Cold Skin Read Online Free PDF Page B

is spinning.
    Dad tied a rope around the Mayor’s neck
    because he thought Mr Paley was a coward?
    ‘What about Butcher?’
    Dad shrugs,
    ‘He goes into the city on Friday nights.’
    I grab Dad’s shirt and shake him
    with all my strength, shouting,
    ‘He was late for the train.
    He was late for the train.
    I saw him running!’
    Dad shoves me back
    and I tear his shirt.
    The rip stops us both
    and we look at the cloth in my hands.
    Dad says, ‘It was him, Eddie.
    He admitted it.
    As soon as the rope went around his wrists
    he started gushing.
    He was guilty as sin.’
    I don’t want to hear any more.
    I rush past Dad,
    jump over the fence,
    head into the bush.
    I need to get as far away as I can.
    Dad calls my name but I don’t look back.

Eddie
    By the time I reach the top of Jaspers Hill,
    my breath is coming in short sharp stabs.
    I drop under the overhang of Coal Scar Man,
    keeping my eyes closed,
    trying to shut out what Dad has done.
    Let me stay here for ever.
    I wrap my arms tight around my body
    to ease the sobbing,
    praying for rain to start
    and never stop
    until the valley is awash
    and the river overflows
    and covers our house,
    the streets of my town
    and cleans away all that blood
    from the sand where Colleen died
    and floods the bridge where Mr Paley . . .
    I can see Mr Paley
    just before I got to him.
    I remember now.
    He said,
    ‘Forgive me.’
    His eyes were calm.
    He knew his fate.
    He spun around to face the train.
    We both jumped.
    I reached out for him
    and tried to take him with me
    but the rope held
    and I kept falling
    into the rushing water.
    Maybe Dad was right,
    but how could he be certain?
    Unless he was there when Colleen . . .
    ‘NO!
    Please no.’
    My whole body starts shaking.
    I’ll have to face him.
    My father.
    Coward.

Sergeant Grainger
    Mrs Paley asked me to lock up when I leave.
    The store will be closed for a few days,
    in memory of Kenneth Paley.
    Tonight I’m a cop in the mayor’s office,
    taking out one drawer at a time,
    emptying the contents onto his desk,
    making a right mess,
    handling each object.
    Staples, fountain pens,
    notepads full of work orders,
    pencils, sharpener,
    paper and an invoice book.
    As boring as batshit.
    But here, in the bottom drawer,
    there’s a green metal box,
    locked.
    Something moves inside when I shake it.
    I could go downstairs to the shop,
    grab a crowbar and snap the lock.
    But cops aren’t supposed to do that.
    So I spend the next thirty minutes
    searching for the bloody key,
    going through each account book,
    through each folder
    in the whole bookcase.
    I’m about to chuck the box against the wall
    in the hope it might break open,
    by accident, you understand,
    when I remember the key chain on Paley’s belt.
    Mr Smyth gave me all his possessions
    to pass on to the widow.
    I’ve been too busy chasing my tail to do it yet.
    It’s on my desk at home.
    If there’s anything to find,
    it’s in this box.

Sally
    It’s dark when I knock
    at the Holding house,
    quietly.
    Quick footsteps,
    Eddie’s mum opens the door.
    Her eyes search behind me.
    ‘Have you seen him?’
    She looks haunted.
    ‘He’s not here.
    We don’t know where he is.’
    She grabs my arm and pleads,
    ‘You’ll tell him to come home, won’t you?
    If you see him.
    Please.’
    I nod quickly and leave.
    Jaspers Hill?
    There’s just enough moonlight
    to scramble up the track,
    calling his name,
    listening for an answer.
    The rumours are sweeping town.
    Eddie tried to save Mr Paley
    from jumping off the bridge.
    Eddie is curled up on a rock,
    head bowed,
    hugging his knees, shivering.
    I put my arms around him
    and hold him until the lights of the mine
    glow bright in the valley.
    Two sharp siren calls
    signal the end of dinner break.
    There’s nothing I can say.
    I’m staying with Eddie
    until he’s ready to come down,
    no matter how long it takes.

Sergeant Grainger
    I have Mrs Paley’s permission to open the box.
    ‘Do whatever you have to.
    Find out