Robert Clarke found that the rest of the day went quickly. It was raining yet again and after helping Uncle Jeff board up the living room window following a break in by a wild fox, Robert and his family spent the day inside playing board game after board game. Bertie made everyone play his favourite; monopoly. Robert reasoned this was because Bertie just liked to play with the silver dog piece.
The next day was spent making various chocolate goodies under Aunt Jane’s instruction.
Bertie made a chocolate tart, using a recipe that had been passed down from Granddad Spence. Aunt Jane made profiteroles using a recipe from a cook book and Robert made Rice Krispie Cakes using a recipe that his mother had often used.
Rob looked at the recipe and read it to himself:
Rice Krispie Cake:
A.4oz Toffee
B.3oz Marsh Mallow
C.3oz Margarine
D.5oz Rice Krispies
E.8oz Chocolate
Put A, B and C in saucepan –melt but do not boil. Add D. Put in greaseproof paper lined tin. Put in fridge to cool. Warm E until melted. Pour on top and put back in fridge to set.
Rob picked the ingredients out of the cupboard and followed the recipe carefully. He put the mixture into the fridge for the first time and went to get the chocolate he had put on the kitchen table.
‘Where’s the chocolate?’ Rob asked aloud.
‘I don’t know darling,’ Aunt Jane said, squeezing whipped cream into the profiteroles.
Robert scanned the kitchen and couldn’t see the chocolate anywhere. He checked the kitchen cupboards and opened the fridge door.
‘Where have I put it?’ He sighed.
Robert Clarke closed the fridge door and heard the sound of swallowing from the other end of the kitchen. It was the swallow that comes from a guilty conscience and the consumption of a large bar of chocolate. Nana Spence shoved a wrapper down the side of the armchair just as Robert’s head snapped round to face her.
Rob’s eyes widened and he sniffed the air.
‘Cocoa...’ He stated.
Robert walked over to the corner of the room and sat on the arm of the chair.
‘Cora,’ He nodded.
‘Robert,’ she said sheepishly.
‘Have you got something to tell me?’ Rob asked accusingly.
‘Well...’ Nana Spence squirmed, ‘I didn’t realise you were using the chocolate,’ she blurted out, with a look of greed still across her face. Being married to a man who loved chocolate had given Nana Spence a bit of a sweet tooth.
‘Its fine,’ Rob smiled. ‘I can get some more.’
‘...and maybe a bit extra for me?’ Nana Spence added hopefully.
‘FINE!’ Rob roared, ‘but you’re paying.’
Nana Spence leaned over the armchair and produced her brown handbag. She unzipped the bag and pulled out a worn leather purse. She tipped the purse upside down and gave Rob the change that fell into her hand.
Aunt Jane then gave Bertie some money and told the two boys to pick up some fish and chips for everyone on their way home.
‘I want a battered sausage instead,’ Nana Spence squawked from her armchair.
Rob grabbed his coat and slipped on a pair of shoes. He put the money in his trouser pocket and along with Bertie, set off for the local shop.
The local shop was not as local as a local shop should be. Rob and Bertie walked for over half an hour before they came to the nearest shop.
The shop itself was simply quite ugly. Its exterior was faded; void of any life and its interior was cluttered with toys and trinkets. The shop did not look like a shop that sold food but by the counter were a small selection of assorted sweets.
Rob took two bars of chocolate off the shelf, one for the Rice Krispie Cake and one for his grandmother. Bertie picked some sour sweets and put them on the counter.
A small woman appeared from a room at the back of the shop and bustled through to the counter. Her cardigan was tattered and her hair was straggly and grey. She counted the sweets and took the money from the boys, giving little change in return.
Rob and Bertie continued on down the road and headed for the fish and chip shop. Bertie ate his sour sweets and offered one to Rob. The two boys talked, reminiscing about their shared childhood and their grandmother’s antics.
‘You know when she takes the bus she carries a walking stick with her just so that people will give up their seat for her?’ Rob giggled.
‘No I didn’t know that’ Bertie laughed. ‘I know she use to take her own tea in a thermos flask whenever she went to a coffee shop. She’d pour it in one of their cups and just sit there and drink it...’
‘She still does that...’
‘Does she?’ Bertie snorted.
‘Well...only when it’s cold and she wants to sit somewhere warm. That’s why she always carries a thermos flask full of tea in her handbag...you know...just in case!’
‘Why doesn’t she just buy a hot drink?’ Bertie asked bemused.
‘Oh...who knows?’ Rob shook his head.
The two boys walked into the fish and chip shop and ordered their dinner. Rob poured salt and vinegar onto the chips and put the polystyrene containers the food came in into a thin blue and white plastic bag.
Rob and Bertie briskly walked home, sharing a bag of chips between them. Bertie was telling Rob about a new pair of trainers he had seen when a small sausage dog walked past the pair. The dog trotted down the path, kicking its tiny feet into the air.
‘I think I’ve seen that dog before’ Rob told Bertie, ‘I swear it was watching me on the beach the other day.’
‘Yeah, sure it was!’ Bertie scoffed.
Rob watched the dog go round the corner and listened to the pitter-patter of its little paws fade into the distance. He would have given the dog further thought however an observant dog was hardly the weirdest thing that had happened to him in the past week. Although he had decided that his encounter with The Man with the Pipe was just a dream (it was the only rational explanation) he had yet to completely convince himself of this.
YOU ARE READING
The Bearded Man and The Ghost Girl
Novela Juvenil'Robert first saw the ghost girl standing in the churchyard. Her hair was long, her skin was pale and her body glowed, bathing the nearby graves in a cool white light. She was unlike any girl Robert had seen. Her face was unconventionally beautiful...
