Promises to Keep by Malcolm Macdonald
Author:Malcolm Macdonald [Malcolm Macdonald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2012-07-31T00:00:00+00:00
Wednesday, 13 February 1963
âDe bad feelinâ âtwixâ Brer Fox en Mr Dog start right dar, en hits bin agwine on twel now ey ainât git in smellinâ distuns er one er nâer widout deyâs a row.â
And so ended the first chapter. Willard snapped the book shut and said, âWaaal . . . yoâ tâink we gwine stick wid it, son? Dis am yoâ heritage, too.â
Virgil yawned and stretched out in the bed, already thinking of the two creamy thighs and the red-rosette garters that would ease him off to sleep in the traditional way for a fourteen-year-old boy. âEfân yew read it, paw,â he said. âMe? Ah jess stumble and fall right dar.â He touched a finger at the top of the binding.
Willard kissed his own fingertips, touched the boyâs forehead, and rose to go.
âWillard?â Virgil asked in his normal voice. âIs it easy to build a model?â
âSure. You just buy the kit and follow the instructions andââ
âNo. A model of places.â
âOh â like an architectural model. We do it all the time â youâve seen them. Good night now.â
âYes, but a model of a place, not a building â like a model of all the fields and woods and roads and stuff round here.â
Willardâs hand fell from the doorjamb. âAround here?â
âYes. From the valley up to beyond Bluebell Wood.â
He came back and stood by the bedside. âHave you actually seen one like that?â
The boy stared out of the window. âI just wondered if it would be easy to make.â
âBut what put the idea into your head? You have seen one, havenât you.â
Virgil swallowed heavily. âI promised. Itâs a secret.â
His father laughed. âOh! You mean the one over at the Findlaters! Did they show it to you? They told me it was top secret.â
âJasmine showed me. She made me swear not to tell anyone.â
âWell, your secretâs safe with me, son. And â to answer your question â yes, itâs not at all difficult. As a matter of fact, I have one pretty much like the one you saw over there in the cottage. Iâll bring it home tomorrow.â He reached out a hand. âSand in the right eye? No â youâre too old for that.â
Virgil grinned shyly. âYou can do it if you want.â
So Willard did: âSand in the right eye . . . sand in the left eye . . . shed a little tear . . . hereâs mud in your eye!â
Out in the kitchen, he said to Marianne, âWell, hot diggety dog! I jess knewâd it!â
âIs that unusual?â she asked.
âAlex and Faith â I knew it. Remember when Cynegonde went on and on and on about that crop-spraying plane?â
Marianne chuckled. âAnd you tried to shut her up!â
âYes â bi-i-ig mistake. I could see Alex looking at me â clicketty-click â but I never thought heâdââ He broke off and paced up and down, thinking.
Marianne completed the train: âNever thought heâd guess what youâre planning here?â
Willard murmured: âBut . . . a scale model already? He canât have got that far into .
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