By Royal Command by Charlie Higson

Author:Charlie Higson [Higson, Charlie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ian Fleming Publications Ltd
Published: 2010-12-23T06:00:00+00:00

17

Science is Not a Boring Subject

James was standing with a boisterous gang of Eton boys waiting to buy a flower from the old woman on Barnespool Bridge who set up her stall there every year. This was another ritual of the Fourth of June celebrations.

James remembered how last year the day had been ruined by his friend Mark Goodenough trying to kill himself when he found out that his father had been murdered. He prayed that today would be different.

As he paid for his flower and slotted it into the buttonhole in his lapel, he thought about how easily he was slipping into the unchanging routine of Eton, how quickly he was accepting its strange traditions. Already he felt an old hand at this. This was his world now, his life for the next four years.

He watched three boys in Pop strut past in their gaudy waistcoats, lording it up over the lesser boys. He looked ahead to the time when he would be one of them, having been witness to countless other Eton rituals along the way.

And then what? He had no father’s footsteps to follow in, no expectations from his parents. His future was a blank book, and he could write in it whatever he wanted.

There was his Aunt Charmian, of course, who had looked after him ever since his parents had died, but she led an unconventional life herself and had never tried to steer James in any particular direction or map out his future for him. It wasn’t that she didn’t care; it was rather that she had always encouraged James to be his own man.

He would be seeing his aunt later. She was coming to Eton just as she had last year. James checked his brand-new watch. She would be here soon. He was going to meet her by the Burning Bush, the elaborately decorated streetlamp that was a handy local landmark.

As he was heading back up the High Street he met Pritpal and Tommy coming the other way. They both looked rather shifty.

They said hello and James assured them that he wasn’t angry with them for avoiding him.

‘I know how hard it must be for you,’ he said. ‘And I’m sorry if I’ve made things worse. I promise I’m going to do something about it, and in the meantime, I’m going to try my damnedest to stay out of trouble. You’re going to see a new James Bond. Your friendship means a lot to me, and I’d hate to foul things up.’

Pritpal smiled sheepishly. ‘It’s all right, James,’ he said. ‘I was feeling particularly low when I saw you yesterday. It is not fair of us to blame you.’

‘All the same,’ said James, ‘I’m going to be considerably more level-headed in future. I shall be the model schoolboy. No more adventures.’

Tommy laughed. ‘I find that hard to believe.’

‘Just you wait and see,’ said James and he carried on up the High Street. He had not gone more than ten paces, however, when he was stopped in his tracks, as solidly as if he’d just walked into a brick wall.

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