they charged
again, screaming for his hide.
‘This is brilliant,’ Gail said, ‘we can forget about the clues.’
We rounded up the kids from the beach and I said I was going to look for Captain Blood but that I was a bit scared, so if they heard me blow my whistle they should come to my aid. On my way to
put my gear on again I was intercepted by Pinky and Tony.
‘What’s going on?’ Pinky wanted to know.
I explained the game.
‘This is like the old days,’ Pinky said brightly. ‘Go up on the theatre roof and when they see you, duck out of sight.’
There were stairs onto the roof of the theatre and I went up there to slip on my pirate gear. When I blew my whistle they came running. They saw me on the roof. They pointed and shrieked. Pinky
and Gail led them in a chant of ‘We want Captain Blood!’ I ducked out of sight. There followed a chorus of boos and another round of chanting and then there was another chorus of
excited screams. I looked over the parapet and the kids were no longer looking in my direction. There at the poolside was another Captain Blood in an almost identical get-up, this one waving a
sword at them. I could see it was Tony. He legged it and the kids went charging after him.
I could see right across the resort: the playing fields, the offices and staff dorms, the blocks of chalets, the pool with its gay flags drooping in the windless heat of the day. I could also
see the sandy beach beyond and the still blue sea rushing towards the vanishing point. The kids chased Tony down and at the crucial moment I would pop up so they would chase me. It was wonderful:
Captain Blood had magic powers. But I made a foolish mistake and almost killed myself.
When the kids approached again looking for Captain Blood I decided I would cross the roof and roar at them from the other side, but in order to do so I had to spring over a low wall running down
the middle of the roof. I cocked my leg over the wall and was about to let go when I glanced down. Where I expected to see a flat roof inches under my foot the ground thirty feet below flashed at
me like the edge of a shiny blade. Down there stood the man in the blue suit and the boy. The man had his palm extended towards me.
In that moment it looked as though the man was reaching forward as if to grab me, to pull me, or at least to encourage me over the edge. The flat roof of what I took to be the same building was
divided by a narrow alley. I hadn’t realised. I was horribly arrested with one leg dangling over the wall and my eye fixed on the man with the outstretched palm. A fraction of extra momentum
would have taken me clean over.
Brought to my senses, I staggered backwards and lay down on the roof, holding my heart where it punched at my ribcage. If I had let go I would have fallen either to my death or to certain
serious injury. I lay on my back for a long time, thinking about what had just happened. When I got up to look over the edge again, both man and boy had gone.
Finally, I crept down from the building. The only thing that seemed to bring the game to an end was the midday heat and the cloud of bugs – ladybirds – that were starting to become a
nuisance. We gave in. I allowed myself to be ‘caught’ by the grown-ups and marched to the swimming pool at the point of the sword. There I was made to walk the plank, or rather the
diving board, into the swimming pool. It got a big cheer. The casket-treasure of rock was dug up and the children were fed with red sugar.
Tony and Pinky took me for lunch. They told me I was no longer on probation. I hadn’t known that I was on probation. You’re
one of us
, Pinky said. I wasn’t certain
whether that meant I was good at wearing an eye patch or draping myself in the flag of St George.
‘Speaking of the old days, who’s polishing the Brass?’ Tony said, and Pinky looked glum. Nobody wanted to polish the brass, it seemed. Every Sunday afternoon the camp was
visited by a brass or
again, screaming for his hide.
‘This is brilliant,’ Gail said, ‘we can forget about the clues.’
We rounded up the kids from the beach and I said I was going to look for Captain Blood but that I was a bit scared, so if they heard me blow my whistle they should come to my aid. On my way to
put my gear on again I was intercepted by Pinky and Tony.
‘What’s going on?’ Pinky wanted to know.
I explained the game.
‘This is like the old days,’ Pinky said brightly. ‘Go up on the theatre roof and when they see you, duck out of sight.’
There were stairs onto the roof of the theatre and I went up there to slip on my pirate gear. When I blew my whistle they came running. They saw me on the roof. They pointed and shrieked. Pinky
and Gail led them in a chant of ‘We want Captain Blood!’ I ducked out of sight. There followed a chorus of boos and another round of chanting and then there was another chorus of
excited screams. I looked over the parapet and the kids were no longer looking in my direction. There at the poolside was another Captain Blood in an almost identical get-up, this one waving a
sword at them. I could see it was Tony. He legged it and the kids went charging after him.
I could see right across the resort: the playing fields, the offices and staff dorms, the blocks of chalets, the pool with its gay flags drooping in the windless heat of the day. I could also
see the sandy beach beyond and the still blue sea rushing towards the vanishing point. The kids chased Tony down and at the crucial moment I would pop up so they would chase me. It was wonderful:
Captain Blood had magic powers. But I made a foolish mistake and almost killed myself.
When the kids approached again looking for Captain Blood I decided I would cross the roof and roar at them from the other side, but in order to do so I had to spring over a low wall running down
the middle of the roof. I cocked my leg over the wall and was about to let go when I glanced down. Where I expected to see a flat roof inches under my foot the ground thirty feet below flashed at
me like the edge of a shiny blade. Down there stood the man in the blue suit and the boy. The man had his palm extended towards me.
In that moment it looked as though the man was reaching forward as if to grab me, to pull me, or at least to encourage me over the edge. The flat roof of what I took to be the same building was
divided by a narrow alley. I hadn’t realised. I was horribly arrested with one leg dangling over the wall and my eye fixed on the man with the outstretched palm. A fraction of extra momentum
would have taken me clean over.
Brought to my senses, I staggered backwards and lay down on the roof, holding my heart where it punched at my ribcage. If I had let go I would have fallen either to my death or to certain
serious injury. I lay on my back for a long time, thinking about what had just happened. When I got up to look over the edge again, both man and boy had gone.
Finally, I crept down from the building. The only thing that seemed to bring the game to an end was the midday heat and the cloud of bugs – ladybirds – that were starting to become a
nuisance. We gave in. I allowed myself to be ‘caught’ by the grown-ups and marched to the swimming pool at the point of the sword. There I was made to walk the plank, or rather the
diving board, into the swimming pool. It got a big cheer. The casket-treasure of rock was dug up and the children were fed with red sugar.
Tony and Pinky took me for lunch. They told me I was no longer on probation. I hadn’t known that I was on probation. You’re
one of us
, Pinky said. I wasn’t certain
whether that meant I was good at wearing an eye patch or draping myself in the flag of St George.
‘Speaking of the old days, who’s polishing the Brass?’ Tony said, and Pinky looked glum. Nobody wanted to polish the brass, it seemed. Every Sunday afternoon the camp was
visited by a brass or
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