The Raven’s Knot. Robin Jarvis

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СКАЧАТЬ hand as he yapped like a terrier.

      ‘That’s right, Tommy!’ the boys goaded, pushing him roughly. ‘What else do dogs do? Cock your leg – go on!’

      Like a performing monkey he obeyed them, acting out stupid and humiliating tricks for their callous delight.

      ‘Give us yet hat, Tommy,’ one of them called, reaching across and grabbing the battered cloth cap from his head.

      ‘Pyeeuuurrgh!’ the boy cried, mangling it in his hands. ‘It stinks – you dirty old beggar! When was the last time you had a bath?’

      The old man grinned, revealing an almost toothless set of gums. ‘Was a Tuesday,’ he declared.

      ‘What year?’ the gang shouted back.

      ‘Tommy doesn’t know,’ came the mild reply. ‘Can he have his hat back now?’

      ‘You’ll have to catch it first!’ they taunted, throwing the cap from one to another.

      ‘Please,’ Tommy asked politely. ‘It’s getting dark. You lads should get yourselves home. Give Tommy his hat, he’s got to get going an’ all.’

      In front of his ruddy face they dangled it, only to snatch the cap away as soon as his large, red knuckled hands rose to claim it.

      The old man staggered to and fro as they threw the cap over his head and back again, yet not once did he lose his temper or cry out in despair.

      ‘Hey!’ Lauren’s angry voice interrupted the cruel game. ‘Stop it! Leave him alone.’

      Propping her bicycle against the hedge, she pushed her way into the middle of the group and pulled the thoughtless boys away.

      ‘Let go!’ they yelled as she yanked them aside until only one was left, the cap still in his hands.

      Graham Carter, the oldest of the bullies, glared at the girl and a horrible leer twisted his face that was already pocked with the first flush of acne.

      ‘What do you want, fatty?’ he asked with a snigger.

      Incensed, Lauren dashed forward and knocked him into the hedge but, as he fell, Graham threw back his arm and let the cap go sailing into the road.

      ‘Get off, you fat cow!’ he bawled when she pushed him even further into the thorns. ‘Get your sweaty, lardy hands off me!’

      ‘Least I haven’t got a face with craters in it like the moon!’

      ‘Better than being as big as the moon!’

      Lauren stared at him as he squirmed in the hedge, then stepped back – ashamed that she had allowed herself be drawn into a slanging match. ‘Just clear off,’ she said gruffly.

      Graham tried to pull himself from the thorns, but two of his accomplices had to help him to his feet.

      ‘You wait, blubber mountain!’ he warned, inspecting his blazer for holes. ‘We’ll be waiting for you next time.’

      Lauren shook her head. ‘Oh, drop dead,’ she told them.

      Grudgingly, the boys walked off singing out a string of insults.

      ‘Tubby or not tubby – fat is the question.’

      The girl ignored them and looked around to see if the old man was all right. At once all thoughts of the stupid boys were flung from her mind as she saw Tommy go doddering into the centre of the road to retrieve his cap – wandering right into the path of a speeding juggernaut.

      ‘Watch out!’ she screamed.

      Stooping, the old man glanced up as the driver of the lorry gave three warning blasts upon the horn. There was no way he could stop in time and all Tommy could do was blink in timid surprise.

      With a hideous squeal, the tyres skidded over the tarmac as the brakes were stomped upon, but still the vehicle came. Then, at the last moment, Tommy snatched up the cap and leapt nimbly aside. The lorry ploughed past, finally lurching to a halt yards beyond where the old man had been standing.

      ‘You stupid old git!’ the driver bellowed, sticking his head out of the window. ‘You nearly got yourself killed!’

      Tommy placed the hat upon his head and chuckled as if the man had said something funny, and proceeded to do a little dance upon the grass verge.

      The driver drew a hand over his forehead and directed his anger at Lauren instead.

      ‘Why don’t you keep a closer eye on your granddad? Kids like you got no idea.’

      The girl opened her mouth to object but the driver was already revving his engine.

      ‘Useless fat lump,’ she heard him mutter just before the lorry roared off.

      Leaving a cloud of choking blue exhaust fumes in its wake, the lorry lumbered away. Lauren pulled a face after it hoping the driver was looking in his mirror.

      ‘That’s not very lady like,’ a gentle voice said.

      The girl gazed at Tommy and shrugged. ‘It wasn’t meant to be,’ she answered. ‘But how are you? You all right? Did those lads frighten you?’

      The old man stared at her bewildered. ‘Frighten?’ he murmured. ‘Why should Tommy’s pals frighten him? We was only playing a game, they wouldn’t want to scare old Tommy.’

      Lauren groaned and walked back to her bicycle.

      ‘You were a bit rough with them,’ he added. ‘That’s no way for a pretty young girl to behave now, is it? You’ll never get a boyfriend acting like that you know.’

      Exasperated, she turned to stare at him. Tommy was a peculiar looking character. His face was a florid map of broken veins. Fine silver stubble bristled along his chin and, although he had never been seen without a smile, there was an element of sadness about his wrinkle-webbed eyes.

      He was a sorry, tramp-like sight. Under his shabby, second-hand overcoat, over a collarless shirt, he wore a hand-knitted, purple jumper that had been darned umpteen times, and a long piece of grubby string served as a belt to hold up his baggy, colourless trousers.

      Lauren had seen him about the town on numerous occasions, but had never spoken to him before now. At first she had assumed him to be one of the forlorn crowd who gathered outside the church upon the benches to drink themselves silly during the day and shout at passers-by. Yet during the short time she had lived there, the girl had never seen so much as a tin of lemonade in Tommy’s large, clumsy looking hands.

      ‘That’s a good bike,’ he observed. ‘Got two wheels to go round and around. Tommy likes bikes.’

      Lauren smiled indulgently.

      ‘I should learn to drive really,’ she said.

      The old man tutted and sucked his few remaining teeth. ‘You doesn’t want to do that,’ he commented. ‘Tommy sees folk chargin’ here and there all the time in their big hurries. ’Tain’t natural. A bike’s СКАЧАТЬ