And Did Those Feet ... Read Online Free PDF

down the road.
    Dad had given me ten dollars to spend on the way and an envelope for Uncle Frank. I blew most of my money on chocolate and Coke, so by the time we began to thread our way through the Awakino gorge I was ready to chuck. Never had I felt such an evil feeling in my gut. The road followed the dirty river and the bus lunged in and out of all these blind corners throwing my chocolate-filled stomach all over the place. Just as I was sure I was about to douse the grey head in front of me, we came out by the sea. The driver stopped at some tea rooms and suggested it was time for us to “stretch our legs”. That’s country talk for “have a pee”. I know this because we all stood around in a bunch outside the only toilet. I imagined everyone in there before me stretching their legs. I wished they would get on with it.
    There were thirty minutes to kill so I walked down to the sea while everyone else queued for their scone and cuppa. The beach was black and covered in shells and bits of old wood. There was a cold wind whipping along the sand andthe waves were huge. I waited on the edge of the wet zone while each wave stood up and roared at me like an angry bear in the distance. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. For a moment I had this freaky feeling. You know when you are in a high spot and you feel some invisible hand trying to push you over? Well I felt that same invisible hand trying to push me into that cold sea. Those huge waves. I imagined walking along the bottom of the ocean and never coming back. I could almost feel the water swirling around me and then hear the silence beneath the waves. It was a powerful feeling, both frightening and exciting at the same time. It swallowed me up.
    After a time (was it a minute or was it twenty?) I became aware of a noise and when I looked around I saw the bus flashing its lights at me in the distance. The driver had been tooting at me. I ran back and clambered aboard, trying to duck under the staring eyes of all the other passengers. The driver said something about it being a bit cold for a dip and I slumped lower in the first available seat.
    For the rest of the trip I watched us heading towards this angry mass of cloud heaped over what I was sure must be Mount Taranaki. The farms changed from being mostly sheep to being wall to wall cows. And then we came to the outskirts of this little town. I took a deep breath. We were there.
    As we slowed down, the twins, Ewan and Dougal, burst into view, running alongside the bus, waving and jumping. What a shrink! They were like those dogs that chase cars. Totally crazy, but impressively fast. Especially as they wereboth wearing gumboots. The moment I stepped down they grabbed an arm each and dragged me over to where Jamie and Iain, the older two, waited quietly by Aunty Lorna. She stood leaning against the door of this battered old Landrover with the baby, Wee Jock, in her arms. She was really pretty and wore a sort of head scarf that covered most of her neck too. It looked a bit like what Indian women wear. That and the big gold earring in her left ear made her look a bit like a gypsy. They all stood around for a while in a sort of circle . You could tell they were a family, they all had the same smile, a sort of simple, wide-eyed one. I had to fight my city nature which told me it was my duty to mock them.
    The two older boys stuck their hands out to shake. I was impressed: people my age in the city never shook hands. Aunty Lorna leaned forward and gave me a kiss. I gave a jerk and a bit of a yelp. I didn’t see it coming and I got a fright. It had been a while since anyone had kissed me. The twins roared with laughter and the older boys grinned and looked away. I felt a bit of a dick. There was a moment of embarrassment as we all stood around staring at each other, then we all thawed and it was like “no problems”.
    Iain was about my age, and Jamie a year younger. They were both stocky: little