Cat's Cradle Read Online Free PDF Page B

nodding to me.
    â€˜What you say, Joe?’
    Joe scratched his chin. A little older than the rest of the gang, he had fine lines around his mouth and eyes; his long, brown hair fell about his face, giving him a gypsy-like appearance. I would’ve found him a little frightening if I hadn’t known him nearly all my life.
    â€˜I can’t believe it – but you’re right, Nick. Stone me, but you’re right!’ Joe exclaimed.
    Now I was getting worried. ‘
What?
’
    â€˜You’ve . . . you’ve grown, Cat,’ Nick said with mock-solemnity, as if announcing my demise.
    â€˜At least, oh, I’d say . . . ’alf an inch?’ agreed Joe.
    I swatted Joe on the arm. ‘I’ve grown much more than that, I’ll have you know. I’m almost five foot.’ I stood on tiptoe, hoping they wouldn’t notice. My diminutive height was becoming a bit of a burden now that I was old enough to be almost my full size.
    â€˜â€™Ave you been usin’ one of Tailor Meakin’s measurin’ rods, Cat?’ asked Nick. ‘’E always makes ’is stuff too short.’
    â€˜No, I haven’t,’ I huffed. ‘I’ve grown – I have.’
    â€˜Course you ’ave, but you’ll never see five foot and you know it,’ teased Nick.
    â€˜She might – if I lend ’er me box to stand on,’ said Joe.
    I wondered bleakly for a moment if I had my long-lost mother to blame for all these quips about my half-pint status. I’d been quite proud of the inches I’d put on over the last year, but I’d forgotten that all my friends had been sprouting up too. It was a catch-up race I was never going to win.
    Nick must’ve noticed my expression. ‘Aw, Cat, don’t take on so. You’ve growed up fine. No one could find a fault with you. We were just pullin’ your leg.’
    â€˜Yeah, and if you let us do that, you might stretch a bit too,’ mumbled Joe.
    Nick thumped him in the ribs. ‘Stop it.’
    My lips curled into a reluctant smile at this familiar byplay among the gang. We all teased each other mercilessly; I shouldn’t have let it get to me. I returned to the fray.
    â€˜So, Nick, how’s the maid at Mr Gleeman’s?
    Fallen for your unusual sense of fashion yet?’ Nick was well known for being the scruffiest lad in the market – quite an achievement.
    A faint blush lit his cheek. ‘’Ow d’you know about Mary?’
    â€˜I know everything – don’t you remember?’ In fact Syd had confided this bit of gossip to me over tea. ‘I’m sure she’ll think you quite the original.’ Giving him a wide grin, I turned to my next victim. ‘And Joe, been bamboozled by any country bumpkins recently?’
    â€˜That was nothink! ’E wasn’t what ’e seemed. The cards were marked. Put up to it by the boys, ’e was –’
    â€˜Yes, as a kind of birthday present to you, I understand.’ I patted his arm consolingly. ‘Don’t worry, there’s always knife-grinding if you’re losing your touch.’
    â€˜Losin’ my touch! Now see ’ere, Cat Royal, I’m at the top of my game, I am.’
    â€˜I’m sure you are.’
    â€˜Knife-grindin’! I ask you!’
    â€˜Someone has to do it.’
    Joe began muttering about cheeky little redheads until he caught my amused expression.
    â€˜Still pleased to have me back?’ I asked, leading the way into the kitchen.
    â€˜Too bleedin’ right we are,’ he said, rumpling my hair just to annoy me.
    Nick and Joe were on their best behaviour in Mrs Fletcher’s kitchen – they dared not be otherwise. Thanks to this, I learned much of the regular news about goings-on in the market. Aside from the usual gossip, I was distressed to hear that a number of the nippers had succumbed to smallpox last winter – a terrible loss.
    Joe, whose