Читать книгу Forest Shadows - David Laing - Страница 18

Jim strode to the front door and opened it. ‘Madeline? Quenton?’ he found himself asking, wondering what they could possibly want at this hour.

‘Sorry to barge in on you like this but I’ve a favour to ask,’ Mrs Quigley said. Jim saw at once that she was in quite a state. He also saw the overnight bag that Quenton was clutching.

Madeline Quigley’s bird-like way of talking, a sort of stop and start twitter, now sounded panicky, anxious. Something was worrying her.

‘Could I come in, Jim? I-I’d like to ask you something.’

‘Yes. Yes, do,’ he said, ‘Come on through.’ He led the way into the living room.

Hearing the muffled voices, and wondering what was going on, the others, including Shadow, left the kitchen to find out.

Mrs Quigley, who was now sitting on the settee, leaned forward, wringing her hands. ‘It’s my husband,’ she said, not wasting any words. ‘He’s being released from jail. He rang me from the prison. I have to pick him up tomorrow.’

She pulled a handkerchief from somewhere up her sleeve. She fussed and twisted it in her hands. Jim sat next to her wondering what to say. Consoling women in distress wasn’t his strong point. Feeling he needed to say something, he managed, ‘You don’t seem too pleased. Isn’t it a good thing he’s coming home?’

‘No, it’s not,’ she said, her voice almost a whisper. She opened her handbag. ‘And for some reason he wants this.’ She held up a book whose title read: ‘The Strahan Area, Hot Fishing Spots.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve no idea why he wants it.’

Jim glanced at the book’s cover and scratched his head. ’Dunno either. It seems kinda strange he’d want something like that on his first day out of jail.’

‘That’s what I thought,’ she said. ‘But who knows what he’s thinking these days? I certainly don’t. You see, he made it clear to me on the first day he was locked up that he didn’t want me to visit him, or even call him on the phone. I don’t know why he’s changed his mind now. I could have easily mailed the book to him.’

Not used to emotional situations like this, Jim was slightly embarrassed. He averted his eyes as he said, ‘I, er, that’s strange.’

Quenton, a little disturbed with the way the adult conversation was going, sidled over to where Snook and Jars were standing. ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’ He jerked his thumb towards the living room door with a let’s get out of here look.

Snook could see Quenton was anxious about something. ‘Kitchen,’ he mouthed, pushing Quenton in front of him. Jars, grasping what was happening, followed. Reg and Arnie, who were looking a little confused, tagged along too. Snook’s dad and Madeline, who were in deep conversation, barely noticed their departure.