The Life and Afterlife of Charlie Brackwood (The Brackwood Series Book 1) by Stacey Field
Authors: Stacey Field
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Mr Raven had, so they didn't miss out. Lucy didn't like the idea of them waiting for someone who would never show up. After only a short time the ducks grew to love us too and for months after giving up the role of 'duck dinner lady' we were followed religiously by the waddling waterfowl. Some were so obsessed with food that they would follow us into our own homes, which always made Lucy squeal with glee.
When Mr Raven came home from hospital he visited my house and spoke to Lucy and me. We were scared at first because he was such a stern man and up to that point we'd only ever heard him shout at children of our age. He told us how grateful he was that we'd seen him in trouble, and how intelligent we were for asking my mum to ring an ambulance. He told us we'd saved his life, and we told him about the ducks. He was shocked and a bit surprised that we knew his little secret, but pleased that we had thought of them. I felt proud of Lucy and her caring nature. If it weren't for her Mr Raven's plight would have gone unnoticed.
After that we looked for more neighbours to spy on, seeking excitement and intrigue. We watched Mrs Kane as she flirted with the postman, who appeared to enjoy the attention very much. Mrs Kane was in her forties and was never seen without an enormous amount of makeup that made her look rather scary to children. Her hair was always perfectly curled with rollers and her wardrobe must have consisted only of low-cut tops and miniskirts as that's all she ever seemed to be seen in, apart from winter when she would wear a floor-length fur coat.
Back then I saw her as a joke, now I see her as a middle-aged woman who couldn’t let go of her youth. She always seemed to be chasing the past in an effort to hold on to the younger version of herself. As I grew older myself I began to pity her.
Mr Kane was a shy, scrawny man with thick black-rimmed glasses. He always dressed older than his age and was never seen without a dickey bow. He was polite to anyone he passed in the village but he was not a talkative man. Mrs Kane would talk down to him and often humiliate him in public but he would never defend himself against her. I'd hear my parents talk about Mrs Kane's behaviour, how she was seen by others as quite ridiculous. She was often, much to her delight, the talk of the village. Her outrageous behaviour led to chatter about sordid affairs with married men and she was always the centre of village gossip.
One day Lucy, Russ and I watched from the tree house as Mrs Kane got out of a taxi, wearing her usual attire. She had her back to us as she bent down to lean into the taxi window and pay the driver, giving us a view of her backside that we would later try hard to forget. She turned around and looked our way. Russ had joined us that day so he was on binocular duty and therefore got more of an eyeful than the rest of us.
"Whoah... my god... what the hell happened?" Russ suddenly exclaimed as he bravely carried on with his spying, unlike Lucy and I who had lost interest after the overexposure-of-bottom incident. Russ had nicknamed Mrs Kane 'Mrs Vain' for obvious reasons. He liked nicknames, though he never had one for me. Lucy and I looked at each other, puzzlement in our expressions, before we swiftly took turns in looking through the binoculars ourselves.
Mrs Kane was wrapped up like a mummy. Only her eyes were visible, outlined by their signature black liner, giving her a likeness to an Ancient Egyptian. She looked up and down the empty lane, presumably in search of someone from whom to extract sympathy, before her eyes focused on the bent-over rear end of the new, youthful-looking milkman, making the last of his deliveries. She smiled to herself and her heavily made up eyes lingered on his pert bottom just a bit too long. Then with a swish of her scarf she turned on her heel and disappeared inside her cottage.
"Jesus, has Mr Kane finally stood up for
When Mr Raven came home from hospital he visited my house and spoke to Lucy and me. We were scared at first because he was such a stern man and up to that point we'd only ever heard him shout at children of our age. He told us how grateful he was that we'd seen him in trouble, and how intelligent we were for asking my mum to ring an ambulance. He told us we'd saved his life, and we told him about the ducks. He was shocked and a bit surprised that we knew his little secret, but pleased that we had thought of them. I felt proud of Lucy and her caring nature. If it weren't for her Mr Raven's plight would have gone unnoticed.
After that we looked for more neighbours to spy on, seeking excitement and intrigue. We watched Mrs Kane as she flirted with the postman, who appeared to enjoy the attention very much. Mrs Kane was in her forties and was never seen without an enormous amount of makeup that made her look rather scary to children. Her hair was always perfectly curled with rollers and her wardrobe must have consisted only of low-cut tops and miniskirts as that's all she ever seemed to be seen in, apart from winter when she would wear a floor-length fur coat.
Back then I saw her as a joke, now I see her as a middle-aged woman who couldn’t let go of her youth. She always seemed to be chasing the past in an effort to hold on to the younger version of herself. As I grew older myself I began to pity her.
Mr Kane was a shy, scrawny man with thick black-rimmed glasses. He always dressed older than his age and was never seen without a dickey bow. He was polite to anyone he passed in the village but he was not a talkative man. Mrs Kane would talk down to him and often humiliate him in public but he would never defend himself against her. I'd hear my parents talk about Mrs Kane's behaviour, how she was seen by others as quite ridiculous. She was often, much to her delight, the talk of the village. Her outrageous behaviour led to chatter about sordid affairs with married men and she was always the centre of village gossip.
One day Lucy, Russ and I watched from the tree house as Mrs Kane got out of a taxi, wearing her usual attire. She had her back to us as she bent down to lean into the taxi window and pay the driver, giving us a view of her backside that we would later try hard to forget. She turned around and looked our way. Russ had joined us that day so he was on binocular duty and therefore got more of an eyeful than the rest of us.
"Whoah... my god... what the hell happened?" Russ suddenly exclaimed as he bravely carried on with his spying, unlike Lucy and I who had lost interest after the overexposure-of-bottom incident. Russ had nicknamed Mrs Kane 'Mrs Vain' for obvious reasons. He liked nicknames, though he never had one for me. Lucy and I looked at each other, puzzlement in our expressions, before we swiftly took turns in looking through the binoculars ourselves.
Mrs Kane was wrapped up like a mummy. Only her eyes were visible, outlined by their signature black liner, giving her a likeness to an Ancient Egyptian. She looked up and down the empty lane, presumably in search of someone from whom to extract sympathy, before her eyes focused on the bent-over rear end of the new, youthful-looking milkman, making the last of his deliveries. She smiled to herself and her heavily made up eyes lingered on his pert bottom just a bit too long. Then with a swish of her scarf she turned on her heel and disappeared inside her cottage.
"Jesus, has Mr Kane finally stood up for
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