Attica Read Free

of secrets. Things we wouldn’t even dream of. You don’t know anything about girls, do you?’
    ‘Don’t want to,’ he said haughtily. ‘Especially if they support Manchester United.’
    She said, puzzled, ‘I don’t support any football team.’
    ‘That’s even worse.’
    A week after their firstmeeting, Chloe again found Mr Grantham in the garden, contemplating nature. This time it took quite a while for her to get him to open up, but once he did Mr Grantham was even less reluctant than before to share his thoughts with her. She asked him at one point if he had gone to university, as she was thinking of doing that one day.
    ‘University? No, no, never went there.’ He almost chuckled. ‘We didn’t do things like that in them days. I went to a village school. Left at fourteen. Never took exams or anything like that. Went to work in a grocer’s, behind the counter. Just before I was twenty, the war came along, and I joined up.’ His eyes narrowed at this point. ‘I was engaged to a young woman called Susan then. She gave me a silver pocket-watch before I left for overseas, with her photo in the lid which covered the face. It was musical. Played Frère Jacques when you opened it.’
    ‘Oh, were you very much in love?’ Chloe recalled that his wife’s name had been Florrie. ‘You didn’t marry in the end?’
    His mouth formed a thin bitter line.
    ‘No, no, we didn’t marry. I came home after the war, from POW camp in Germany, and she’d run off. Married a much older man than me. They’d moved away, so I never saw her again.’
    ‘Oh, how sad.’
    Mr Grantham rallied. ‘Probably for the best.’ But he didn’t sound as if he meant it. ‘I met Florrie a little later. She was a good wife. We loved each other.’
    ‘What about the watch? Have you still got it?’
    ‘I think it’s up in theattic somewhere. I chucked it there when I heard Susan was married to another man. This was my parents’ house, you see. I’ve lived here almost all my life, except for India and Germany.’
    ‘Don’t you want the watch?’
    He humphed. ‘I’m too old to go climbing around in dusty attics. Much too old now. Pity though.’ His eyes became distant. ‘I wouldn’t mind seeing that watch again. It would’ve hurt too much, earlier, but now – well, feelings get a bit dusty too, with time. I’ve not had a bad life, but I’ve been thinking more and more about how I cursed Susan for running away with that fellow Perkins. It sort of ruled my life for a few years and I got very bitter. Eventually I met Florrie and things came all right again, but it was a bit dark for a while. A bit dark. I’d like to make my peace with Susan’s memory now. Getting the watch back would help. I feel bad about chucking it aside like that.’ He gave Chloe a wry smile and nodded towards the heavens. ‘You never know who you’re going to meet up there, do you?’
    ‘I’ll ask the boys. They won’t mind having a look up there for you. Me too. I wouldn’t mind.’
    ‘You’re very kind.’
    ‘Rooting around in an old attic might be fun,’ said Chloe. ‘You never know what you’ll find.’
    ‘That’s very true. Treasure and trash, that’s what you’ll find in attics.’ He turned and stared into her eyes. ‘It would be nice to find treasure, wouldn’t it?’
    Once Chloe had gone, Mr Grantham had a sudden flash of guilt. He liked Chloe. She was a nice girl. Since they had begun their infrequent conversations sprigs of apple blossom had begun to spring from the flinty beds of his thoughts. Should he warn her? He wanted to. But he just didn’t know.
    What if harm shouldcome to them? It hadn’t to him, but maybe he’d been lucky. Then again, you couldn’t live your life in perfect safety. That would be very dull and boring. You had to have some danger and excitement. That’s why boys bought motorbikes and girls backpacked around the world.
    No, he wouldn’t warn them. Let them find out for themselves. They could