Life's a Pitch by J.C. Williams

Author:J.C. Williams [Williams, J.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-10T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

A n excitable child of about five years of age sprinted away from his mother’s grasp, giggling as he made his daring break for freedom. His floppy blond fringe virtually covered his eyes, and for a moment, it appeared that he might run directly into a marble-effect column towering to the gilded ceiling up high. Fortunately, he spotted the obstacle just in time to avoid a nasty collision, taking evasive action, but, unfortunately, dropping what he’d been gripping tightly in his left palm. “Oh, poop,” he moaned, watching as the gold-coloured coins rolled across the tiled floor in different directions. Unable to chase them all, he settled on one, following its trajectory, and then abruptly lurching forward before it got lost amongst the threatening cluster of feet and legs that loomed ahead.

“Harry!” the lad’s flustered mum called out, just as Harry’s head made contact with a sour-faced woman’s shin.

“I got it, Mum!” Harry replied, holding up the gold coin like a proud Olympian parading on the top step.

“I can see that, Harry, but where’s the rest?” Mum asked like a seasoned debt collector. “Don’t tell me you’ve lost them already?” she said, in her finest ‘Mum’ tone.

Young Harry brushed his fringe to one side, desperately looking this way and that. “No, I’ve not,” he insisted, falling down onto his knees, hoping an ant’s-eye view would improve his rescue mission. “I think they went… no, wait, that’s not it… now where did they…”

Witnessing the unfolding events, Ben pushed himself up from the elegant sofa in the corner of the banking hall, as he’d watched as two of the coins had rolled in his direction, one to the left of the sofa he’d been sitting on and one to the right. He picked both of them up, happy to be of service, and then raised a finger, hoping to attract the mum’s attention before Harry received too much of a tongue lashing. “I think this is the rest of what he’s looking for,” Ben said, walking over and presenting himself before them.

Harry scurried in and snatched up the two remaining coins, suspicious as to how they’d come into this man’s possession. But now that the money was firmly ensconced in his paw, back in its rightful owner’s custody, the boy’s steely expression changed. “Thanks, mister,” young Harry offered, his demeanour quickly softening.

Mum offered Ben a grateful smile. “Thanks for that. He’s only just received his pocket money from his gran, and there he is throwing it away moments later,” she said with a laugh, giving her son a playful hair ruffling. “Most kids with a few coins jingling in their pocket want to head straight to the sweet shop,” she explained to Ben. “But not Harry. He’s happier bringing it along to the bank to place into his Junior Savers account.”

“Impressive,” Ben remarked.

“He’s just like his dad in that respect,” Harry’s mum whispered. “Doesn’t like spending money,” she confided. “Either that, or he’s smitten with the pretty girl behind the counter, and that’s why he likes coming here.

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