Brodmaw Bay Read Online Free PDF

not survived the attack that had put him in the hospital.
    Time would heal. The old cliché would vindicate itself now. But if Jack had died, time instead would goad and torture and stretch forward bleak and interminable. Where there was sadness and relief in their togetherness in that room, there would have been only loss and desolation and he did not think they would have survived it, the three of them, intact. It would have broken what remained of their family. The grief would have sundered them. He was certain of it.
    About fifteen minutes after the arrival of his mother and sister, Jack fell asleep again. James was not surprised at this. The attack had taken its physical toll. His body was tired. He had eaten a soporific bowl of broth only a few minutes before their arrival. And the emotion of the moment, intensely felt, would have fatigued him further. He had a long way to go to recover his strength, despite the surgeon’s upbeat prognosis. But it was sleep and not unconsciousness he had lapsed into and sound sleep was a healer in itself.
    James asked Olivia to stay with Jack. She nodded and smiled. Her expression told him it was a duty she was pleased to be charged with. She would text them should her brother stir in their absence. He took his wife across the cobbled courtyard of the hospital and out through its historic gateway. It was late afternoon now but the traffic was heavy, as it always was. They crossed the road and found a coffee shop and sat where it was quiet, at the rear.
    Lillian smiled at her husband over her cappuccino. ‘I could do with something stronger,’ she said.
    ‘It could have been worse.’
    She sipped. ‘Infinitely so,’ she said.
    ‘Do you blame me?’
    ‘Not in the slightest. Do you blame yourself?’
    As the parent with the stronger academic background, James had carried the deciding vote in choosing their children’s schools. There had been some debate about private education. They had opted against it on the principle that real life had to be lived in public. Education was the preparation for it. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I do. I think it is entirely my fault.’
    She had put down her cup. He reached for his wife’s hands across the table. She returned his grip with gentle force. ‘I want us to get out, Lily.’
    ‘We’ve endured a nightmare, so you want us to pursue a dream. That’s very you, James. Let me guess: Ventnor? Whitstable? It’s always some idyllic coastal location you fantasise about.’
    ‘There’s no reason we couldn’t do it, Lily. And every reason now that we should.’
    ‘No reason other than the disruption to four lives, two of them only half-formed. And there’s Jack’s rehabilitation. That will take months.’
    ‘Weeks, the surgeon said. There could be no better rehab than resettlement, somewhere beautiful and safe.’
    ‘Where do you have in mind, James?’
    ‘Somewhere you once knew pretty well. I’m thinking about Brodmaw Bay.’
    ‘I don’t know it.’
    ‘You do.’
    ‘I don’t tell lies. And I can assure you I’ve never heard of Brodmaw Bay in my life,’ Lillian said.

Chapter Two
     
    Jack was allowed home after five nights in hospital. By that time the bandages had been unwrapped from his eyes and the swelling had lessened. He was given what he called his Phantom mask to wear to protect his damaged eye socket. He liked it because he’d seen some famous footballers wearing the contraption in matches on television, after suffering similar injuries. But he had no intention of wearing his. He did not plan to risk further damage until well after his facial bones had knitted strongly. The mask would be nothing more than a souvenir.
    After a week, he was interviewed, in the presence of his parents, by Detective Sergeant McCabe. By then three Somali youths had been arrested and charged with aggravated assault and robbery with violence. They had been bailed. A trial date was yet to be set. The weapon had been found and from that had been