Read Online Underbelly by G. Johanson - Free Book Online Page A

the worst. The sight of two civilians leaving their coach and approaching the scene annoyed Sergeant Walker and he sent his youngest policeman, a returning soldier called Briggs, to shoo them away. Briggs went to talk to them and ordered them to stay where they were as he relayed the message to Sergeant Walker.
    “ He says he knows Ollie and he reckons he can talk him down. That’s his wife – she’s just going to stay there to watch him.”
    Sergeant Walker gestured for Grey to come closer; Germaine hugged him tightly before he left her some distance from the scene. Sergeant Walker said to him, “I know him too, son, and he won’t even acknowledge me. If you want to give it a try, go right ahead, only keep your distance from him and come back to us if I tell you to.”
    “ I’ll stay out of arms reach,” Grey lied as he walked over to Ollie. Ollie turned and stared at him as he approached and warned him not to come closer.
    “ You won’t hear me from here and I need to talk to you. I swear I’m not going to make a move to grab you – I haven’t the strength to pull you back over and I don’t fancy falling in those waters.”
    “ I don’t know you. Leave me to it.”
    “ I know more about you than you think. You’re Ollie,” Grey said, speaking softly so that only Ollie could hear him, slowly inching closer towards him.
    He shook his head and said, “Just leave me in peace.”
    “ This won’t grant you peace, Ollie. Death doesn’t always mean peace.”
    “ If you lived my life you’d take hell over living. You’re going to make me jump before I’m ready.”
    “ I can’t stop you jumping. I pray that you don’t, but it’s your choice. All I’m asking is that you hear me out before you decide. Aren’t you a little curious about why the police let me through to talk to you and why I’m standing here getting wet?”
    “ Are you a doctor, a psychiatrist?”
    “ Nope, I’m a high school dropout, Ollie, last in line when brains were handed out. When I tell you what I am you’ll think I’m in need of medical help. I’m a medium. If you’re not familiar with that term you might have heard of clairvoyant or spiritualist, even the word psychic might fit.”
    “ They’ve sent a crank to save a crank!”
    “ There’s logic in that,” Grey said, trying to joke with him, “but I don’t think either of us are cranks. I know of your mother. Doreen hasn’t been gone long, and while she will find peace, she hasn’t yet because she’s worried about you.” Grey was close to him now and was pleased that he was, as he didn’t want to shout out such sensitive information.
    “ The police briefed you well. Look, don’t waste your time with me. If I was worth saving I wouldn’t be standing here.”
    “ Your mother thinks you’re worth saving and I agree with her. She is so proud of you – she couldn’t have run the store without you, you were practically the proprietor at 12.”
    Ollie looked strangely at Grey, analysing him, deciding whether there was any truth in his strange story. Grey decided to give him more proof and said, “After your father died in the Great War you were everything to her, and she thinks that she always discouraged you from having girlfriends because she couldn’t bear to lose you. She wants you to find someone now, she doesn’t want you to be lonely.”
    “ Is…is she talking to you now?”
    “ Yes. Please feel free to communicate with her through me. That’s why I’m here.”
    “ The store’s gone,” he said, beginning to cry. “I couldn’t hold it together without her.”
    Grey relayed this and told Ollie her response. “She’s upset but for you – she’s not bothered about the store, other than that its closure upsets you. She thinks that it could be worth trying to move into the vacant old post office, that the rent might be cheaper.”
    “ I can’t even afford that. All the money’s gone.”
    “ And how much do you need to start