Part 14 (2/2)

Humber came back across the yard.

'Get on in,' he said.

'I'd spill the water dodging him, sir.'

'Huh.'

Mickey's hoofs thudded viciously against the wall.

'You mean you haven't got the guts.'

'You'd need to be a b.l.o.o.d.y fool to go in there alone, sir,' I said sullenly.

He glared at me, but he must have seen it was no use insisting. He suddenly picked up the pitchfork from where it stood against the wall and transferred it to his right hand and the walking stick to his left.

'Get on with it then,' he said harshly. 'And don't waste time.'

He looked incongruous, brandis.h.i.+ng his two unconventional weapons while dressed like an advertis.e.m.e.nt for Country Life Country Life. I hoped he was going to be as resolute as he sounded.

I unbolted Mickey's door and we went in. It had been an injustice to think Humber might turn tail and leave me there alone: he behaved as coldly as ever, as if fear were quite beyond his imagination. Efficiently he kept Mickey penned first to one side of the box and then to the other while I mucked out and put down fresh straw, remaining steadfastly at his post while I cleaned the uneaten food out of the manger and wedged the bucket of doped water in place. Mickey didn't make it easy for him, either. The teeth and hooves were busier and more dangerous than the night before.

It was especially aggravating in the face of Humber's coolness to have to remember to behave like a bit of a coward myself, though I minded less than if he had been Adams.

When I had finished the jobs Humber told me to go out first, and he retreated in good order after me, his well-pressed suit scarcely rumpled from his exertions.

I shut the door and bolted it, and did my best to look thoroughly frightened. Humber looked me over with disgust.

'Roke,' he said sarcastically, 'I hope you will feel capable of dealing with Mickey when he is half asleep with drugs?'

'Yes sir,' I muttered.

'Then in order not to strain your feeble stock of courage I suggest we keep him drugged for some days. Every time you fetch him a bucket of water you can get Ca.s.s or me to put some sedative in it. Understand?'

'Yes sir.'

'Right.' He dismissed me with a chop of his hand.

I carried the sack of dirty straw round to the muck heap, and there took a close look at the bandage which Mickey had dislodged. Blister is a red paste. I had looked in vain for red paste on Mickey's raw leg; and there was not a smear of it on the bandage. Yet from the size and severity of the wound there should have been half a cupful.

I took Jerry down to Posset on the motor-cycle again that afternoon and watched him start to browse contentedly in the toy department of the post office.

There was a letter for me from October.

'Why did we receive no report from you last week? It is your duty to keep us informed of the position.'

I tore the page up, my mouth twisting. Duty. That was just about enough to make me lose my temper. It was not from any sense of duty that I stayed at Humber's to endure a minor version of slavery. It was because I was obstinate, and liked to finish what I started, and although it sounded a bit grandiose, it was because I really wanted, if I could, to remove British steeple chasing from Adams' clutches. If it had been only a matter of duty I would have repaid October his money and cleared out.

'It is your duty to keep us informed of the position.'

He was still angry with me about Patty, I thought morosely, and he wrote that sentence only because he knew I wouldn't like it.

I composed my report.

'Your humble and obedient servant regrets that he was unable to carry out his duty last week by keeping you informed of the position.

'The position is still far from clear, but a useful fact has been ascertained. None of the original eleven horses will be doped again: but a horse called Six-Ply is lined up to be the next winner. He is now owned by a Mr Henry Waddington, of Lewes, Suss.e.x.

'May I please have the answers to the following questions: 1. Is the powder in the enclosed twist of paper soluble phen.o.barbitone?

2. What are in detail the registered physical characteristics of the racehorses Chin-Chin, Kandersteg and Starlamp?

3. On what date did Blackburn, playing at home, beat a.r.s.enal?'

And that, I thought, sticking down the envelope and grinning to myself, that will fix him and his duty.

Jerry and I gorged ourselves at the cafe. I had been at Humber's for five weeks and two days, and my clothes were getting looser.

When we could eat no more I went back to the post office and bought a large-scale hiker's map of the surrounding district, and a cheap pair of compa.s.ses. Jerry spent fifteen s.h.i.+llings on a toy tank which he had resisted before, and, after checking to see if my goodwill extended so far, a second comic for me to read to him. And we went back to Humber's.

Days pa.s.sed. Mickey's drugged water acted satisfactorily, and I was able to clean his box and look after him without much trouble. Ca.s.s took the second bandage off, revealing an equal absence of red paste. However, the wounds gradually started healing.

As Mickey could not be ridden and showed great distress if one tried to lead him out along the road, he had to be walked round the yard for an hour each day, which exercised me more than him, but gave me time to think some very fruitful thoughts.

Humber's stick landed with a resounding thump across Charlie's shoulders on Tuesday morning, and for a second it looked as though Charlie would hit him back. But Humber coldly stared him down, and the next morning delivered an even harder blow in the same place. Charlie's bed was empty that night. He was the fourth lad to leave in the six weeks I had been there (not counting the boy who stayed only three days) and of my original half dozen dormitory companions, only Bert and Jerry remained. The time was getting perceptibly closer when I would find myself at the top of the queue for walking the plank.

Adams came with Humber when he made his usual rounds on Thursday evening. They stopped outside Mickey's box but contented themselves with looking over the half-door.

'Don't go in, Paul,' said Humber warningly. 'He's still very unpredictable, in spite of drugs.'

Adams looked at me where I stood by Mickey's head.

'Why is the gipsy doing this horse? I thought it was the moron's job.' He sounded angry and alarmed.

Humber explained that as Mickey had bitten Jerry, he had made me change places with him. Adams still didn't like it, but looked as if he would save his comments until he wouldn't be overheard.

He said, 'What is the gipsy's name?'

'Roke,' said Humber.

'Well, Roke, come here, out of that box.'

Humber said anxiously, 'Paul, don't forget we're one lad short already.'

These were not particularly rea.s.suring words to hear. I walked across the box, keeping a wary eye on Mickey, let myself out through the door, and stood beside it, drooping and looking at the ground.

'Roke,' said Adams in a pleasant sounding voice, what do you spend your wages on?'

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