Riley by Catherine Cookson

Author:Catherine Cookson [Cookson, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780360577
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

It was just on one o’clock when the company arrived. There were ten of them altogether, and Ken explained the reason why Angus was carrying a fiddle case was because they knew there was no piano in the house, and they would need something to jig to; you couldn’t rely on the silly television.

Nyrene was to remember this night as the jolliest she’d ever had for, to the tune of the fiddle and the flute, they danced reels and jigs: the Gay Gordons, Spanish Tangos, and even a Knees-Up Mother Brown, until four o’clock, by which time most of them were sprawled either on the couch or on chairs or lying full length on the rug. But, led by Hamish, they were still singing chorus after chorus. That man seemed to know every chorus that had ever been written.

After downing mugs of black coffee, unlaced now, the company left at five, in single file, hand on shoulder, endeavouring by song to break the glass in ten green bottles.

When eventually their voices faded away and the door was closed, Riley leant his back against it and shuddered with the cold. Mrs Atkins, whose eyes were unnaturally bright, pointed to where Hamish was sprawled in a big chair to the side of the fire, his voice fading on the line ‘When one green bottle should accidentally fall’. His head momentarily drooped to the side and Mrs Atkins said again; ‘Well! What about him?’

‘Leave him where he is,’ said Nyrene. ‘We’ll put the guard round the fire; he’ll be all right. And you’—she now pushed Mrs Atkins down the room—‘get yourself well wrapped up and over the road, and don’t think about food till dinner time tonight.’

‘I’ll see ye across.’

The voice came from deep in the chair, and at this Mrs Atkins said, ‘I have no need to be seen across, I can still walk straight,’ only for Riley to put in, ‘Stay where you are, Mac, I’ll see to her! Now look! Go on!’ He pushed the man back into the chair. ‘Stay where you are and do as you’re told for once: get yourself to sleep. We’ll be upstairs in a minute.’

Ten minutes later they were upstairs and in bed, and as Riley held Nyrene in his arms he said, ‘I am sorry, Mrs Riley, but I’ve got a headache.’

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.