The Party Line Read Online Free PDF

true, proved they were in the right group.
    Mr Burgess read out the names of the new kids and told them which room to go to. Nickie waited for Gabrielle’s name to be on Miscellaneous — she was sure, with the pierced ears, that she’d be on that list. But she wasn’t. The next list was Anglicans, Methodists and Presbyterians. But he got right to the end of that one, too, without Gabrielle being called.
    ‘Catholics,’ Mr Burgess said. ‘Just one new one. Gabrielle Baxter.’
    Nickie couldn’t help but grin at Erin. For days, Erin had been working hard to be Gabrielle’s best friend. Erin glared back. They both knew what this meant. The Walkers would see the Baxters at Mass. The parents would get to know each other. Everyone at church would be even friendlier to Gabrielle’s father because his wife was dead. Including Joy, who would have to be because of the situation.
    The Catholics waited for Father Brindle to arrive. Sometimes he turned up and sometimes he didn’t. In the car on the way home from church, Eugene and Joy often talked about Father Brindle’s problem with the bottle. Eugene would say something like That was a sermon and a half and Joy would say A dog’s breakfast , and what they both meant was that the sermon had made no sense at all because Father Brindle was either drunk or hung over. Nickie didn’t know why theybothered speaking in adult codes about it, seeing as the kids had to put up with the same problem at religious instruction.
     
    Father Brindle sat down on Mr Burgess’s chair. Everyone moved back. He had a certain smell, a combination of incense from the church and a stink that could be onions but also the bottle the day after. He closed his eyes and tilted his head forward.
    ‘Let us start with the Lord’s Prayer.’
    At the end, after Amen , everyone sneaked a look at Father Brindle. His eyes stayed closed and his head didn’t move. He’d gone to sleep. It happened at church sometimes, too — he’d doze off during one of those parts where you Take Time to Reflect. One of the men in a front pew would cough a few times, and the altar boys, who were usually Kevin and Kelly Flynn, would get the hint and shake him to wake him up.
    The school kids did the opposite. They all sat absolutely still, not making a sound. They kept their heads down, avoided looking at each other and laughing. The record was four minutes. That time, Ryan Ferguson sneaked out, had a pee, and came back before Father woke up.
    Nickie looked at Gabrielle, who was frowning, confused. Hangover , Nickie mouthed, slowly. She ran her finger across her closed mouth, like a zip.
    There was a dribble of spit coming out of the corner of his mouth; it was getting to the stage where it was nearly ready to drop into his lap. His head leaned too far forward and he woke up.
    ‘Amen,’ he said.
    ‘Amen,’ everyone replied.
    ‘Today,’ said Father Brindle, ‘we are going to talk about sacrifice. How the Lord Jesus sacrificed His life for us, so that we can look forward to eternal happiness in Heaven.’
    Nickie let his words hum away. She wanted to know exactly how much sacrifice was needed, to be sure to get to Heaven. And also the type of thing you’d need to do. She was worried about it enough to be prepared to do the minimum, but there was a risk of over-sacrificing.
    Gabrielle was sitting with her legs crossed, leaning forward on herelbows, listening hard to Father Brindle. Nickie tried unsuccessfully to catch her eye.
    That lunchtime Nickie asked Gabrielle what she thought of Father Brindle.
    ‘Nothing,’ she said.
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘I don’t have any thoughts about him.’
    ‘What about what he said about sacrifice?’
    ‘Well, that bit’s all true.’
    ‘I didn’t really get it,’ Nickie said. ‘That stuff about sacrifice. How do you know for sure it’s going to be better in Heaven? You could go through your life turning down fun and then, when you get there, it’s actually not that