The Watchers on the Shore Read Online Free PDF Page A

before I realize that the line's as dead as a doornail.
    The next minute I'm out of the house and racing down the hill to where I vaguely remember seeing a phone box on the corner.

    3

    'But he never actually said he'd leave the shop to me, Mother,'I say, irritated by the way she's talking about something that's settled now and can't be altered.
    She's got her mending-basket open by her chair and one of the Old Man's socks pulled over a darning-stool, the needle giving off an occasional flash of light as she pulls the grey wool across the hole.
    'You know very well that's the impression he gave both you and your father,'she says.
    'Oh, he gave that impression all right,'the Old Man says, fiddlingwith his pipe; 'but he never made any promises except them he kept.'
    'Well all I know is he persuaded our Victor to give up a good trade - against my advice, I'll have you remember - and now he finds himself in a dead-end job, just another shop assistant.'
    'I can always go back into engineering,'I point out; 'and I've got five hundred quid to take with me, so I can't see that I've lost much by it.'
    'It's not what you were led to expect,'the Old Lady says, her mouth in a stubborn line. 'And it's all right thinking about going back to draughtsmanship, but look at the seniority you've lost at Whittaker's.'
    'I haven't said I'm going back to Whittaker's. There's lots of other places. I might even make a break and move right away.'
    'Right away? Have you talked it over with Ingrid? She mightn't take too kindly to that idea now her mother's on her own. There's not just yourself to think about now, y'know.'
    'I do know.'Oh, but she makes me wild the way she goes on. I wonder now how I ever stuck it when I was at home. 'All I'm saying is what I might do. I wish you'd stop pouncing on every little thing I say and driving me into corners.'
    'Well, it's a job if your own mother can't talk to you now.'
    'It's funny, though, y'know,'the Old Feller says, half to himself, 'the way Mr Van Huyten talked abut how much he liked you and he had no relatives that he knew about. I mean, there was only one construction you could fairly put on it.'
    'I know there was, and he probably meant that. But he had to see how I made out first, see if I was capable and all that. And though he was very fond of pointing out how old he was I don't think he thought he was going to die for some time. I'm certain he didn't expect to go as sudden as he did. And for all I know he might have intended changing his will any time. The fact is he didn't, and so we've got to make the best of it.'
    I'm fed up with all this talk. Of course I was disappointed, and no mistake. But looking back at it now it seems fantastic to think there was any chance of Mr Van Huyten leaving the shop to me. And I don't like my mother and father to talk as if I've been led up the garden path and made a fool of. I'm ready to bet that Mr Van Huyten never did that to anybody in his life.
    'You'll be stopping on at the shop for a bit anyway, I reckon?'
    'Until the bank gets everything settled, yes. I expect Fenwick's are ready to make an offer. Mr Van Huyten told me they were interested.'
    'I expect they'd take you on if you wanted it, eh?'
    'They might, but I'm not interested. I'd be just another salaried employee to them, one of scores. I probably wouldn't even get the chance of the manager's job. They'll have a trained man ready to take over. I think Henry's hoping he can stay on, though. I mean, it's his trade.
    'Y'know, 'I say in a minute, 'the old chap didn't do so flippin'badly with us when you think about it. Five hundred for me and two-fifty for Henry. He was a grand old feller and he couldn't help it if he got a bit soft in the head towards the end.'
    'No,'the Old Feller says, 'you're right. And he's gone now, so it's no use trying to fathom what was in his mind.'Which makes all three of us go quiet, as though we're trying to do just that.
    There's a great fire piled up orange and glowing in