Espresso Tales - Alexander Hanchett Smith [64]
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home and behave as one wished. Once one was eighteen, then one could abandon crushed strawberry–coloured dungarees if one wished and wear whatever one liked. Bertie could hardly wait, and there were only twelve years to go.
Bertie was thinking along these lines when he turned the corner into Drummond Place. As he did so, he heard a sound coming from his right, from the gardens in the middle of the square. It was a strange sound, something between a whistle and a hoot, and he wondered for a moment if it was some unusual bird that had lost its way and had settled in one of the trees. Bertie stopped, and stared into the bushes. Again the sound came, and this time it was followed by a parting of the undergrowth. Revealed within, half crouching, half standing, was Paddy, the boy whom Bertie had hoped to see in Fettes Row.
“Bertie!” Paddy called. “Quick! Over here!”
Barely waiting to see if any cars were coming, but nonetheless being careful not to tread on any lines, Bertie ran across the pavement and over the road. In a moment he was through the half-open gate to the gardens. Paddy called out again, and held back the branches of the large bush under which he was hiding.
“Hello,” said Paddy, as Bertie joined him under the bush.
“This is my special observation post. You can come here any time you like. You can see everything that’s going on. And nobody can see you!”
“Great,” said Bertie. “Magnifico . . .” And then, correcting himself very quickly, he said: “Magnificent!”
“Yes,” said Paddy. “But don’t tell anybody. I don’t want anyone else coming in here.”
“Of course not,” said Bertie. “Just you and me. Like one of those Masonic lodges.”
Paddy looked puzzled. “Masonic lodges?”
“Yes,” explained Bertie. “That’s where men go – grown-up men. They get dressed up and go to these secret club houses.”
“How strange,” said Paddy. “What do they do there?”
“I’m not sure,” said Bertie. “They don’t let anybody else have a look. And there are no girls allowed.”
132 Bertie’s Plan Is Launched
“Good,” said Paddy. “Girls spoil things.”
Bertie thought about this for a moment. He did not know many girls – in fact the only girl he knew was that girl called Olive at school. She was rather nice, he thought, and he was not at all sure that she spoiled things. It was Olive who had helped him up after Tofu had pushed him over, and it was she who had comforted him with the thought that Tofu would eventually fade away through enforced veganism.
“There are some nice girls,” said Bertie. “There’s a girl called Olive . . .”
“Never heard of her,” said Paddy. “Anyway, let’s not talk about girls. Let’s talk about something else.”
Bertie saw his opportunity. “I’ve had a very good idea,” he said quickly. “I need your help for a plan that I’ve made. Are you allowed to go wherever you like?”
“Yes,” said Paddy. “I’m allowed to go anywhere, as long as I’m back by six. I’m completely free.”
“And what about your . . . your mother? Doesn’t she . . . ?”
It was so difficult for Bertie to say this, but it seemed so extraordinary to him, so impossible, that a boy could be free of his mother, that he needed to seek confirmation.
“My mother’s cool,” said Paddy, with a shrug. “She says that boys need to have fun. She likes to have fun herself. Everybody says that she’s full of fun.”
Bertie’s eyes widened. “And your dad? What about him?”
“He’s cool too,” said Paddy. “He takes me fishing in the Pentlands. I told you that, didn’t I? And he likes to drink too. He has lots of fun.”
Bertie looked at Paddy with admiration, and envy. This is what it must be like to be eighteen, he thought. But there was no point wallowing in regret for what was not; there was a plan to be explained to Paddy, and over the next few minutes he told him exactly what he wanted him to do. Paddy listened intently and then nodded enthusiastically. “Piece of cake,” he said. “I’ll get the money for you and I’ll buy the blazer – and the tie. Then I’ll bring it down here and leave it under the bushes – in our place. You can pick it up any time. Easy.”
Irene’s Plan for Bertie
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