door.
FOUR
They Tuck You up, Your Mum and Dad
A s Slider was trying to get his key into the lock, the door opened, and his father smiled a welcome at him.
‘Joanna not home yet?’ he divined.
‘She’s on her way,’ Dad said. She had been doing a concert in Norwich, a repeat of the one in Harrogate. ‘She rang from her mobile – said they were stopping in The Red House for a pint.’
Slider nodded. He understood how they had to ‘come down’ from a performance; and also that in a freelance world it was the clubbable people who got the jobs, all other things being equal.
‘She’ll only have the one,’ his father went on. Slider was amused that he should defend her. Or was he reassuring him? In the early days he had worried all the time when she was out on her own in her car. Not that she wasn’t a good driver – she was excellent – but she carried so much of his love with her it made him vulnerable. And he was a policeman – he knew what road accidents looked like.
‘I know,’ he said.
Dad looked past him at Atherton. ‘Hello, Jim. You another orphan? Emily’s away, isn’t she?’
‘Covering the Irish elections.’
‘I was always the same when Bill’s mother was at the WI. Home’s not home without the woman. Well, come in, don’t stand on the doorstep. You both look cold. I thought this morning Bill should have taken a coat. And I see you’re no better, Jim. Can’t trust March sunshine, you know. I lit the fire.’ He looked from one to the other. ‘Have you eaten?’
‘Lunch,’ Slider said, remembering with an effort. It seemed so long ago.
‘Sandwich, I dare say,’ Dad said. ‘You want something hot this weather. I made a bit of stew and there’s plenty left. It’s in the slow oven, just in case. You go in to the fire and get warm and I’ll serve it up.’
‘All serene upstairs?’ Slider called after him as he went away.
‘All serene,’ Dad said, looking back. ‘I give my boy his supper, we had a little play together, then bath and bed, one story, and he was off like a lamb. There’s nothing like routine, if you want a happy child. You were just the same. Never had an ounce of trouble with you, bedtimes.’
He was gone. ‘He must like it here,’ Atherton said, following Slider down the passage. ‘I’ve never known him so chatty.’
‘I feel guilty because he does so much,’ Slider said. ‘He’s taken care of the baby all day and into this evening, and then he’s made supper as well.’
‘He enjoys it,’ Atherton said, with the
‘Quite possibly.’
‘It looks as if she has a bit of a thing for horny-handed sons of the soil. OK –’ he forestalled Slider – ‘Rogers was a doctor, but he started out with coal dust in his hair.’
‘Greasely, not Greaseborough,’ Slider said, for the second time of what he was afraid would be many. ‘Different sort of place entirely.’
‘Still, she seems to like sinning below her station.’
‘Did you catch the smell from Frith when he came in?’ Slider pondered.
‘We don’t all have a hooter like yours. What was it?’
‘Horses.’
Atherton didn’t know what to make of that bit of information. They had reached the car. The gritty wind, rollicking unchecked across Ealing Common, slapped a greasy sandwich paper against the side window, just missing his sleeve. He peeled it off with flinching fingertips. The homeward-bound traffic was pouring across the junction into Hanger Lane and backing up, like water pouring into a jar. Dusk had come, and it wasn’t any warmer, and he still didn’t have an overcoat on. He shivered, and his mind turned naturally to crackling fires, old oak beams, naff crimson carpets and the sultry gleam of horse-brasses.
‘Fancy a pint?’ he asked.
‘I thought you’d never ask,’ Slider said, unlocking the door.
FOUR
They Tuck You up, Your Mum and Dad
A s Slider was trying to get his key into the lock, the door opened, and his father smiled a welcome at him.
‘Joanna not home yet?’ he divined.
‘She’s on her way,’ Dad said. She had been doing a concert in Norwich, a repeat of the one in Harrogate. ‘She rang from her mobile – said they were stopping in The Red House for a pint.’
Slider nodded. He understood how they had to ‘come down’ from a performance; and also that in a freelance world it was the clubbable people who got the jobs, all other things being equal.
‘She’ll only have the one,’ his father went on. Slider was amused that he should defend her. Or was he reassuring him? In the early days he had worried all the time when she was out on her own in her car. Not that she wasn’t a good driver – she was excellent – but she carried so much of his love with her it made him vulnerable. And he was a policeman – he knew what road accidents looked like.
‘I know,’ he said.
Dad looked past him at Atherton. ‘Hello, Jim. You another orphan? Emily’s away, isn’t she?’
‘Covering the Irish elections.’
‘I was always the same when Bill’s mother was at the WI. Home’s not home without the woman. Well, come in, don’t stand on the doorstep. You both look cold. I thought this morning Bill should have taken a coat. And I see you’re no better, Jim. Can’t trust March sunshine, you know. I lit the fire.’ He looked from one to the other. ‘Have you eaten?’
‘Lunch,’ Slider said, remembering with an effort. It seemed so long ago.
‘Sandwich, I dare say,’ Dad said. ‘You want something hot this weather. I made a bit of stew and there’s plenty left. It’s in the slow oven, just in case. You go in to the fire and get warm and I’ll serve it up.’
‘All serene upstairs?’ Slider called after him as he went away.
‘All serene,’ Dad said, looking back. ‘I give my boy his supper, we had a little play together, then bath and bed, one story, and he was off like a lamb. There’s nothing like routine, if you want a happy child. You were just the same. Never had an ounce of trouble with you, bedtimes.’
He was gone. ‘He must like it here,’ Atherton said, following Slider down the passage. ‘I’ve never known him so chatty.’
‘I feel guilty because he does so much,’ Slider said. ‘He’s taken care of the baby all day and into this evening, and then he’s made supper as well.’
‘He enjoys it,’ Atherton said, with the
Similar Books
