Goblin by Ever Dundas

Author:Ever Dundas [Dundas, Ever]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Freight Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

London, April 1941

‘It was an accident,’ they said, ‘we’re sure it was an accident.’ Sure, I thought, sure, we all know it wasn’t any kind of accident. Ma was dead, drowned herself in the Thames. Ma was dead and I was gone. I didn’t go with the policeman. I slipped through that door, jumped on my scooter and I was off. They weren’t taking me to some orphanage. They weren’t putting me on a train to the sea and the attic and the unholy bastards. I was my own person now and I had a family to look after. I waited, watching until they’d gone and I crept back and I gathered my family and blankets and food and off we went on the Underground to Kensal Green and our new home in the crypt.

‘It’s only temporary,’ I said to them. ‘It’s only until the heat is off.’

Captain Flint sat on my shoulder. Groo prowled round the crypt, sniffing and peeing and scratching.

‘Get!’ I yelled, ‘Don’t go stinking up this crypt. Do your peeing outside.’

‘Well, this is a fine situation.’

Queen Isabella, Amelia and Scholler were standing at the entrance, looking down on us all.

‘Yes,’ said Amelia, ‘a fine situation.’

‘Don’t you two start. I’m doing the best I can.’

‘It’s the orphanage for you,’ said Amelia, looking very smug indeed.

‘No, Miss Amelia, I’m not going to some orphanage to be murdered by the likes of you,’ I said, collecting some leaves for the chickens, ‘I’ll get our house back. I will.’

‘We’ll see,’ said Amelia.

‘Come,’ said Queen Isabella, ‘I can’t stand the stink of these beasts.’

‘A lot of good you lot are,’ I said, watching them walk off amongst the gravestones.

I got some more leaves and put them in the corner and the chickens scratched around and clucked and seemed content, but then Dr Kemp started pecking at Billy Bones. That Dr Kemp would peck Billy Bones’ feathers right out so that he’d be all patchy and his arse was as naked as could be. That naked chicken arse looked like a chicken arse you’d eat, just like you’d get from the butchers, except this chicken was walking around and if you so much as tried to shove it in the oven for the Sunday roast it would peck your eyes out for certain. It made me think of Cornwall and that old Wendy who really did have a face like a chicken arse and I started to think about that and about Angel and the sea. I wrote to her and told her all my woes, but I didn’t send it. I read it over then ripped it up. I was going to write to her after she told me Ann and Bill were adopting her but I didn’t and she sent me another postcard saying she’d made a friend, one of the town kids. She said I’d like him, he was almost as crazy as me. I didn’t reply. The next few postcards she was more worried and I liked making her worry, making her wait.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.