The Dead Fathers Club

The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig Read Free Book Online

Book: The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig Read Free Book Online
Authors: Matt Haig
our fathers lied.’
    C OMMON FORM , ‘E PITAPHS OF THE W AR (1914–1918)’
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)
    I didnt know what Epitaphs meant or Common Form but I liked the words at the top because my father lied about people coming to the Pub and I didnt die but I did get into BIG TROUBLE. And the words told me that I should tell the truth about Dads Ghost lying and telling me to take the mini bus. Later that day I was with Mrs Fell again and she wasnt my Teacher now she was my counsellor but she looked the same except her head was more sideways when she was my counsellor.
    She asked me Why did you do it Philip?
    I said Because my father lied.
    She said What?
    And I said If any question why we died tell them because our fathers lied.
    She looked at me for a long while with a very sideways head but she still looked pretty even sideways especially when she crinkled her nose at the same time.
    Mrs Fell is the prettiest Teacher because she has green eyes that look into you and black curly hair and a big smile and her top lip is like an M but flatter and her bottom lip is bigger on the left than the right and she wears lipstick but not bright like Mums lipstick and she has white skin that is soft. She wears nice clothes like jeans and a pink T shirt which says ATHLETIC and she has a necklace with a small gold cross like how Jesus died with nails in him. And she is from Ollerton which is near Newark but she does not speak like Nottinghamshire which is sad with the words going

    with her words not falling even though she is called Mrs Fell. And she just looked at me with sideways eyes the way I look in my tank to see if fish have died.
    After a long time she said very quietly as if I had eggshell ears she said Thats from a poem Philip.
    I said Yes I know but my dad really did lie to me when I was in Hadrians Wall.
    She said You have had a very tough time recently.
    And I said Yes my dad died.
    She said Yes I know.
    I said Its not my dad lying to me.
    She smiled and her shoulders dropped down but she stopped smiling when I said Its my dads ghost.
    She said Philip when boys your age have to deal with something as terrible and difficult as what you have had to deal with it is possible for them to get slightly confused about some things.
    I said He comes to me sometimes and he speaks to me but he is not there all the time. He flickers on and off like a bad light bulb.
    She sighed and crinkled her nose again and made her eyes thin and she said Philip you have an exceptional imagination and that is a good thing to have it really is. But you must be able to separate the things that are real from the things that are not real.
    I said Mrs Fell do you believe in ghosts?
    Her nose flinched a bit like the question was a ball thrown in her face and she said No I dont.
    I said Neither did I until I saw my dads ghost.
    She said Philip.
    I said Im not making it up.
    She said I know youre not Philip. Its just after terrible things happen it is sometimes hard to know what is real and what is not.
    I said He told me that Mum was in trouble and I had to steal the mini bus.
    She wrote something down on paper and she looked at me for another Long Time and picked up the little gold cross in-between her thumb and finger and moved it along the necklace. Then she said And when you got back was your Mum in trouble?
    I said No.
    She said So there you go.
    I said He was lying.
    She said Philip you have to try to ignore these things because they are part of your imagination.
    I said I cant help it.
    She said Theres no such word as cant Philip. You have to help it.
    I said I have no choice.
    She said You always have a choice. Life is full of choices Philip thats all there is. You can ignore anything you choose to ignore and eventually it will go away.
    I said What about the soldiers?
    She said What soldiers?
    I said In the First World War. The ones whose fathers lied.
    She said That is different.
    I said Why?
    She said That is History Philip not

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