The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon

Author:Nell Leyshon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2012-12-26T08:00:00+00:00

next day i was in the garden and i was gathering apples from the tree to take in to the kitchen and i had a basket and a long pole and i was poking them and then trying to catch them for if they land on the grass they can bruise and a bruised apple is not a good apple and it can make the others bad.

and as i was poking the apples and then catching them i saw ralph walk through the open windows of the house and across the grass towards me.

the next apple i missed and it landed on my head and he started to laugh.

i stared at him but he still laughed then i poked another apple and he caught it and put it in the basket.

i don’t need help, i said.

i think you do.

i turned my back on him and got my next apple only he jumped forward and put his arm on me and caught it from under my nose.

i’m leaving soon, he said. will you miss me?

i’ll never miss you, i said. where you going?

time to go up to oxford, he said.

what you doing there?

university. studying. getting myself an education.

i poked the stick and a few apples fell down and he caught two but others fell to the grass.

thought you was gonna catch them, i said.

i did.

you gotta catch them all. i was better when it was me doing it.

give me the stick.

and he started pulling down the branches and hanging on to them while i pulled the apples off.

when we filled the basket i went to take it in the kitchen like edna told me. you want me to carry it? ralph asked. he reached out and touched my hand.

don’t go touching me, i said. i know what you’re like.

he laughed. don’t worry. i’m not going to do anything to you. you’re safe with me.

my sister wasn’t.

not that again. you can be boring for someone who’s normally fun.

she’s having a baby.

what? he said.

she is having a baby. her belly is fat.

very funny.

she came to see me yesterday. she said it’s your baby.

you don’t know what you’re talking about.

i am a farm girl. i know what happens. she showed me and i could feel it moving.

if she is, it’s nothing to do with me.

o, i said. that’s strange cos that’s not what she says.

girls will say anything.

not violet.

of course she will. they go off with strange men and then say stupid things like that.

but i heard you that night in the yard. and i saw you.

if it was night then it was dark and you wouldn’t be able to see me. and, he said, even if it was all true i won’t be here anyway. i’ll be many miles away.

will you?

yes. o dear, come on now. don’t look so serious.

and he took the basket from my hands and walked off.

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.