The Healing by David Park

Author:David Park
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 1992-10-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

He could tell that his mother was not sure about it. Despite the composure of her expression, she was weighing up all the factors in her head, itemising the different little bits of information into some kind of order before she reached a decision. The girl kept pushing her gently towards the decision she wanted.

‘We’ll take really good care of him, Mrs Anderson. Won’t we, Billy?’

‘Yeah, sure. He’ll be as safe as houses. I have the car and he doesn’t even have to get out of it if he doesn’t want to. But if you’re not happy – well, it’s up to you.’

‘It’s very kind of you,’ his mother said. ‘It’s just that I’m not sure . . .’

She hesitated, her hand flicking away hair that wasn’t there. He watched her eyes examining the couple, taking in their clothes and their appearance, trying to gauge their characters and evaluate their degree of responsibility. She wasn’t sure at all. He could see her eyes locking on the blond hair of the girl, the young man’s leather jacket. But she was wavering.

‘Maybe it would be good for Samuel to get out for a while. He’d enjoy seeing the bonfires and we wouldn’t let him out of our sight for a second,’ the girl said, smiling at her, her eyes wide with sincerity. ‘It’d be a shame if he missed it.’

‘Cindy, stop twisting Mrs Anderson’s arm. Maybe she’d be happier if Samuel stayed here with her. It’s only a bunch of fires. It’s not the most exciting thing in the whole world.’

The reasonableness of the young man’s words reassured his mother. He seemed a sensible boy, and if she didn’t really know him very well, he was Mr Ellison’s son. And if the girl’s hair was too blond and out of a bottle, young people had their own styles and it was wrong to judge her. He sensed the thoughts flying about his mother’s head like small birds. She looked at him with a question in her eyes.

‘Would you like to go, Samuel?’ she asked, the openness of her tone leaving the decision up to him.

He wanted to go. He wanted to see the great fires and as he nodded his head, the girl put her arm round his shoulders and the boy ruffled his hair. His mother smiled, her confidence that she had made the right decision beginning to rise.

‘I suppose it’ll be right and late before he’s home,’ she said.

‘Well, some of the big fires don’t get lit until midnight, but it all depends,’ the girl replied.

His mother hesitated, but she had already committed herself. He could see little bubbles of doubt floating to the surface.

‘But it’s only once a year, and it’d be a shame to miss it,’ the girl insisted. ‘Sure, Samuel could have a good lie on in the morning.’

His mother allowed herself to be persuaded, but the doubts still lingered in her eyes.

‘There wouldn’t be any trouble, would there?’

‘No, no,’ the young man answered. ‘Just people having a bit of fun.

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