Theatre Shoes Read Free Page A

had kept hens, but chocolate biscuits!
    The sight of real egg and chocolate biscuits both at the same minute excited the other passengers so much that in no time they were talking like old friends. Of course the conversation was mostly food, but food was what grown-up people liked talking about, so that was all right; anyway the general buzz made a cheerful atmosphere, and that, together with eating, made Sorrel and Mark feel a lot better, and the finish to feeling better was put by the American soldier. Like a conjurer pulling a rabbit out of a hat, he suddenly produced three enormous sweets out of his pocket and gave them one each. Sorrel was worried about taking them.
    â€œAre you sure you can spare them?” she asked anxiously. “I mean, as big as this they must be a lot of your ration.”
    The soldier did not seem to be a man who said a lot.
    â€œForget it.”
    It was when the American’s sweet was in their mouths and they could not speak that Hannah had her talk with a nice-looking woman in tweeds. It began by the woman asking where they were going and Hannah not only told her, but told her all the other things, starting with their mother and going through the Channel Islands, their father and then grandfather, finishing with who their grandmother was. The woman was interested and asked about schools. Hannah explained about Ferntree and Wilton House. The woman shook her head and said “bad luck,” and then she said:
    â€œChanging about is a nuisance, especially if there were any thought of scholarships later on.”
    â€œI never heard talk of that,” said Hannah.
    The tweed woman leant forward and smiled at Sorrel and Mark.
    â€œJust as well. It’s so easy to miss a chance by shifting about at the wrong age.”
    The conversation about education finished there and shifted to the baby of the woman in the corner, but it did not finish in Sorrel’s mind. “It’s so easy to miss a chance.” Did grandmother know that Mark was going into the Navy? Mr. Pinker, headmaster of Wilton House, had known. Had he been teaching Mark thinking of his entrance exam.? Of course Mark would not be the right age to go in for his examinations yet, but how awful if he ought to be being specially prepared. Daddy had written to Mr. Pinker and he knew all about it, but would the new London school? Sorrel looked at Mark and saw he had either not listened to the tweed woman or was not interested, he was placidly sucking and playing with an indiarubber band. She looked at Holly, but of course Holly was not bothering, she was far too young; in fact, in spite of the smallness of her piece of seat, she seemed to be nearly asleep, though she was still enough awake to suck at her sweet. Sorrel looked at Hannah. Hannah was an angel, but not the person to understand about examinations. She looked on education in the same way as she looked upon food rationing, something the Government insisted on and therefore you had to do, but she did not think personally education was important except perhaps reading, writing and being able to add and, if put to it, subtract.
    It is queer how all in a minute you can understand what growing up means. Sorrel did not look very grown-up, she was small for her age. She was wearing a rather short cotton frock. She usually had bare legs, but to travel in she was wearing white socks and her brown school walking shoes. Looking at her you might have made a guess that she was ten and not a person who was going to be twelve in April. But at that minute inside she was far more than her age. Grandfather was dead, Daddy was a prisoner in the hands of the Japs, at least that was what she was going to believe; Hannah was grand for most things, but not everything, and Mark and Holly were still too young to feel responsible. It was up to her to take a little of her father’s place. Of course grandmother might be absolutely perfect, one of those sort of grown-up people who