The Longest Winter by Mary Jane Staples Read Free Book Online Page A

it’s only now that I’ve begun to think seriously about it.’
    Kirsti reacted with a perceptible withdrawal of warm bosom from manly chest.
    ‘You don’t mean me, do you?’ she said.
    ‘You’re a delicious young thing,’ said James, ‘but no.’
    ‘Thank goodness,’ said Kirsti, re-engaging, ‘I thought it wasn’t going to be fun any more.’
    He looked at Marie’s essay again the next morning. It was a bright piece about her home and family on a particular day, what she did, what they did, and what was said. Rosa was mentioned. And Boris.
    ‘
In the afternoon I walked home from school with Rosa and Boris. Rosa comes to meet me sometimesand then she meets Boris too. Rosa held my hand and Boris held Rosa’s hand. Sometimes they whispered and sometimes he made her laugh and push him. My brother Louis ran out to meet us and fell over and hurt his hand. He is too big to cry now so he just got up and asked me to come and look at his new toy soldiers
.’
    That was all there was about Rosa and Boris. The paragraph was in the middle of the essay.
    That last line still made no sense.
    But it worried him a little and he began to wonder about Boris Ferenac.
    ‘Is the son of the redoubtable Sir William with us again?’ asked Sophie.
    ‘James? He’s with Carl, in the stables,’ said Anne. ‘It’s all to do with the Benz and nothing to do with us. He doesn’t seem to realize how eligible we both are. Myself, I’m very eligible.’
    ‘I know, darling.’ Sophie smiled. ‘And you’re keeping scores of suitors on tenterhooks.’
    ‘I’m really only keeping them attentive. One is only young once. And I shan’t marry until I fall madly in love.’
    ‘There’s Ludwig,’ said Sophie, ‘I’m sure he’s excessively keen on you.’
    ‘Sophie, he’s quite excessively attached to you.’
    ‘He’s a dear boy,’ said Sophie, ‘and much the age for you, darling.’
    ‘Of course, James is very adult,’ said Anne, regarding the bright sweep of the gardens.
    ‘Oh, how did James creep in?’ smiled Sophie.
    ‘Well, he is very provoking,’ said Anne, ‘always coming to see Carl and having so little to do with us.’
    ‘Oh, the devious fellow,’ said Sophie.
    ‘Devious?’
    ‘Certainly. A young lady ignored is a young lady susceptible. He is out to catch you, my sweet.’
    ‘Or you?’ said Anne and laughed.
    The baroness entered the drawing room.
    ‘Ludwig and Helene are here,’ she said. ‘Ludwig has gone to the stables and Helene is waiting for you to receive her, Anne.’
    ‘Yes, we’re all to go driving in the Benz,’ said Anne.
    ‘That is news to me,’ said Sophie.
    ‘Well, it’s all arranged,’ said Anne, ‘and you must come or we shall be odd.’
    ‘I shall save you from that terrible fate,’ said Sophie.
    The carriages were out of the stables. In their place stood the gleaming Benz. The bonnet was up. Immersed in the mechanical functionalism were Carl and Ludwig. Sitting on a pair of steps, overlooking the amateurs, was James in his light grey suit with a striped shirt and grey tie. The stables smelt of horses, straw and linseed oil. From their stall on the far side the horses chewed hay and blinked suspiciously at the monster threatening their purpose in life.
    ‘No,’ said James, ‘use the plug spanner, Carl.’
    ‘Ah, you’ve caught me there,’ said Carl.
    That was how it was. Carl was learning the mechanics under James’s supervision. Carl did not want to merely drive the Benz, he wanted to understand it, to comprehend the fundamentals, to know what to look for if anything went wrong and what to do to put the fault right. He had telephoned James two days after taking delivery, complaining about a stiffness in the gears. James thought he should have contacted the dealers but did not say so. He came round. He came again, several times. Now it was an involvement and a friendship, something that took up his time out of school hours. It also included teaching Carl how to