“OK,” Edith said. “We’ll see you at the entrance to the Mediterranean Biome – back to the bakery, up the stairs and to the right.”
“OK, five minutes. Love you.”
“Love you too.” She popped the phone back into her bag.
“Zack says he loves you too mum,” Gordon said. “He’s told me you know, and that I’ve got some explaining to do.”
Edith’s knees gave way. She sank on to them before wrapping her arms around her son and squeezing as if she would never let go.
Chapter 63
Healing That Wound
They bought his new school uniform when they got back from their summer holiday. They didn’t have a dress rehearsal until his dad got home from work. Victor admitted to his colleagues the next day that he’d shed a tear when he saw his son kitted out in the blue shirt and the striped tie, the long grey trousers and the shiny black shoes. The pièce de résistance was the red blazer with the high school crest on it.
Edith had smiled brightly as Victor took the photos for the family archives. She still hadn’t got over that feeling of gladness at having Gordon back in one piece. She was still coming to terms with just how complicated that piece was.
Gordon, on the other hand, had had trouble keeping his face straight. Zack was striking a pose next to him, fetchingly attired in a three piece tailsuit, Eton collar, clip-on tie and a top hat. It was all too big for him. The hat kept slipping down over his eyes.
Excellent photos were finally achieved. Victor transferred them to the hard drive while Gordon got out of his uniform to keep it fresh and ready for his first day. It wasn’t long now. He could hardly wait. “I saw you trying not to laugh while your dad was taking those photos,” Edith whispered, once his dad had left the room. “What was he doing?”
Gordon exploded into giggles. “He’s wearing these really old-fashioned clothes,” he whispered back. “It’s hilarious! Oh, I’ve upset him now.”
Edith fought to keep her face straight. Her mouth was trying to twitch into a smile. “Why?” There was a little pause, which reminded Edith of the old days, before Gordon had learned to keep Zack to himself.
“He would have me know that he is wearing the uniform of one of the best public schools in the country,” Gordon told her, “and it’s everyone else who looks ridiculous.”
Edith had recently learned to notice which way Gordon’s eyes slid while he was listening to Zack. She was able to make a pretty good guess where Zack was standing at that particular moment. “Take yours off too, Zack,” she told her other son. “You want to keep it nice for your first day.”
Gordon smiled at her. “He said ‘OK, Mum.’ He’s got a tear in his eye now as well.”
“Oh,” Edith said, half an hour later while they were eating their evening meal. “I met Yvonne from next door today, Tom’s mum.”
“How is she?” Victor asked. Hell of a thing, losing a husband and father like that.
“She’s bearing up. She was telling me that after we’d been away for a week, she was having a pretty miserable weekend on her own with Tom. They were half way through the Sunday morning. That must have been the day after your birthday, Gordon.” Victor and Gordon dutifully nodded. “There was a knock on the door, and a soldier was standing there.”
“Whoah,” Zack whispered. Gordon felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck.
“He said he’d just got back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. He’d been her husband’s best mate. They were on patrol together when the sniper struck. It could just as easily have been him, apparently.”
Victor silently thanked his God he had never been called upon to put himself in harm’s way for his country like that. “That’s got to help her achieve some kind of closure,” he said. “Burying him is one thing. Actually talking to someone who was with him when he died means you can share his final moments, in a way.”
“Yes. His name is Owen. He told Yvonne that he and Mike – Tom’s dad – often talked about their lives back home. He said Mike told him all about her and Tom, and how proud he was of them both.”
“That’s nice,” Victor said. Gordon thought so too.
“They’d made each other a promise: that if anything happened to either of them, the other would get in touch with their loved ones back home, and do what they could to help them cope.”
“Is he married?” Victor asked.
“No. Yvonne asked him that. He said he’d never met the right one. The thing is, Tom took to him straight away. He wanted to hear all about his dad and the things he and Owen got up to, and the laughs they had. It was like he just stepped into that big gap his dad had left.”
“Hmmm,” Victor said. “Early days. It’s not been six months yet.”
“True, but he’s been round several times since. Tom really likes him. He’s not having so many nightmares.”
“So he lives close?” Victor asked.
“Close enough. He’s coming round next Sunday, the day before school starts. They’re all going to the zoo. I could tell from the way she couldn’t stop talking about him that she’s getting her hopes up.” Edith was full of sympathy for their neighbours’ tragic loss. “It would be so great for Tom to have a man around that he can look up to. It’s got to be the nearest thing to getting his dad back.”
“Well, good luck to them, I say.” Victor raised his glass of red wine and clinked it against Gordon’s glass of water and Edith’s glass of soya milk. “To Yvonne, Tom and Owen. All the best from us.”
“Yvonne, Tom and Owen,” Edith echoed.
“It needs a warrior to heal that wound,” Gordon said.
His parents turned to stare at him. “Honest to God, son,” Victor said with a catch in his voice, “I do not know where you get it from, sometimes. What made you say that?”
Gordon took a swig of his water and smiled at them. “I heard someone say that recently. It seemed ... apposite.”
Victor downed the last of his wine. “It was, son,” he said. “It was bloody apposite.”
NOTES
APPOSITE
Chapter 64
Amazing Grace
The first day of the autumn term inevitably arrived, and Gordon and Zack were off to secondary school. They woke early and were dressed by the time their mum popped her head in to check they were up. Gordon had persuaded Zack to wear the proper school uniform. After all, they would be going there – probably - for the next seven years.
“Oh my goodness,” Gordon thought. “A lot can happen in that time.”
Yes, indeed.
He forced down some breakfast. It didn’t stop the butterflies, but he was ready. His name had been sewn into all his garments. He’d got his bag with his bottle of water, his pencil case, his book to read and his dinner money. His dad had solemnly shaken his hand and wished him all the best before leaving for work. Now, there was nothing for it but to cross the threshold and get this next adventure underway.
As luck would have it, Yvonne and Tom and a tall, well-built young man came out of their front door at exactly the same moment. “Hi!” Yvonne called out, looking a little flustered but doing her best to hide it. “Ooh, don’t we all look smart?”
She was right too. Tom was exceptionally well turned out. He wore his new uniform with almost military pride. His black shoes positively sparkled. “Owen’s showed me how they get their boots really shiny in the army,” he said to Gordon.
“They look great!” Gordon said. “Maybe you can show me how to do it?”
Tom’s chest swelled with pride. “Yeah,” he said, and took Owen’s hand.
“This is Owen,” Yvonne said, “Mike’s great friend in the army.”
Owen shook Edith’s hand with his free one and waved to Gordon. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Edith said. “Good to meet you.”
“It got ever so late last night,” Yvonne explained to Edith. “We’ve got such a lot to talk about.” Edith nodded understandingly. “Owen stay
ed over in our spare room. It was a nice surprise for Tom to find him still here this morning. He wanted him to come to school with us.”
Owen smiled down at Tom. “It’s a big day. We’ve got a lot of learning to do, haven’t we?” Tom looked up and nodded. He was going to learn for his dad. He was determined.
The playground was not as busy as it was going to be. The school had arranged for the 180 new Year 7’s to be in on their own that morning, with a few of the year 13’s to help them settle in. There were different routines to get used to in this much larger building.
He and Tom waved their grown-ups off and split up. Tom went looking for Kieran and Dean to tell them what his dad and Owen had got up to on patrol in Helmand Province. Gordon wandered through the vast playground areas on the lookout for Nick.
There was a bushy, wildlife strip at the far end of the grounds, away from any roads. The boundary fence beyond it divided the school from the rear gardens of a row of houses. A number of quite mature trees were dotted along it.
His eyes were drawn to two girls standing under a tree in the far corner, away from the hustle and bustle. They seemed to be looking right at him. The smaller one smiled and waved. “See those girls?” he said to Zack. “Come on!” He set off across the playground towards them, the excitement building in his chest.
“Whoah!” said Zack, “What’s going on? I’ve never seen them before.”
“I have,” Gordon told him. It was all he could do to stop himself from running. The taller of the two still looked as though she was older – a bit like Zack did, he found himself realising.
“Hi,” he said, a little breathlessly. “I’m Gordon.”
“Hi,” the smaller one said. She looked so pretty. Good fun played with the mischief in her eyes. “I’m Grace, and this is Zoë.”
“Hi, Zoë” Gordon said.
“Hi, Gordon,” Zoë said. She was still cool and appraising, but not unfriendly. She transferred her gaze to Zack.
“I’m Zack,” he said.
“Hi, Zack,” both girls chorused, and Zoë smiled for the first time. At the other end of the playground somebody blew a whistle.
It was going to be an interesting year.
NOTES
INEVITABLY; I’M GRACE AND THIS IS ZOË
NOTES
Abbreviations:
OED = Oxford Dictionary of English
ISOTI = It says on the Internet
Chapter 2
Palaeontology is ‘the branch of science concerned with fossil plants and animals’ OED. In Greek, palaeo means ‘old’ and onta means ‘beings’. The suffix -logy in English means ‘the study of’.
Chapter 3
Extant adj.: “still in existence” OED.
“her tail was up now”. This is what is known as a metaphor. Her tail wasn’t really up, because she is an ape, and apes don’t have tails. A metaphor is: “a figure of speech, in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable” OED. E.g. “The lady sailed into the room.”
Metaphor is one of the most important strategies language has for finding effective ways of expressing ideas. Being aware of them will help you be a better writer, as well as a better reader.
Chapter 4
Crenellations noun: “the battlements of a castle or other building” OED. From Modern Latin crenulatus, from crenula meaning ‘a little notch’.
Kamikaze noun & adj.: “in the Second World War, the word described a Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives making a deliberate suicidal crash on an enemy target.” OED. It is formed from two Japanese words: kami, meaning ‘divinity’ and kaze meaning ‘wind’. The word originally referred to the gale that in Japanese tradition destroyed the fleet of invading Mongols in 1281.
Mediaeval adj: “the period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (fifth century) to the fall of Constantinople (1453); or, more narrowly, from c.1000 to 1453 CE” OED.
Momentum noun: “the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of its mass and velocity” OED. In other words: your momentum = your weight times the speed at which you are moving.
Chapter 5
Middle Ages: the period of time sometimes described as mediaeval.
Most adults don’t believe in us. Adults coined the term “imaginary friend” and believe such a phenomenon to be a childhood phase. It is interesting, however, how many adults continue to have faith in an imaginary friend who knows what they think and can answer their prayers, and who moves in a mysterious way to perform wonders.
Telepathy noun: the communication of thoughts or ideas without the use of any of the usual five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch).
Chapter 7
This was an important test life was setting him. Such tests are called “rites of passage”. Gordon doesn’t know that yet.
Chapter 8
Collaboration noun: “the act of working with someone to produce something” OED. From Latin collaboratio- (n-), from collaborare ‘work together’, ‘co-labour’.
Chapter 9
Tom was zeroing in. A this point I want to apologise to all children out there called Tom. There is no doubt that Tom is an excellent name. I’m sure many Toms are very like Gordon – at least in intelligence and outlook (otherwise they would not be reading this book) – and bear no resemblance to this particular character in the story. The thing is, he had to have a name, and no mother would ever pick the sort of monosyllable that you or I might have thought more appropriate at this stage in his life - like ‘Thug’ or ‘Smack’. He does grow up to be a much nicer boy.
Another couple of toe-rags. A toe-rag is “a contemptible or worthless person. From the mid nineteenth century: originally denoting a rag wrapped around the foot as a sock or, by extension, the wearer (such as a vagrant)” OED.
The joy of the watching children was unconfined. The phrase “Let joy be unconfined" seems to have been coined by Lord Byron: "On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined" (Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, 1812-1818, Canto 3 stanza 12)
Chapter 10
Chastened adj: “restrained, reproved, with their behaviour moderated”. From an obsolete verb chaste, from Old French chastier, from Latin castigare (compare ‘chastise’ and ‘castigate’) OED. The word chaste means ‘morally pure’.
Gordon’s definitely looked like a triceratops. I expect you know what a triceratops looks like, just as you know what the dragon in Shrek 1 looks like. But if you want to be reminded, you have only to visit Google Images and type the relevant words into its searchbox.
Kieran and Dean, for future reference. The apology offered to children called Tom in the Chapter 9 note also applies here.
“The word “dinosaur” means ‘terrible lizard’. A man called Sir Richard Owen coined the term in 1841. He combined a form of the Greek word deinos ‘terrible’ with sauros ‘lizard’.
Actually, as Sir Richard Owen was well aware (according to Bill Bryson in his excellent book A Short History of Nearly Everything), dinosaurs were reptiles, not lizards. Since then, palaeontologists have established that dinosaurs constituted two orders of reptiles: “the bird-hipped ornithischians and the lizard-hipped saurischians.” (Bryson, p112)
The Yucatan Peninsula in Central America. Google Images is a wonderful resource. If you’re not sure where this is, just type Yucatan Peninsula into its searchbox to see lots of maps. On some of them you may even see the tiny country of Belize nestling to the west of Guatemala, below Chetumal in the southernmost part of Mexico.
Palpable adj: “able to be touched or felt” OED. From late Latin palpabilis, from Latin palpare ‘feel, touch gently’.
I’ll swing for ‘im. This expression is left over from the time in this country when you would have been hanged for murder. The grisly image is of her body swinging at the end of the hangman’s rope.
Chapter 11
Where sheep might safely graze. You can find a performance
of “Sheep May Safely Graze” by Johann Sebastian Bach on YouTube. Listening to it is well worth 4 minutes 40 seconds of your time. It is one of Edith Bennett’s favourite pieces of music. A dreamy expression comes over her face whenever she listens to it.
“I have a dream”. This is a statement made famous by Martin Luther King in his “I have a Dream” speech. It was delivered on 28 August 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. Please read the whole speech online, as soon as you think you are old enough. It will blow your mind, and teach you some important things about human rights and the power of rhetoric.
Just like the one in Westminster Abbey. If you haven’t visited Westminster Abbey yet, or even been in a cathedral where there is a rose window, you can have a good look at it – and at other rose windows - on Google Images.
Coat of many colours. Gordon clearly got the idea for this garment from the bible story of Joseph and his coat of many colours. Andrew Lloyd Webber used it in the title of his musical: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. A dreamcoat seemed appropriate in these circumstances.
Silver buckles on his knees. Edith had often sung the folksong and nursery rhyme Bobby Shafto to Gordon when he was smaller.
Diamonds on the soles of his shoes. Paul Simon’s Graceland album was often played in the Bennett household. This was understandable, as it is one of the best albums ever made. Gordon knew all the words to all of the songs, including the one entitled Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes.
If you don’t know it, have a listen to it on YouTube. If you DO know it, have another listen anyway, as a mark of appreciation for the musical genius of Paul Simon.
Doublet noun: “a man’s short, close-fitting padded jacket, commonly worn from the 14th to the 17th century” OED.
Baluster noun: “a short decorative pillar forming part of a series supporting a rail or coping. The English word is related to French balustre, and Italian balustra, meaning ‘wild pomegranate flower’ OED. This is because part of each short, decorated pillar resembles the curving tube of the pomegranate flower. So the word itself is a metaphor. Isn’t language AMAZING?