The Feast by Margaret Kennedy Read Free Book Online

Caroline.
    ‘I never had any,’ whispered Blanche.
    ‘Well … do try one.’ ‘N-no, thank you.’
    ‘Are you going for a holiday?’ Michael wanted to know.
    ‘Yeth,’ said Blanche, who lisped a little.
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Pendizack Manor Hotel.’
    ‘Oh!’ said the three Giffords.
    Luke and Michael looked through the window to signal the news to Hebe. She gave them a warning scowl. One of Blanche’s sisters was just about to go down the corridor, and she wanted an ally to seize the second seat. But none of them felt inclined to join her. It was more fun in the corridor. They smiled and shook their heads. Hebe glared reproachfully. But she would not come out, though they beckoned to her.
    ‘That’s where we shall be staying,’ said Caroline to Blanche.
    ‘Where is your father?’ asked Michael.
    ‘He’th dead,’ said Blanche mournfully.
    ‘Oh. I’m sorry.’
    What with her dead father and her poor back they were all beginning to feel very sorry for her. Caroline again pressed her to take a sweet. But she explained that she had none to give them back.
    ‘Oh, that doesn’t matter,’ said Caroline. ‘We have lots. We get parcels from America.’
    Blanche timidly took the sweet.
    ‘Do you get parcels from America?’ asked Michael.
    ‘Yeth.’
    ‘What’s in them?’
    ‘I don’t know. Mother keepth them.’
    ‘We have feasts with ours,’ said Luke.
    Blanche’s eyes widened. She stared at him in a kind of ecstasy.
    At this moment her sister returned up the corridor and was offered a sweet too, which she accepted with the same reluctance, explaining that she had none to give back. They seemed to think that all gifts must have some kind of exchange value. The newcomer told them that her name was Beatrix and that the third sister was called Maud. Their surname, they said, was Cove.
    ‘Why don’t you go back into the carriage and rest your back?’ said Caroline to Blanche. ‘Beatrix can stay here with us.’
    ‘I like it here,’ said Blanche, fervently.
    To her sister she murmured:
    ‘They have feasts.’
    ‘O-o-oh!’ breathed Beatrix.
    Both sisters fell into a reverie, sucking sweets and staring at these wonderful Giffords.
    The word feast had a magic significance for the little Coves. They had never been at a feast, but they had read about such doings. They had a book called The Madcap of St. Monica’s in which dormitory feasts were held at midnight. The word conveyed to them they knew not what of hospitality and convivial enjoyment. And their favourite game was to plan feasts which they would give if they were rich. A difficulty in collecting guests (for they knew very few people) had been overcome by Beatrix, who suggested that a notice might be put up on their house door saying: A GREAT FEAST IS TO BE HELD HERE. ALL ARE INVITED. And then everybody would come.
    Their ignorance of the world was fantastic, for their mother could never afford to let them do anything or have anything that they wanted. But day dreams cost nothing and in day dreams they lived, nourishing their starved imaginations upon any food that they could find. These Giffords, these madcap children who had stepped straight out of a fairy tale, were a banquet.
    ‘Do you have a pony?’ asked Blanche at last.
    Yes. The Giffords had a pony apiece. But these had been lent to their cousins when their country house was given up. Michael and Luke were only too pleased to describe the glories of this house and, though Caroline felt that they were boasting, she could not stop a recital which gave such obvious pleasure. Maud, in her turn, came out, was given sweets and included in the audience. The Giffords talked and the Coves listened, withoutrancour and without envy, feeling themselves enriched by such an adventure. They could have knelt and worshipped the Giffords for doing and having so much.
    ‘And we have a Secret Society,’ said Luke. ‘Hebe started it. It’s called the Noble Covenant of Spartans. When we all get to