Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman Read Free Book Online

yourself think in there. But don’t worry, we’ll be able to show you all the sights. Got them all in a lovely big book at home. What else are you planning to do while you’re here?’
    Colin decided not to tell them.
    After another hour of driving through slush, fog and heavy traffic, they arrived in Uncle Bob and Aunty Iris’s suburb.
    â€˜If you’re not too tired,’ said Aunty Iris, ‘we thought we might have a bit of an afternoon out.’
    â€˜Take your mind off other things,’ said Alistair.
    â€˜Just a bit of fun and relaxation,’ said Aunty Iris, glaring .at Alistair. She smiled at Colin. ‘Do you good to relax after that long flight and . . . and . . .’
    â€˜Other things,’ said Uncle Bob.
    He swung the wheel and they turned into a huge car-park in front of what looked to Colin like a massive warehouse. It certainly wasn’t Buckingham Palace.
    â€˜No,’ said Colin wearily, ‘I’m not tired.’
    They got out of the car.
    Still no mention of Luke.
    â€˜This,’ said Uncle Bob proudly, ‘is the biggest Do-It-Yourself Hardware Centre in Greater London.’
    Colin looked around. There was a lot of hardware.
    The massive warehouse building was full of it. Giant supermarket aisles stretched away as far as the eye could see, and on every shelf, hook, and rack, and in every basket, tub and storage unit, was hardware.
    â€˜Pretty incredible, isn’t it?’ said Uncle Bob.
    â€˜What do you think?’ said Aunty Iris. ‘Alistair, don’t play with the saws.’
    I don’t believe it, thought Colin. I’ve just flown half-way round the world to save my brother’s life and here I am staring at pre-painted bathroom panels.
    â€˜It’s bigger than ours at home,’ he said.
    Uncle Bob, Aunty Iris and Alistair laughed the laugh of people who had just heard what they wanted to hear.
    â€˜We were a bit worried when they first built it,’ said Uncle Bob, ‘but it’s the focal point of the district now.’
    â€˜We’re very pleased with it,’ said Aunty Iris. ‘Alistair, don’t touch that.’
    â€˜Do you mind if we go now?’ said Colin. ‘I’m actually finding it a bit hard to concentrate on hardware while Luke’s got cancer.’
    The silence that followed lasted long enough for Alistair to cut his finger on a wallpaper scraper.
    By the time they had been to the hospital and waited to have Alistair’s finger looked at, and Uncle Bob had had an argument with the medical supervisor about wasting the hospital’s time, and Colin had asked the medical supervisor if he knew anything about cancer, and the medical supervisor had thought Colin was being sarcastic and had ordered them all off the premises, it was teatime.
    After tea, Aunty Iris thought Alistair was looking pale and sent him to bed early.
    Colin said he needed an early night too. He lay on the lumpy bed in the spare room and stared at the ceiling. He wondered what the Queen was doing. Working on next year’s Christmas speech perhaps. Perhaps it had given her a headache and even at that moment the best doctor in the world was being rushed across London in a police motorcade.
    He wondered how quickly cancer made the body go bung. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time. He had to see her tomorrow. But first he needed some information.
    He crept into Alistair’s room. Alistair was in bed, reading a Captain America comic. On the cover Captain America was fighting about fifty slime-covered reptiles. Alistair guiltily stuffed it under his pillow until he saw it was only Colin.
    â€˜Alistair,’ said Colin, ‘where exactly is Buckingham Palace?’
    â€˜In town,’ said Alistair. ‘Miles away.’
    â€˜How do you get there?’
    â€˜Quickest way’s by tube,’ said Alistair, ‘but it’s pretty dangerous. You have to get into the