The Secret Catamite Bk 1, The Book of Daniel (7 page)

"Yes please," he said, and noted
Simon's pleasure at his acceptance. He rarely did and it was far
more common for Simon to go to Daniel's for tea than the other way
round.

"You'd better tell your mother
then," said Mummy.

"OK, back in a minute!" and
Daniel fled, keen to get back as quickly as possible in case the
car vanished while he was away.

Annoyingly, his mother insisted
on him putting his school things away and getting properly washed
before going back round the corner to Simon's. He needn't have
worried. He ran round the corner and the car was still exactly
where it had been an age earlier.

"That was quick," said Mummy
when Daniel reappeared panting in the back doorway. "Come on
in."

Frances now arrived and much of
the scene was repeated.

"Mummy's taking us out for a
ride after tea," announced Simon. Frances shot a questioning look
at Mummy, who simply nodded as she put the last tea things on the
table.

"I'm sitting in the front,
then," said Frances, with a look that challenged Simon, or Mummy
for that matter, to deny it. But Simon was not taken aback by
this.

"OK," he said. "Daniel and I
will be in the back."

"Won't
you
be in the front, Mrs Scott," asked Daniel
puzzled. His father could drive, and there had been talk of buying
a car, but his mother couldn't drive as far as Daniel knew
anyway.

"I hope so," replied Mummy,
laughing. "It's hard to drive from anywhere else."

Daniel's face flushed with his
mistake. "I'm sorry, Mrs Scott, I just thought Mr Scott…" His voice
tailed off.

"That's all right, Daniel," said
Mummy. "I can drive. I learned before the war. Simon's Daddy can't
drive." And with that, for some reason neither Simon nor Daniel
could fathom, she burst out laughing. Soon everybody had the
giggles.

"But Daddy can fly a plane,"
said Simon, loyally.

"So can I!" said Mummy, with
another burst of laughter.

"You're a pilot?" asked an
astounded Daniel.

"I learned to fly before the
war," said Mummy. "I had a friend at the local flying club."

"Did you fly Spitfires?" asked
Simon, equally amazed by these revelations.

"I wish I had," said Mummy. "I
wanted to, as a ferry pilot, but I'm not tall enough. I would love
to have flown a Spitfire."

"What planes did you fly, Mrs
Scott," asked Daniel, a little more composed, while Simon wondered
how one could fly a ferry.

"Just one," said Mummy. "Tiger
Moth. Lovely little aeroplane."

Mummy continued to talk of her
pre-war flying days and the light mood lasted through tea, eaten
rather hurriedly so as to hasten the car ride.

Simon and Daniel climbed into
the back seat and sprawled on the brown leather. It had a posh
smell, thought Simon. Of course he had ridden in the car once or
twice before when Grandpa drove it, but this was special. Mummy was
going to drive and Daniel was with him. Simon was pleased that he
had a car before Daniel, but also pleased that his friend was there
to share the moment.

"Sit properly," said Mummy.

"Boys," remarked Frances
scornfully from her front seat status.

Mummy pulled out the choke,
turned the ignition key and pressed the starter button to start the
engine and they were off. Simon revelled in the car, he had chosen
the nearside, hoping to be seen by as many people as possible while
they drove around. As the car swept down the hill to the main road,
they passed a couple of boys they knew, but sadly they barely gave
the passing Wolseley a glance. Still, nothing should detract from
the joy of this moment.

"Let's pretend this
is
Discovery
," said
Simon.

"I'm Jet Morgan then,"
said Daniel, instantly understanding the reference to
'
Journey into Space
' that had
both boys, and the country, enthralled.

"The other cars can be the
freighters," said Simon. Then Daniel pulled a strange face and
holding his arms in front of him intoning, "I'm Whitaker from
freighter number six." He then moved closer to Simon in a scary
way.

Simon pushed him off.

"Will you sit still please
boys," said Mummy. "It's very distracting and I'm still getting
used to the car."

So the boys fell silent for a
time as the game hadn't been such a good idea after all. But soon
they were chatting again. Simon from his seat could see Mummy
driving, the movement of her hands and feet creating a sort of
poetic ballet that translated into the speed and power of the
Wolseley.

The drive lasted about half an
hour and took them out into the countryside that in those days was
so close to the city. Going along the country roads familiar to
both boys from their bike rides, it seemed so quick compared to the
effort involved in pedalling so far. All too soon they were
back.

"Thank you for taking me," said
Daniel dutifully.

"No trouble Daniel," said Mummy,
"glad you enjoyed it." Lovely manners, that boy, she thought.

Duty done, Daniel poked Simon
and said loudly, "Coming round mine?"

Simon looked at Mummy, who
simply said, "Don't be late."

"Race yer!" shouted Daniel, and
the two boys ran off, Simon overhauling Daniel to beat him round
the corner to Daniel's house.

"You're faster than Roger
Bannister," panted Daniel. Now the roles were reversed in terms of
decorum.

"I'm back Mummy," shouted
Daniel. "We went for ride in Simon's new car."

"New car?" said Daniel's father,
looking up from a book, suddenly interested.

"Hello, Mr Gray, Mrs Gray," said
Simon. "It's not new, it was my Grandpa's car but he died."

"Yes, Daniel told us about that.
I'm sorry," said Mrs Gray. Simon was puzzled for a moment until it
dawned on him she was sorry about Grandpa, not the car.

"It's like a police car, only a
lot posher," said Daniel by way of explanation to his father.

"Ah, I saw it when I came home,"
said Mr Gray. "I wondered about that."

"Can we get a car, Daddy?" said
Daniel. His father was often collected and brought home in a car,
and sometimes he drove one, but he had never felt the need for one
of his own.

"Maybe, just maybe," he said,
ruffling Daniel's dark hair, and smiling.

"When did this happen?" asked
Mrs Gray.

"I wasn't going to say anything
until it was certain, but it looks like I've got the promotion," Mr
Gray smiled.

"Darling, that's wonderful,"
said Mrs Gray, beaming with delight.

"Yes!" shouted Daniel leaping up
and down. He looked at Simon expectantly, waiting for enthusiasm.
Simon responded with as vigorous a nodding as he could muster.

"You won't have to move, will
you?" asked Mrs Gray suddenly. Everybody froze for a moment. Move?
Away? Simon and Daniel exchanged worried looks.

"No, right here in the city,"
said Mr Gray, looking pleased.

"What'll that make you, Daddy?"
asked Daniel.

"Chief Superintendent, Daniel,"
said Mr Gray, still grinning. "But it has to be confirmed."

"And can we get a car then?"
persisted Daniel.

"Maybe, Daniel, maybe," said his
father.

"You might be Chief Constable
one day," said Mrs Gray. "It's true that some are now being
promoted from the ranks instead of this daft idea of bringing in
these ex army colonels and the like."

"Sir Malcolm is an excellent
Chief Constable," replied Mr Gray loyally. "But he can't go on
forever either," he added mischievously with a grin just like
Daniel's.

At that point Daniel's older
sister Louise arrived, and the whole scene had to be rerun.

Daniel soon afterwards gave
Simon the news that the promotion was confirmed. A few weeks later
a small Ford car appeared on the driveway of Daniel's house. Not as
posh as the Wolseley, but as Simon quickly pointed out in
compensation, the Wolseley didn't really belong to his family.

Mr Harrison two doors along from
Simon got a Ford Prefect soon after. The motor age was
arriving.

1. 1955/8 Lakes in the
   Wolseley
   

The monotonous hum of the
windscreen wipers, back and forth, back and forth. Everywhere
seemed so wet. It was the end of a long journey from home to the
Lake District. Simon looked through the trees across the broad lake
and to the mountains. Having the Wolseley meant his horizons had
been opened up with drives to the Peak District, more frequent
visits to both grandmothers and a variety of days out. It had
helped Mummy too because she had been able to take on more work,
and was on the radio now as well as in the newspaper. But it meant
she was away from home sometimes at the weekends making the radio
programmes at different places. Then, Daddy would be at home all
the time, but thankfully he was often busy and left Simon pretty
much to own devices. Simon went out with Daniel most of the time.
But now they were here. The trips to Westward Ho were over and
this, making use of their temporary windfall, was the summer
holiday.

"Are we nearly there yet,
Mummy?" asked Simon, yet again.

"Almost, darling," she replied.
"I think it's just along here." Suddenly the trees cleared and
there was a view right across the lake. There was a wooden boat
with people on it in the distance, and the rain seemed to be
stopping. The sun was just over the tops of the mountains
opposite.

"Yes, I think this is it," said
Mummy, and steered the big car off the road and through a
gateway.

Daddy drew in his breath
sharply. "Careful Kate, you nearly hit the gatepost."

"There was plenty of room," she
snapped. Simon thought Mummy was an expert driver and now she was
really used to the Wolseley she handled it well, just like her
Tiger Moth she said. But Mummy's tone of voice showed Simon and
Frances that she was tired. The car went up a long drive with a
field on one side, and a large white building up ahead with a few
cars parked in front of it. Mummy brought the big car to a stop on
the gravel and turned off the engine. The rain had stopped and
there was evening sunshine.

"Everybody help get the stuff
in," said Daddy. The two children were out of the car and busy
hauling cases out of the boot. Simon felt suddenly excited, all
tiredness gone. Spread before him was the large field in front of
the hotel, beyond that the lake and mountains, the sun now settling
behind them, their flanks in shadow. Over to the right a large
mountain was still catching the sun on its upper slopes. Simon
thought it was beautiful.

"Come on, Simon, help with the
luggage!" Daddy's urging brought Simon out of his reverie and he
picked up a suitcase and struggling, took it to the door of the
hotel, following Frances. A young woman came and took it from
him.

"Please. I must help you," she
said. She was dressed in a maid's uniform, and Simon thought she
spoke in a funny way. That must be how they speak here, he thought.
But then Mummy was talking to a man behind the large, polished
wooden counter in the hallway.

"Scott," he said, turning the
pages of a large book. "Ah yes, here we are. Scott," he repeated,
in quite a normal voice, Simon thought. "Zelda, rooms fourteen and
fifteen."

"Fourteen and fifteen," the maid
repeated in her precise tones. "Feartsayn, foonftsayn." Simon
wondered what that meant.

Zelda led the way up the large
carpeted staircase with panelled walls, with the family following
behind, Simon now with a smaller bag, Zelda still carrying Simon's.
Daddy said something to Zelda he couldn't understand, sounding like
'zindsee doitch.' but Zelda nodded and said "Yar." Simon thought
this a peculiar Lake District custom that Daddy knew about.

"She's German," said Daddy to
Mummy.

"I gathered that," said Mummy,
her tiredness still apparent. They put the bags in the rooms and
Daddy said something to Zelda who said 'Bitter' back and smiled.
She winked at Simon as she left the room. Frances lost no time.

"This is my bed," she said,
using the authority of her fourteen years to bag the bed near the
window.

"We're just next door,
children," said Mummy.

"Who's for a walk before
dinner?" said Daddy brightly.

"I'm going to have a lie down,"
said Mummy. "I've driven all that way, and I'm tired."

"You've just been sitting down
all the time, how can you be tired?" said Daddy. Mummy looked
furious.

"Well, weren't you just sitting
down all the time you flew to Berlin and back or wherever? You got
tired."

"That's completely different,
that was the war."

Frances grabbed Simon. "Come on,
let's explore the hotel," she said quickly and practically dragged
Simon out of the room. "Let's leave them to it," she said. They
heard the raised voices as they ran down the passage way, Simon
running his hands along the panelling. He wondered if there were
any secret passages. Lots of old buildings had them he knew, and
this must be pretty old. He and Frances had once gone with Mummy on
one of her radio weekends and had stayed at an old hotel in Ludlow.
That had secret passages, and Simon was certain that this hotel was
bound to have at least one.

"Hello, children." It was Zelda
again. "Are you the hotel exploring?" Simon stopped, knowing now
she was German and wondering what to say.

"Yes, that's right," said
Frances. "We always do when we get to a hotel."

"If you go out to the back there
gives there a waterfall, but you must promise to be careful,
please, children."

"We will," they shouted, finding
their way out and exploring the garden and climbing the paths
through the woods next to the waterfall. Simon thought it was
magical. He fell in love with the place instantly.