Pinprick Read Online Free PDF Page B

their golden hair and similar features making them look like twins. Now look at them, her beautiful daughter wearing such ugly unladylike clothes. Shane was different, he was a boy, they were supposed to be scruffy, but their hair. The pair of them looked like clowns! Catherine with her red and Shane with that nasty green Mohican or whatever it was called. The nasty scar from the accident was curled above his left ear like a sickle. If he’d had a normal hair cut like his father it would at least be covered up.
    The rattle of keys at the front door made them all turn.
    Father came into the kitchen with an unusually large smile on his face.
    “Guess who I bumped into at The Bull, having a bit of Dutch courage before meeting the in-laws?”
    Oxford and Cambridge scholars stand aside, thought Shane, I’ll answer this one.
    “Is it my future brother-in-law?”
    Father chuckled at the shocked expression on Catherine’s face. He gestured to the hallway and in walked Jack.
    Shane’s first impression of him was horror mixed with recognition and a smidgen of denial. Jack was a carbon copy of his father. No wonder they seemed best buddies already.
    Jack was tall and thin but had the muscular density of someone who had grown up working on the land. Everything about him looked dull, from his polished brown shoes to his side-combed, bryl-cremed hair. Shane was surprised at his sister’s choice of man to bring home.
    Catherine jumped up and he caught her in a brief bear hug.
    “Mum,” she beamed, as she turned to face her, Jack keeping one arm around her waist, “this is Jack!”
    Mother dried her hands on her apron and stepped forward to shake Jack’s hand.
    “Pleased to meet you Jack, I do hope you’re hungry!”
    “Pleased to meet you too. And I’m always hungry,” He smiled crookedly with a subtle leer at Catherine, who bumped her hip against his. Shane rolled his eyes.
    “Good lad,” Father said placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder and pushing him towards the table. “There might be a spot of home brew for us boys after if you’re interested.”
    “Brilliant!” Jack said and sat down beside Shane.
    “Yeah Dad, awesome,” Shane said as enthusiastically as he could muster without sounding fake. His dad’s home brew was a vile black ale that tasted like a mixture of… ashtrays, mould and barn air. Shane referred to it as Sheep Shit to his mates.
    Shane missed his friends dearly. The loss was still just as raw as when he woke up and was told what had happened. Or rather what people thought had happened.
    Johnny’s parents had visited him once at the hospital. His mother, Jane, brought him a box of chocolates and kissed him gently on the cheek. When he failed to shed light on their son’s disappearance the accusation on their faces said it all.
    “Why did you survive? Why not my Johnny?” Jane’s lip quivered and she left the room, taking the chocolates with her. Johnny’s father looked after her and then back at Shane.
    “I’m sorry,” said Shane.
    The big man opened his mouth as if to speak, then thought better of it and dashed after his wife. When the door slammed behind him Shane was glad to be alone, though he wished she’d left the chocolates.
    He still had no clue as to what the hell happened that night; he remembered it starting to rain at the outskirts of Stutton. He remembered running through the mud as the rain pounded on his back… and then nothing. It was a complete blank until he woke up in hospital.
    It wasn’t until he noticed everyone was looking at him that he realised Jack had spoken to him.
    “I’m sorry mate,” said Shane, “I was away with the fairies just then.” He smiled sheepishly and put his book down.
    “It’s okay,” Jack eyed the book, “I could see you were studying.”
    “What this?” Shane said flicking the paperback. On the cover a crude picture of a humanoid character in a tinfoil spacesuit rode what looked like a robotic flying space horse, lassoing an