Kill-Devil and Water by Andrew Pepper Read Free Book Online

there were things he had done in his past that fitted this description, and that his uncle would doubtless embellish such episodes into something even nastier, but he hadn’t robbed or killed to satisfy his own primal urges. He had done so only when absolutely compelled to and wherever possible he had tried to do what was right, even if this meant hurting other people in the process. But none of this would make it into his uncle’s book; instead it would be a fictional tale that wallowed in its own stench with the sole purpose, Pyke believed, of offending the refined sensibilities of a particular kind of educated reader.
     
    But Pyke wasn’t interested in Maginn’s stories or in helping Godfrey keep a muzzle on him. He had come to his uncle’s event only to spend some time with Felix, and now he surveyed the mass of faces for a sign of his son, hoping that this encounter would be better than the last one. Perhaps Felix would look him in the eye this time or maybe even allow Pyke to take him in his arms. That was all Pyke had wanted to do when Felix had shunned him at Godfrey’s apartment.
     
    It was Jo who spotted him. When she touched his arm, Pyke spun around and found himself staring into her smiling face. Felix was holding her hand, as though his life depended on it. His hair had been brushed and he wore a clean shirt. Pyke bent down and ruffled his hair the way he used to, but Felix seemed to recoil from his touch. Pyke stood up, trying to conceal his hurt from Jo. She was wearing a plain cotton dress and a straw bonnet, tied under the chin with a piece of red ribbon.
     
    ‘We’ve been reading Ivanhoe together, haven’t we?’ Jo said, for Pyke’s benefit, while squeezing Felix’s hand. She raised her eyes to meet his. ‘He really is a demon of a reader.’
     
    Pyke tried to think of something he could say about Scott’s book but nothing came to mind. ‘I’m sure it’s a good deal more uplifting than, Godfrey’s book.’
     
    ‘I’ve read that one, too,’ Felix piped up.
     
    They both looked at him. ‘You’ve read Godfrey’s book?’ Pyke asked, appalled by the notion.
     
    Felix stared at him, still gripping Jo’s hand. ‘At the end, I thought they should have hanged him by the neck for all he’d done.’
     
    Pyke felt dizzy. Felix had read a book purporting to be an account of his life as a Bow Street Runner. Would the lad have known this? Not having read the book himself, Pyke didn’t know what claims it made, but knowing his uncle, he was quite sure it wouldn’t make for a comfortable read.
     
    ‘You understand that it’s all made up,’ he said, adopting what he hoped was a suitably stern tone.
     
    ‘Then why does it say it’s a true and candid confession?’ Felix replied defiantly.
     
    Pyke glanced over at Jo for assistance but she gave him an apologetic shrug, as if this was the first she’d heard of it. ‘What I meant,’ he said carefully, ‘was that it’s not based on any one person’s real experiences.’
     
    ‘But weren’t you a Bow Street Runner?’
     
    Pyke tried to hide his consternation - and anger - that his son was speaking to him in such a manner. ‘That’s beside the point, Felix.’
     
    Thankfully their conversation was interrupted by Godfrey, who told Pyke he needed help. Maginn was steaming drunk and, even worse, he’d seemingly now taken against the book. Godfrey delivered this last piece of news in such a grave tone that Pyke felt he had no choice but to help. He told Felix they would resume their little chat in a moment.
     
    ‘I’ve already paid him a king’s ransom to be here and now he’s savaging my book to all and sundry,’ Godfrey said, as they made their way across to Maginn’s growing coterie.
     
    Maginn was still in full flow. ‘This book is meretricious,’ he was saying, holding up a copy of Confessions , as though giving a sermon, ‘because it wilfully misleads its educated readers by purporting to tell the truth about