The collected stories Read Free

END
    'Blue.' The child looked away.
    'What did Mummy's friend say to you?'
    'I don't remember.' Now Richard ran ahead, down the hill.
    He saw that the child was disturbed. If he pressed too hard he would frighten him. And so they drove back to World's End in silence.
    Robarge did not tell Kathy where they had gone, and instead of confronting her with what he knew he watched her. He did not want to lose her in an argument; it was easy to imagine the terrible scene - her protests, her lies. She might not deny it, he thought; she might make it worse.
    He directed his anger against the man. He wanted to kill him, to save himself. That night he made love to Kathy in a fierce testing way, as if challenging her to refuse. But she submitted to his bullying and at last, as he lay panting beside her, she said, 'Are you finished?'
    A few days later, desperate to know whether his wife's love had been stolen from him, Robarge told Kathy that he had to go to Aberdeen on business.
    'When will you be back?'
    'I'm not sure.' He thought: Why should I make it easier on her? 'I'll call you.'
    But she accepted this as she had accepted his wordless assault on her, and it seemed to him as though nothing had happened, she had no lover, she had been loyal. He had only the child's word. But the child was innocent and had never lied.
    On the morning of his departure for Aberdeen he went to Richard's room. He shut the door and said, 'Do you love me?'
    The child moved his head and stared.
    'If you really love me, you won't tell Mummy what I'm going to ask you to do.'
    'I won't tell.'
    'When I'm gone, I want you to be the daddy.'
    Richard's face grew solemn.
    'That means you have to be very careful. You have to make sure that Mummy's all right.'
    'Why won't Mummy be all right?'
    Robarge said, i think her friend is a thief.'
    'No - he's not!'

    WORLD S END
    'Don't be upset,' said Robarge. That's what we're going to find out. I want you to watch him if he comes over again.'
    'But why? Don't you like him?'
    'I don't know him very well - not as well as Mummy does. Will you watch him for me, like a daddy?'
    'Yes.'
    'If you do, I'll bring you a nice present.'
    'Mummy's friend gave me a present.'
    Robarge was so startled he could not speak; and he wanted to shout. The child peered at him, and Robarge saw curiosity and pity mingled in the child's squint.
    'It was a little car.'
    'I'll give you a big car,' Robarge managed.
    'What's he stealing from you, Daddy?'
    Robarge thought a moment, then said, 'Something very precious-' and his voice broke. If he forced it he would sob. He left the child's room. He had never felt sadder.
    Downstairs, Kathy kissed him on his ear. The smack of it caused a ringing in a horn in his head.
    He had invented the trip to Aberdeen; he invented work to justify it, and for three days he knew what madness was - a sickening and a sorrow. He was deaf, his feet and hands were stupid, and his tongue at times seemed to swell and choke him when he tried to speak. He wanted to tell his area supervisor that he was suffering, that he knew how odd he must appear. But he did not know how to begin. And strangely, though his behavior was clumsily childlike, he felt elderly, as if he were dying inside, all his organs working feebly. He returned to London feeling that a burned hole was blackened on his heart.
    The house at World's End was so still that in the doorway he considered that she was gone, that she had taken Richard and deserted him with her lover. This was Sunday evening, part of his plan - a surprise: he usually returned on Monday. He was not reassured to see the kitchen light on - there was a telephone in the kitchen. But Kathy's face, when she answered the door, was blank.
    She said, 'I thought you might call from the station.'
    He tried to kiss her - she pulled away.
    'My hands are wet.'
    'Glad to see me?'

    WORLD S END
    'I'm doing the dishes.' She lost her look of boredom and said, 'You're so pale.'
    'I haven't slept.' He could not gather