Kane's Ladder by Carlos Alba

Author:Carlos Alba
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Birlinn

13

Out of adversity comes opportunity, Granny used to say, which, according to Dad, was a posh way of saying every cloud has a silver lining. The silver lining in the cloud of being terrified half to death by Daft Davie was that Mum appeared to change her position on allowing Wally into the house. I didn’t even have to ask. She took one look at him and ordered him into a warm bath.

– Does that boy’s mother know he’s out dressed like that in this weather? she asked when he was out of earshot.

– Dunno, I shrugged.

– He’ll be lucky if he hasn’t caught pneumonia.

Mum gave him some of my old clothes to wear while his own were being washed and dried. They hung on his gaunt frame like rags on a scarecrow, and he squirmed with discomfort. When she asked if he wanted to stay for tea, he looked terrified at the prospect but nodded his consent. Anything was better than returning to his own home.

Dad, who was doing the cooking, asked him if there was anything he didn’t like. Wally pondered the question as though he’d just been asked to prove the third law of thermodynamics.

– I’m not too fond of sweetcorn, he said quietly, almost apologetically.

– Anything else?

– Raisins.

– OK, I’ll make sure you don’t get any raisins or sweetcorn.

I’d never seen Wally so discomfited. Gone was his usual brashness, now replaced with a hunted distrust, like a recently captured wild animal in a zoo. He was especially ill at ease as we gathered around the dinner table, something he said he’d never done at home. Mum chided us over our treatment of Daft Davie as Dad delivered up plates of piping hot, home-made minestrone soup.

– Why do you boys have to bully that poor lad? He’s perfectly harmless. His only crime is to have been born slightly different from you, and you persecute him mercilessly.

– Aye, all right, Mum, we know, I said, still mortified at my feeble capitulation in the face of Daft Davie’s ultimately benign threat.

– You obviously don’t know, Steven. Well, I’m glad that he put the fear of God in you. Perhaps next time you’ll think twice about taunting him.

– Right, OK, Mum, we get the message.

Dad, Tony and Sophia ate in silence. Tony hadn’t said a word since he helped Dad escort Daft Davie from the house. Either he was thinking up some particularly biting put-down or he had something else on his mind. We had almost finished our soup when Mum noticed Wally’s plate hadn’t been touched.

– Is there something wrong, Paul? she asked.

– I’m not too keen on vegetables, he said, with an embarrassed, half-smile.

Mum didn’t make a fuss. She collected his plate and took it into the kitchen along with the others. For the main course Dad had made a Mediterranean lamb casserole which he served with sauté potatoes and roasted vegetables. As we ate, Sophia announced that she had some very exciting news. We sat captivated, open-mouthed in anticipation.

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