Scar Hill by Alan Temperley

Author:Alan Temperley [Temperley, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General fiction (Children's / Teenage)
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd
Published: 2014-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

25

The Snowplough

FOR AS LONG as he could remember Christmas Day had followed the same pattern: a roaring fire, playing with his new toys, mouth-watering smells from the kitchen, a huge turkey and trifle dinner, cuddling up beside his dad to watch TV. It was a magical day.

So it seemed wrong at eleven forty-five to be washing his face, dressing in his best trousers and jersey, and setting off with Valerie in the van.

‘There is no way,’ she had said a few days earlier, ‘when I’m lugging this brat around inside me, I am going to flog myself to death in a hot kitchen making Christmas dinner. You can forget that. I’ve booked a table at the Bridge Inn for one o’clock. I tried to get the Stag but they were booked solid. The Bridge will be fine.’ She misinterpreted his surprise. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll love it. At least you’d better love it, the amount it’s costing.’

So they went to the Bridge in Fortness, a pretty village a dozen miles away, and although it wasn’t Christmas dinner like at home, Peter enjoyed it enormously: the sparkling table, the big tree, the crooked beams hung with decorations, the choice of dishes, second helpings, Christmas music, mulled wine, the festive atmosphere. As they left the table to have coffee and mince pies in the lounge, a fat woman who had drunk more than her fill called out to Valerie:

‘By gum, lass, what’s that, triplets? I hope you make it home in time.’ As she roared with laughter her eyes fell on Peter. ‘Ee, your ’usband’s a bit on the young side in’t he?’

‘Not a bit,’ Valerie said coolly. ‘Got two more at home, haven’t we, Pete.’ She let him pass ahead of her. ‘Come on, big boy.’

They were back at four. The waiter had given Peter a huge doggy bag. Ben and Meg – it was their Christmas too – wolfed down the turkey bits and sausage-meat stuffing he fed them with his fingers.

Valerie went to bed for a couple of hours, leaving Peter to enjoy his presents. The best was a red ‘Hardrock’ mountain bike with knobbly tyres. Jim had taken him to buy it in Clashbay at the beginning of December. It was the biggest present he’d ever been given and very expensive, but his dad felt Peter needed something sturdy and reliable to get about and visit his friends. Now he spent an hour racing along the track, getting used to the gears and practising wheelies. It was brilliant.

When Valerie came down they made tea and cut the Christmas cake.

A while later she said, ‘You won’t mind if I go out for a bit will you, Pete?’

‘Course not.’ It was disappointing but there was no way he was going to complain. ‘Where you going, as if I didn’t know?’

‘Well, there’ll be some of the crowd there,’ she said. ‘Have a laugh. If you were a bit older we could go together, have a few beers.’

A few beers at the pub, Peter thought, were what you had on a Saturday not Christmas night.

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