My Friend Walter by Michael Morpurgo

the mantelpiece struck twelve.
    â€˜Weather forecast,’ said Father. ‘Always listen to the weather forecast last thing at night. Always have done. Not that it matters to me, now that I’m not a farmer any more.’
    â€˜You’ll always be a farmer, dear,’ Mother said going over to him and putting an arm round him. ‘It’s in your blood. Something will turn up, you’ll see. We had a good sale, didn’t we? Better than we could have hoped for. We’ll be all right.’
    The radio whistled and hissed until Father found the station he was looking for. ‘. . .
And here are the main headlines again tonight
.’ I could hear Humph whining outside my room and scratching at the door. The voice on the radio faded in and out, but you could hear most of what was said:
‘Police have confirmed tonight that one of the Crown Jewels is missing. One of the golden orbs, known as Queen Mary’s Orb, has been stolen from the Tower of London. It is the first time that any of the Crown Jewels has been stolen. Police say that there is no evidence of a break-in and that no alarm was set off. Streets around the Tower are still sealed off tonight. A police spokesman said it was clearly the work of experts. The Crown Jewels, seen by millions of visitors each year, are kept under the tightest possible electronic security. The orb is said to be worth well over ten million pounds. And now here is the weather forecast . . .’
    I did not hear the weather forecast, for my head was swimming and the pounding of my heart was so loud in my ears that I thought everyone must hear it. The ‘honeycomb’! So that was the ‘honeycomb’ Walter was talking about in his riddle. It all fell into place in a few sickening seconds. Who else but a ghost, who else but my friend Walter, could steal the Crown Jewelswithout setting off alarms, without breaking anything? And who had disappeared for a few minutes and left me alone in the Bloody Tower? Who had talked of taking the ‘honeycomb’ and how angry the bees would be if it was discovered? My friend Walter had done it, and he was upstairs in my bedroom now; and six to one he had the golden orb from the Crown Jewels with him.
    Mother put a mug of tea in front of me and stirred in the sugar. I felt as if I was being drawn down into it and would drown in the whirlpool of tea in front of my eyes. ‘You all right, dear?’ said Mother, pushing the hair back from my forehead to feel it. ‘You’re very pale all of a sudden and there’s a cold sweat on you. Don’t suppose you’ve had anything to eat all day, have you, dear?’
    â€˜No,’ I said.
    â€˜Tired out I shouldn’t wonder,’ said Father switching off the radio. ‘Well I’m blowed, did you hear that? How the devil did they manage it? We went up there once years ago. Coach trip, remember? You were there only a couple of months ago, weren’t you, Bess? Went there with Aunty Ellie after that family gathering, didn’t you?’ I managed to nod. ‘Don’t knowwhat they think they can do with it, though. Can hardly sell it, can they? I mean, someone would recognise it – most famous jewels in the world, they are. Still, ten million quid!’ he whistled. ‘What I couldn’t do with a little of that just at the moment, and they say it pays to be honest. Ah well.’ I dared not look across at Will for fear of catching his eye.
    â€˜Well, Bess went up to London today,’ Will said, ‘p’raps she’s brought it back with her.’ And they all laughed at that. I tried to laugh with them but I think it came out more like a groan. We all went up to bed at the same time that night. At the top of the stairs Father kissed me on the forehead – just like my friend Walter – and I don’t think he’d ever done that before. It was almost worth running away. ‘Tomorrow can only be