Rover.’
Dave pointed a finger at the toy dog. ‘You call that fing Rover?’
‘Rover’s the cat,’ Harry explained. ‘I don’t think I ever heard the name of the dog. Ena just useta call her silly names, like Tiddles and that.’
‘Thass a good name for a dog,’ Dave said. ‘A good name for
that
dog. Tiddles—kill!’
‘Cut that out, boy,’ Harry said, as the dog started. ‘She’s in a state. Her nerves are shot to pieces, and my jealous old cat int helpin. Poor little old dog.’ He brought his forehead down to rest for a moment against the spaniel’s.
‘You goonna keep ’er?’ Dave asked.
‘I reckon,’ said Harry, gazing into the dog’s face. ‘Oh, if you could on’y talk. Just think of it, Dave: these bright little eyes have sin it, sin the man with the gun. This is the on’y witness there is.’
‘Everyone,’ Dave said, ‘say: “The man”, but that don’t have to be a man. I mean, thass not as if there was any sex in it.’
‘Thass what makes it all the more pecooliar,’ said Harry, musing. ‘I mean, this sort of thing, thass nearly always about sex. And then half the commoonity can say: “Well, thass me safe.” But nobody’s safe here: not you or me, not the vicar’s wife or the harbour master’s little daughter, not even the dogs and cats, seein he seem to be doin it just for a giggle.’
‘They say thass some foreign seaman,’ Dave said. ‘Yugoslav, that’d be my guess.’
‘Oh, what shit,’ Harry muttered. ‘
They
say.
They
int got a clue, boy, and well you know it. And why Yugoslav, anyway?’
‘I don’t like ’em,’ Dave admitted.
‘There, you see? Thass ezzackly what I mean.’
He got up from his chair, the dog in his arms. ‘Talkin of Yugoslav seamen and such,’ he said, ‘thass time we went to the Galley. I int eaten today, not a soddin crumb. I’m just beginnin to notice. I shall have to shut the dog in the kitchen where the cat can’t eat her, then we’re off.’
Outside the air was biting, and above the streetlamps a clear sky made the roofs gleam with icy moonlight. At the end of the narrow street which they were following a great white ship, blazing with yellow light, slid by. Harry looked at his watch. ‘Late,’ he said. ‘Must be rough weather over there.’
Among the façades of secretive dwelling-houses the Galley’s glowing windows made a festive interruption. The door, opening on steamy heat, rang a bell, and at the sound groups of men at the scattered tables looked up to see who had arrived. The strip-lighting was harsh, and the Galley gleamed, in a dull fashion, because everything in it had to be washable. Some of its patrons had the trick of duelling by firing off, as it were, sauce-bottles at one another.
At a table towards the back of the large room sat a cluster of dark sailorly men. Harry murmured to Dave: ‘Your Yugoslavs,’ and Dave nodded.
‘Off that Spanish ship,’ he whispered, ‘at King’s Wharf—you know? They been around for a week or more. She’s arrested for debt.’
‘I know who they are,’ said Harry, seating himself at an empty table. ‘They’re pretty famous among the gossips, such as you. From the way they look around ’em, I think they know it.’
‘I fink the fuzz,’ Dave said, as he sat down, ‘might have been askin ’em about their movements, like.’
A man at another table, who had been looking at them over a plate of fish and chips, caught Harry’s eye and said, economically: ‘Harry,’ with a nod of his cropped grey head. Harry slightly raised one hand, and returned: ‘Charlie.’ To Dave he explained: ‘Charlie’s our crane-driver, on the job.’
‘What is it you’re doin?’ Dave asked. ‘I fought you was on a dredger.’
‘Not for a long time,’ Harry said. ‘No, Charlie and me are on this sea-defence job. You know, in St Felix Bay, where that work’s bein done, buildin up the cliff? Well, thass us. We got a pontoon with a crane on it, upriver at Birkness, and
Dave pointed a finger at the toy dog. ‘You call that fing Rover?’
‘Rover’s the cat,’ Harry explained. ‘I don’t think I ever heard the name of the dog. Ena just useta call her silly names, like Tiddles and that.’
‘Thass a good name for a dog,’ Dave said. ‘A good name for
that
dog. Tiddles—kill!’
‘Cut that out, boy,’ Harry said, as the dog started. ‘She’s in a state. Her nerves are shot to pieces, and my jealous old cat int helpin. Poor little old dog.’ He brought his forehead down to rest for a moment against the spaniel’s.
‘You goonna keep ’er?’ Dave asked.
‘I reckon,’ said Harry, gazing into the dog’s face. ‘Oh, if you could on’y talk. Just think of it, Dave: these bright little eyes have sin it, sin the man with the gun. This is the on’y witness there is.’
‘Everyone,’ Dave said, ‘say: “The man”, but that don’t have to be a man. I mean, thass not as if there was any sex in it.’
‘Thass what makes it all the more pecooliar,’ said Harry, musing. ‘I mean, this sort of thing, thass nearly always about sex. And then half the commoonity can say: “Well, thass me safe.” But nobody’s safe here: not you or me, not the vicar’s wife or the harbour master’s little daughter, not even the dogs and cats, seein he seem to be doin it just for a giggle.’
‘They say thass some foreign seaman,’ Dave said. ‘Yugoslav, that’d be my guess.’
‘Oh, what shit,’ Harry muttered. ‘
They
say.
They
int got a clue, boy, and well you know it. And why Yugoslav, anyway?’
‘I don’t like ’em,’ Dave admitted.
‘There, you see? Thass ezzackly what I mean.’
He got up from his chair, the dog in his arms. ‘Talkin of Yugoslav seamen and such,’ he said, ‘thass time we went to the Galley. I int eaten today, not a soddin crumb. I’m just beginnin to notice. I shall have to shut the dog in the kitchen where the cat can’t eat her, then we’re off.’
Outside the air was biting, and above the streetlamps a clear sky made the roofs gleam with icy moonlight. At the end of the narrow street which they were following a great white ship, blazing with yellow light, slid by. Harry looked at his watch. ‘Late,’ he said. ‘Must be rough weather over there.’
Among the façades of secretive dwelling-houses the Galley’s glowing windows made a festive interruption. The door, opening on steamy heat, rang a bell, and at the sound groups of men at the scattered tables looked up to see who had arrived. The strip-lighting was harsh, and the Galley gleamed, in a dull fashion, because everything in it had to be washable. Some of its patrons had the trick of duelling by firing off, as it were, sauce-bottles at one another.
At a table towards the back of the large room sat a cluster of dark sailorly men. Harry murmured to Dave: ‘Your Yugoslavs,’ and Dave nodded.
‘Off that Spanish ship,’ he whispered, ‘at King’s Wharf—you know? They been around for a week or more. She’s arrested for debt.’
‘I know who they are,’ said Harry, seating himself at an empty table. ‘They’re pretty famous among the gossips, such as you. From the way they look around ’em, I think they know it.’
‘I fink the fuzz,’ Dave said, as he sat down, ‘might have been askin ’em about their movements, like.’
A man at another table, who had been looking at them over a plate of fish and chips, caught Harry’s eye and said, economically: ‘Harry,’ with a nod of his cropped grey head. Harry slightly raised one hand, and returned: ‘Charlie.’ To Dave he explained: ‘Charlie’s our crane-driver, on the job.’
‘What is it you’re doin?’ Dave asked. ‘I fought you was on a dredger.’
‘Not for a long time,’ Harry said. ‘No, Charlie and me are on this sea-defence job. You know, in St Felix Bay, where that work’s bein done, buildin up the cliff? Well, thass us. We got a pontoon with a crane on it, upriver at Birkness, and
Similar Books
