Trustee From the Toolroom by Nevil Shute Page A

without increasing the mortgage on the house. But Katie would have to know.
    If he took a hundred pounds 'from their bank account it would drain it to the very bottom, to the utmost limit of overdraft that the bank manager would allow. There was a little money owing to him from the Miniature Mechanic, perhaps about fifteen pounds. Katie, in theory at any rate, could carry on for a month or two upon her salary to meet the living expenses of Janice and herself; they had just paid the school fees for the coming term. Without his earnings they could not pay off the debt upon the house, or maintain anything; they could not paint the windows or replace sheets or blankets or pillowcases or clothes. If he were to take a hundred pounds and go off on a trip like this, Katie would be down to the barest of bare bedrock.
    He got up and walked about the workshop, uncertain in his mind. Presently it occurred to him that by Ids movements he might be waking Janice, who slept in the little room off the workshop that once had been the scullery. He opened the door gently, and looked in. Janice was sleeping deeply, the plastic duck on the table by her side perched hazardously on its basketwork nest stabilized by the weight of the metal eggs. She had thrown the bedclothes off from her shoulders and one arm was out. The room was cold; he went over to the bed and gently put the arm inside and tucked the bedclothes up around her shoulders. She did not wake, and he went back into the workshop, closing the door softly behind him.
    The diamonds must be in the jewel case, safely buried in the lump of concrete that had once been Shearwater. It was the only place where they could be. It was just a matter of someone going there and getting them, without attracting too much attention.
    And he was the trustee.
    He sat down at his desk again, irresolute. Suppose he didn't go. With the help of Mr Sanderson and Mr Thorn and Albatross Airways he might have enough money to get there - just - but he certainly hadn't got enough money to get back. He would be leaving Katie with little or no money for an indefinite time, with Janice to look after. John Dermott and his sister Jo wouldn't have wanted him to do that. . .
    If he didn't recover her little fortune, well, Janice would be all right. Katie had said that they could manage, and Katie knew. She'd have to work like any other girl as soon as she could leave school; probably Mr Buckley would give her a job in the shop. It would be just as if she was their own -daughter. She'd never be a fine lady, but who wanted to be a fine lady these days, anyway ?
    He sat there in mental torment, knowing that he couldn't, take it that way. Unless he made a real effort to get back what belonged to her, he'd never be able to look at her without feeling ashamed of himself. He'd never be able to think of John and Jo without feeling ashamed of himself. They had made him the trustee.
    But, dear Lord, what was Katie going to say about it all ?
    He went upstairs presently, conscious of a bad half hour ahead of him. Katie was still up, sitting by the fire knitting something for Janice and looking at the television. He sat down opposite her, and said, ' I've got something I want to talk about.'
    ' I know what that is,' she remarked, turning off the set.
    'What's that,' he asked, startled.
    She said complacently, ' You want to go out to this place Tahiti. I heard you talking about it on the telephone. I think it's silly.'
    'Better wait to say that till you know all about it,' he replied, a little nettled.
    'What don't I know?'
    'Everything,' he said. 'You remember that time when I went down to the yacht with them to fix up an electric light over the compass?' She nodded. 'Well, it wasn't an electric light at all. It was something quite different.'
    'I guessed that much,' she said. 'What was it?'
    'Jo's jewel case,' he said. ' Sort of building it into the boat.' He started in and told her the whole thing; it took about a quarter of an hour.