22 Britannia Road - Amanda Hodgkinson [40]
Aurek taught himself to whistle, to swim, to catch and skin rabbits. He can climb any tree. He can build a fire, kill snakes, and the stars are his compass. Nobody can touch him. He’s a child of the woods.
Bright with energy, Aurek whoops and hollers, slipping and falling and scrambling to his feet. A cock pheasant rises in front of him, a brilliant sheen of red and gold, and Aurek lifts his arms like wings, sure he can follow the bird in its ungainly flight towards the sky.
Behind him, his parents stand side by side; his father holding his hat in his hands, his mother with an armful of wild flowers. They seem lost. Like two people trying to remember the way home. But Aurek cannot stop to help them. He chases through the woods away from them, faster and faster. Further into the trees. He windmills his arms backwards trying to slow himself down, but his legs are too strong. Nothing can stop them. If he knew where he was going, he’d direct his runaway legs and get there. But he doesn’t. He only knows that he cannot stop running.
Janusz takes Aurek to school on Monday morning. Aurek says good morning to his teacher and lifts his cap just like Janusz has told him to.
‘Good lad,’ says Janusz. ‘Don’t get into any fights today, hey? You be a good boy and make some friends.’
‘Las?’
‘Speak English, Aurek. But yes, we can go to the woods again. You’ve only a week left at school and then you’ll be on holiday and we can do lots of things together.’
Aurek watches the enemy walking away. When he is gone, he follows the other children walking into class and at the last minute ducks round the side of the school and hides in the boys’ toilets, a pokey cold place where nobody will find him. He curls up against the brick wall, watching a spider web flap gently in a draught. It’s nice and quiet.
The door to the toilets bangs open and Aurek jumps.
A fat boy stares at him.
‘You’ll be for it if Mrs West finds you in here.’
He lumps down beside Aurek and offers him a wheel of liquorice.
‘Do you speak English?’
Aurek nods. He picked up English from the soldiers in the refugee camp before he and his mother took the boat. His knowledge of English swear words is comprehensive. He tries out a few and the boy laughs and slaps his leg.
‘Don’t let the teacher hear you talking like that. So what’s your name? I’m Peter.’
Aurek looks at him. He’s seen this boy before. In the pub. It’s the boy who fell down dead.
The liquorice tastes sweet. Aurek pushes it all into his mouth and chews, black spittle dribbling pleasantly down his chin.
The fat boy laughs. ‘My old man has a pet shop. We have loads of animals. I’ve got a dog that catches rabbits. He killed somebody’s cat once. A ginger tom. Ate it, guts and all, and then sicked it up over my grandma’s carpet. The fur changed colour when the dog sicked it up. It came out brown.’
‘Shouldn’t eat the guts,’ says Aurek. ‘They’re bad. That’s why your dog was sick.’
‘How do you know? Have you eaten cat?’
Aurek shrugs. ‘Maybe.’
‘What does it taste like?’
‘A bit like chicken.’
Peter’s eyes widen.
‘Do you want to bunk off school? We could go to the park and chase ducks round the lake.’
Aurek and Peter slip through the railings at the back of the school. They run through the streets, hiding behind cars and sidestepping into alleys until they reach the park.
The lake is at the bottom of a green hill. Aurek runs down the hill and skids out into the water. He stands knee-deep in it, his legs turning purple with cold.
‘Do you want to play war games?’ Peter asks. He picks up a stone and throws it at Aurek.
‘Kill the Nazis!’
Chop them down, thinks Aurek. He slices a hand through the air and steps out into the lake. Peter is laughing, throwing more stones at him. A stone hits him on the shoulder. Then another flies past his head and Aurek stumbles, wishing he had stones to throw. He steps back and his feet float as he searches for the ground beneath him. Slipping