Come and Tell Me Some Lies by Raffaella Barker Read Free Book Online Page A

threw around the class of forty naughty infants. He fought then in street scuffles, and, when he grew up, in bars and pubs from here to Nagasaki. His anger dwindled, and at Mildney wrestling was an armchair sport. He watched it every Saturday with the boys. Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy were his favourites and he leaned towards the screen, searching with his hand for the ashtray in the gloom of the playroom. He always shut the curtains when he was watching television.
    â€˜Marvellous. It’s fiendish, almost Chinese.’ No praise could be higher, and he nudged Flook to attention as two fat thugs splattered one another across the ring.
    Patrick mended bikes with copper wire and masking tape and endless optimism. He and his brother had built cars together as young men. They raced one across Texas once with the Earl of Dunlane.
    Va Va wobbled off on her bicycle. ‘That’s dandy,’ said Patrick, but she tumbled a moment later when the injured wheelbuckled again. His spanner set was prized beyond anything he owned. Wrath gathered in an instant cloud if any went missing. ‘One of you has stolen it.’ He glared round the yard. ‘You can damn well find it or else …’ Flook ran up to him and pulled the spanner from the pocket of Patrick’s jeans. Fury vanished. ‘Cleverest bambino, you deserve a prize.’ And reaching for his cigarette packet, Patrick pulled out the silver foil and made a tiny goblet for Flook. ‘This is the cup that the Knights of the Round Table drank from,’ he said.
    â€˜No it’s not. You just made it.’
    Patrick looked down his long nose. ‘It is magic, young man.’ Flook howled with laughter, bent double over his crumpled goblet.

Chapter 15
    Daddy was very upset by Flook’s illness. He usually only went into the Drinking Room on Saturdays, but while Mummy was at the hospital he drifted in every evening and stood, shoulders hunched, staring into the cold fireplace. Louise left her children with her mother and came to look after us, but I thought Daddy needed more care. I peered through the crack in the door at dusk, worried that he might be lonely. He was looking out towards the river, one arm raised to the top of the window frame. Through the small panes of glass clouds bowled across a sky dark with approaching storms. Daddy turned round and saw me. ‘Come in, my love, come in.’ The Drinking Room seemed forlorn with just Daddy and no fire lit, and although I hated drinking evenings, I wished Daddy had someone there to cheer him up.
    â€˜Daddy, are you all right?’
    He smiled and pulled me over to him. ‘I’m keeping company with Bacchus and some old ghosts,’ he said. ‘I miss your Mummy.’
    I sat down in a deep armchair. ‘She’ll be back soon.’ I curled up and leaned my cheek against the soft density of velvet. ‘Flook really is getting better now, isn’t he?’
    Daddy poured a splash of Martini and some water into his glass and raised it. ‘Yes, thank Christ. He is better. But he has paid with the loss of innocence.’
    Louise came in. ‘Now Patrick, what stories are you telling this poor child?’ She sounded a little flirtatious, deliberately light-hearted, like all Mummy’s friends when they talked to Daddy.
    Daddy looked at her and didn’t speak. He drank some Martini and still he didn’t speak. He winked at me. ‘A tiny discussion about Life and Love and the great Hereafter,’ he said in his most professorial tones.
    Louise laughed. ‘Well, it’s supper-time, so come and have some spaghetti.’
    â€˜Dear God, these women are frightening,’ Daddy whispered to me as we followed Louise. ‘But what can I do? Your Mummy has left her orders, and we must obey her.’

Chapter 16
    June 1986
    Brodie and Flook became taller than Dad without anyone noticing them grow. They were stringy and clumsy, and nearly twenty.