Cryers Hill Read Online Free PDF Page A

Lion, no one would bat an eyelid. They were everyone's heroes, they were locals in everyone's local, and they had seen off the Russians good and proper. They had described their small steps and giant leaps with poetic polish, and the whole world heard it spoken in the English language and so now it was official. The moon was an English-speaking planet, which made it practically British.
    True, the people opposite went to the Costa Brava every year and Sean's dad had visited Rotterdam, and yes, they were saving up to go to Gibraltar since Sean's brother hadn't managed to win a single family holiday competition with his foolproof genius eye, not even the one in Bournemouth, but still. Foreign was far away and strange, foreign was not to be trusted, foreign was foreign.
    Finally his father said, 'Enoch was right.'
    Sean was inclined to suppose this had to be someone from work, or the Bible.
    'I worry about him.' His mother this time.
    This was the thing about grown-up conversation: it was like a game, you had to fill in the gaps. This was why they talked so much; they gave away clues, nothing more, you had to do the rest yourself, it wasn't easy. Often the real meaning was the thing that was not said at all. Sometimes the thing that was said was simply not true. Even the adults themselves struggled to understand one another. You could hear them any day of the week, bewildered as the next man: What's that supposed to mean? I never said that. You're putting words into my mouth. What the hell are you on about? Am I making myself clear? No one knew what anybody meant. The whole thing was a minefield of tripwires and unexploded word bombs, of meanings, half-meanings and non-meanings. You had to get in between the words, a bit like the liar alphabet.
    'He's not managing.'
    Tough one. Sean waited. It was an utterly mysterious remark. Who was Enoch? Why wasn't he managing? Did he know the foreigner? The one who had killed the girl?
    'Don't start. He'll be all right.' His dad. You had to pick out all the liar words.
    'See if his teacher agrees with you then.' His mother's voice spiralling upwards again, his dad winding her tighter with his big key.
    'Young girl like that? Just out of school herself, what does she know?'
    'She knows her skirts are too short.'
    His dad threw back his head and laughed. A joke. Someone wore a skirt. Enoch?
    'Oh, I know you don't mind.'
    'Any beer in that fridge?'
    The key in her back twists a final inch. Now she was fully wound.
    'I know what you're after, Gordon Anthony Matthews.'
    Now she was clockwork. The words came whirring, while her feet rushed her to every drawer and cupboard in the kitchen.
    'Cath, Cath. You don't even know the capital of Poland. Don't kid yourself.'
    'Oh, that's right, I forgot. Your name's Albert Einstein.'
    'Don't get your knickers in a twist, bloody hell. Can't a man make a joke?'
    'Ho. Ho. Ho.'
    'Little Raquel Welch number moved in at twenty-nine, I see.'
    The fridge door slammed. A pause while Gordon cocked his head.
    'What did she want then, the lady teacher?'
    'What do you think she wanted?'
    'I haven't got a crystal ball, Cath. Have I got a crystal ball?'
    'A child could see it, Gor.'
    'Are you trying to make me look stupid?'
    Sean closed his eyes. What the bludyell were they saying? Now something else happened. Now his dad was angry.
    'I saw that! Thank you kindly. I saw that! Cheeky cow.'
    Whatever it was his mother had done, she was doing it again.
    'It's called innuendo, Cath. It begins with an i.'
    Women did things with their faces, complicated things. His dad reckoned he had it all figured out. Have you ever watched a pair of pigeons on a roof, Sean? Gor enjoyed natural history. Have you? It'll tell you everything you need to know about the mating game. His dad had learned to read the signals. A woman closing her eyes could mean you were a fool, a bore, a liar; or it could mean she loved you but couldn't say it; or it could mean she was having a bit on the side. This