Far From Home by Anne Bennett Read Free Book Online Page B

me and Kate never fancied anything like that.’
    â€˜I don’t even know what they are.’
    â€˜Seafood,’ Kate said. ‘Like that song, “Molly Malone”. You must know that one – she sold cockles and mussels and that sort of stuff.’
    â€˜Yeah, I know the song all right,’ Sally said. ‘Have even sung it a few times, but I never knew what any of the things she sang about were, or looked like.’
    â€˜You can have a peep tonight,’ Kate promised. ‘But if you don’t fancy those, there’s a man who bakes potatoes in a little oven and they are lovely with a bit of salt. If we are still hungry we can get one of those – honestly, they smell so delicious that you always feel hungry when you get the whiff in the air.’
    â€˜That’s true,’ Susie said, jumping to her feet. ‘But right now we’re wasting time. Come on, it’s probably all happening in the streets.’
    The first sight that greeted Sally as they went out of the door and down the steps were the men walking around – seemingly effortlessly – on high stilts that their long, long trousers hid from view. ‘How do they do that?’ she asked in awe. ‘Specially on these uneven cobbles.’
    Kate shrugged. ‘Search me,’ she said. ‘And I’ve never seen any of them fall off.’ She linked her arm aroundSally and said, ‘Come on, let’s show you the boxing ring set up.’
    At the boxing ring, a small man in a black top hat and red jacket was encouraging men standing in the crowd to try their luck at beating the champ for a prize of five pounds. The champ, a huge and glowering man, was broad and hefty-looking with arms like tree trunks and fists like giant hams. These could be seen plainly because he was naked to the waist, with tight trousers fastened around massive beefy legs, and he had a slight sneer on his face as he regarded them all. ‘Step this way, gentlemen,’ wheedled the little man in the jacket. ‘Impress the ladies – after all, five pounds is five pounds.’
    But though some of the men shifted uncomfortably on their feet, none stepped forward and Sally couldn’t blame them one little bit. She found the man unnerving. ‘Has anyone beaten him?’ she whispered as they walked away.
    Susie and Kate both shook their heads. ‘Seen some nearly killed having a go though,’ Kate added.
    â€˜Well, no one seemed that keen on trying their luck this evening, anyway,’ Sally said with slight satisfaction.
    â€˜Too early, that’s why,’ Susie said sagely. ‘Give them a few hours in the Bell pub over there and many will think themselves the strongest men in Christendom and then they will take on the champ.’
    â€˜Ugh,’ Sally said. ‘Well, I think it’s horrid and I don’t see why anyone thinks it might impress us.’
    â€˜Nor me,’ said Kate. ‘Tell you the truth, I would have severe doubts about any man who was willing to allow himself to be punched into the middle of next week for five pounds.’
    â€˜Me too,’ Susie said. ‘Funny ideas about women some of these men have. Now, do you want to see the man tied up in chains or the one lying on a bed of nails first?’
    Sally laughed. ‘As I have never come near seeing anything like either of those, it’s all one and the same to me.’
    â€˜Right then,’ Susie said decisively. ‘Let’s see Birmingham’s answer to Houdini first.’
    Sally hadn’t been sure who Houdini was, but she was soon enlightened when she saw the man standing with coils of chains all around him: he was urging the audience gathering around him to test their strength. Kate and Susie dropped coins in the hat that was lying on the floor watched over by an assistant, and Kate whispered to her sister, ‘He will do nothing until there is a pound in the