The Flyer by Stuart Harrison Page B

perception.
    ‘It’s a curse, you know, the gift. Sometimes I see such terrible things, I do.’
    Afterwards there were sandwiches and coffee and tea. Alcohol wasn’t allowed. Then the tables were arranged for progressive whist.
    ‘That’s Ruth Hodges, there,’ Taylor said about a blonde girl of about eighteen. ‘And that’s Catherine with her. They’re on Haberdashery.’
    Catherine was small and dark, but had a haughty look about her. Taylor took William over to introduce him and started talking to Catherine. He asked if she was enjoying herself.
    ‘I daresay it’s alright,’ she answered barely looking at him.
    Taylor looked at her desperately, trying to think of something to say. ‘I like that frock you’re wearin’. It really suits you.’
    ‘Thanks,’ she said coolly.
    ‘If you wanted, I could take you to a place I know one evenin’,’ he suggested suddenly. ‘We could ‘ave a drink and a bit of a laugh.’
    She looked at him in astonishment, then turned to Ruth. ‘I think I’ll join in the whist. Are you going to come?’
    ‘In a minute I will,’ Ruth said, at which Catherine threw a withering look at William and walked off, completely ignoring Taylor, who stared disconsolately after her and then wandered off to talk to Sayers, who was one of the others who shared their room.
    ‘Catherine can be a bit stand-offish sometimes,’ Ruth said to William. ‘You mustn’t take too much notice of her. She don’t really mean anything by it. Is this your first time to a social then, William?’
    ‘Yes, it is,’ he said.
    ‘They’re quite good fun really if you haven’t got anything else to do. I don’t usually come myself, of course,’ she added unless he should think the caveat applied to herself. ‘Who did you like the best anyway?’
    ‘I thought the lady who played the piano was very good,’ William said to be polite.
    ‘Miss Worth? Oh yes, she’s lovely, and ever so talented.’
    They talked for a little while longer and then the tables were cleared away again and Miss Worth returned to the piano. She began to play a waltz, and very soon there were couples dancing. Ruth and William looked on, and he felt she was waiting for him to ask her to dance. When the second tune began he asked her.
    ‘I’d love to,’ she said.
    It was hot in the room. Ruth danced well, much better than he did, William thought. He apologised, and explained he’d only danced with the boys at his school before, when they were made to.
    She giggled. ‘What sort of school was that then?’
    ‘A boy’s school at Oundle.’
    ‘Was it very posh then?’
    ‘Why do you ask that?’
    She looked at him in surprise. ‘Well, nobody else I know talks like you do. And I bet that suit you’re wearing didn’t come off the rack either did it? I saw Mister Porter looking at you before. He was quite jealous, I could tell.’
    ‘I suppose it is a good school,’ William admitted.
    ‘So what are you doing working here then?’
    ‘I didn’t have a choice. I haven’t got any money.’
    ‘Oh well, it doesn’t matter does it. I expect you’ll do very well here. Somebody told me you’re already in well with Mister Dodd, and I never heard of him taking notice of a stockboy before.’
    ‘I only look after his motor,’ William said.
    ‘Perhaps you do now, but it’s bound to lead to other things, you mark my words.’
    A few weeks after the social, William asked Ruth if she’d like to go to for a walk with him one Sunday, and perhaps have tea later. She agreed and they spent most of the day together. Though they didn’t really have a great deal in common, William enjoyed the time he spent with Ruth. He hadn’t realised until then how lonely he had become. He liked her and she seemed to like him too, and it became a regular thing for them to spend Sundays together. They often went to the park or took a tram out to the edge of town and walked along by the river. Sometimes William read to her from The Odyssey, and