GCSE

ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
Reading resource
Paper 1

Perhaps this was only the first of

a whole battalion of crows, that
would rise up and swoop at him.
I’m the King of the Castle
Susan Hill
 Contents
Story openings:
I’m the King of the Castle by Susan Hill (1970)
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (1993)
Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (2012)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (2007)

Transition points and endings:

Spies by Michael Frayn (2002)
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (2008)
The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan (1915)

Presenting people, places and action:

I’m the King of the Castle by Susan Hill (1970)
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (2009)
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (1993)
The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993)

Complete short story:

Lullaby by Elizabeth Berridge (1947)

Texts extracts can be found at the back of resource.

 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

Reading resources for

GCSE English Language:
Explorations in creative reading for Paper 1
Introduction Texts on this paper will be drawn from literary
Students will be required to respond to unseen prose fiction from the 20th or 21st Centuries.
texts drawn from “high quality, challenging
literature and non fiction” on both papers in the In addition to developing the relevant skills for
final examination, so the two-year course should the study of literary fiction, teachers may use the
following materials to encourage students’ wider
provide opportunities for them to read widely and
reading. They have been grouped for ease of use,
become confident in interpreting information and but you will find overlaps between the groups.
ideas and in understanding the means by which
they are presented. These suggested reading activities are suitable for
both pair and groupwork.
Assessment objectives for Paper 1
It is important for students to start by reading and
AO1: Identify and interpret explicit and implicit
enjoying the whole passage and then for them to
information and ideas. Select and
give an independent response.
synthesise from different texts.
This can be followed by close reading and
AO2: Explain, comment on and analyse how
analysis of the writer’s craft.
writers use language and structure to
achieve effects and influence readers, using
Students can then be asked for a more
relevant subject terminology to support
considered, evaluative response which they need
their views.
to support with detailed reference and analysis of
the text.
AO4: Evaluate texts critically and support this
with appropriate textual references.
Emboldened words and phrases indicate relevant
subject terminology.

3
Using the material in class Identify the terms of address used in the
passage. What are the names of the characters?
Which nouns and noun phrases are used to refer
Story openings to them? This is a passage about members of a
Aims: • to understand the ways in which authors family: which terms of address are absent that
use the openings of stories to engage you might expect to have seen? Compare the
the reader terms of address/terms of endearment used in
your own families. Summarise your understanding
• to understand how the conventions of
of the characters of Edmund and Joseph Hooper,
literary genres may be evident in the
their personalities, emotions and relationship.
story opening
• to understand the structural features Which details create an impression of the
of the passage and its place in the formality, social status and wealth of the Hooper
structure of the whole novel family?
• to make a personal response to the
passage with evaluation using inference How is the Red Room given a sense of
and analysis. importance and mystery? What does it contain?
Why do you think Edmund Hooper wants to
I’m the King of the Castle go there? What does the final sentence of the
by Susan Hill (1970) – chapter 1 from beginning passage suggest about Edmund’s character and
to “But he knew where to find the key.” about what will follow?

Read the whole passage In two columns, list the factual information about
the characters and their situation that we are
First responses given in the passage, and the inferences that we
What is the passage about? Which characters make based on closer reading.
does it introduce, and what do we learn about
them? What questions does it raise for the From reading this passage, which of the following
reader? What hints does it give about what will words and phrases do you think could be used
follow? What impression is created of the mood to describe the genre of this novel: comic,
and atmosphere at the start of this novel? psychological, fantasy, mystery, realistic fiction,
gothic horror, graphic novel, historical fiction,
Close reading satire, memoir, science fiction, ghost story? Use
Look at the opening sentence and discuss details from the passage to support your point
narrative perspective: who is “he”? What is “this of view.
house”? What does this use of pronouns tell us
about the narrative viewpoint of the passage? Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
by Roddy Doyle (1993) from beginning to “He
Highlight the words that are spoken aloud, shown never called him Mister O’Connell; he called
by the author’s use of direct speech. Reading him the Tinker.”
only these sections, what impression do you have
of the characters and their relationships? Read the whole passage

Now read the sections that present the First responses

characters’ unspoken thoughts. How do these What is the passage about? Which characters
add to the reader’s understanding? does it introduce, and what do we learn about
them? Who is telling the story? What information
Much of the direct speech in this passage is does it give about the world of the novel? What is
reported without any authorial mediation, so the the mood and atmosphere of this passage? Did
reader must form his/her own response to the you enjoy it? Did you recognise in it any features
characters. What is yours? of childhood from when you were about ten years
old?

4
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

Close reading First responses

Look again at the opening paragraph, and discuss What is happening in this passage? Is it set in
what it shows about the narrative perspective the present day or at another time? Look at the
of a young boy. Which language details in the clues given by the names of the characters.
whole passage convey the impression of a child’s What sporting or leisure activity are the men
voice? engaged in? Would you describe the mood and
atmosphere of the scene as relaxed or tense?
Pay particular attention to the structure of Troubled or happy? Stormy or calm? What do
sentences. Are they generally long or short? we learn from this opening passage about the
What is the proportion of single clause life, work and personality of the main character,
sentences to those that are more multi-clause? Thomas Cromwell?
What does the style of sentences contribute to
our understanding and response? Close reading
What is the effect of the opening sentence?
Read the whole passage again, highlighting What does it mean? How does the rest of the
every point at which there is change of subject first paragraph help you to understand what is
or reference to time. Identify examples of non happening? Why do you think that Cromwell has
sequiturs. Can you follow the story? How named his hawks after members of his family?
successfully has the author structured it to sound What do the first two paragraphs suggest about
authentically like the account of a child? The what has happened to his wife and daughters and
narrator of this novel has been described as sisters, and about his thoughts and feelings?
‘breathless’. Do you agree with this description?
Why? Why not? Consider the following two quotations: “a riot of
dismemberment, fur and feather flying…” and
Roddy Doyle is an Irish writer. Identify the details “the green copses and rushing streams, the
of language that convey an impression of its Irish alders by the water’s edge…” How has the author
setting. The narrator is describing very familiar combined violence, death, tranquillity and beauty
events. Which details show his familiarity with the in the whole of this passage? Identify descriptive
world that he lives in? How extensive is his world? words and phrases and consider how they appeal
to the reader’s senses. Considering what you
Our real speech reflects our regional and social know about the history of the period, what effect
identity through accent and dialect. Identify is achieved by this description? Read the final
the dialect features of the language used in this sentence of the passage and comment on the
passage and explain how successfully you think mood created by the author’s use of the verbs
they create an authentic voice. “teasing” and “amble”.

The novel was written for adults, not children, and Three men are hawking together. What do you
yet it recounts the life and activities of a ten year understand about them and their relationships
old boy. What do you think makes it appealing with each other? How can you tell that people
for an adult audience? In this opening passage have to tread carefully around the King? What
there is a mixture of children’s play and hints of impression does the author give in this passage of
more serious matters. Identify the more serious the character of Henry VIII?
issues that Paddy Clarke mentions but doesn’t
explore. What effect has the author achieved by Consider the structure of the passage. It starts in
presenting them in this way? A critic described the midst of the hunting action, and although King
the novel as “Truthful, hilarious, painfully sad”. Henry VIII is present, he is not given a prominent
From what you have read so far can you predict place at first. We learn that Thomas Cromwell’s
how the novel will unfold? working night will begin “when the king has
gone to bed” showing that he is an important
Bring up the Bodies figure. Re-read the fourth paragraph and explain
by Hilary Mantel (2012) from the beginning to what the passage as a whole suggests about
“Teasing him, they amble towards supper.” Cromwell’s attitude and his personal thoughts
and values.
Read the whole passage

5
Looking at the passage as a whole, explain Transition points and endings
your response to the opening section of this
acclaimed historical novel set in Tudor England. Aims: • to understand the structures that writers
Explain why you think historical fiction about real use to engage the reader
characters appeals to readers. • to be able to use the details of texts as
the foundation for plausible predictions
The Reluctant Fundamentalist and insights about the rest of the work
by Mohsin Hamid (Penguin 2007) from • to recognise some of the conventions
beginning to page 5 “I certainly was, of literary fiction and the ways in which
at least at first.” textual cohesion is achieved.

Read the whole passage Spies

by Michael Frayn (Faber and Faber Ltd. 2002)
First responses pages 31-33 from “Where the story began,
Where is this passage set? Who is speaking and though …”, to the end of chapter 2, “My
to whom? Only one character speaks, but what mother … is a German spy.”
clues are we given about the response of the
man he is speaking to? What do we learn from Introduction
this passage about the different cultures of the In this extract from chapter 2 of the novel, the
two men? How does the speaker know so much narrator recalls a turning point in his childhood
about America and Americans? What are his in England during the Second World War, when
opinions about them? his friend Keith tells him something that sets off a
complex chain of events.
Close reading
Identify the questions used as topic sentences First responses
at the start of paragraphs and as discourse Do you think that the narrator trusts the accuracy
markers. How do they create an impression of of his memory? How accurately do we remember
a conversation and of movement through the things from childhood? Discuss examples from
scene? Can you suggest at appropriate points the your own early memories in which the details are
utterances that the author suggests have been jumbled or unclear. Why did women at that time
made by the American? live “in dread of policemen and telegraph boys”?
What was the momentous thing that Keith told the
Explain how the author creates an impression narrator? Why would it have been so significant
of the speaker’s tone being helpful and polite. at the time? How does the narrator create an
How does the passage create a sense of tension impression of the importance of Keith’s words in
between the two men? relation to what happened afterwards? Reading
his account, do you believe that Keith’s mother
What was the speaker’s experience at his was a German spy?
American university, Princeton? What does the
final sentence of the passage suggest about it? Close reading
Consider how the author has structured this
How can you tell that the speaker is clever? What passage to show the difficulty of recalling distant
do you think his intentions are? memories. The novel is written in first person
from the perspective of adulthood. Highlight
Looking at the title of the novel and this opening the words and phrases that show the narrator
section, discuss how you think the story will contradicting or correcting himself. How does
unfold. he use questions? What impression of memory
and of the events described is created by the
The following quotation is a critic’s response to writer’s use of ellipsis in the passage? Explain the
this novel “Sharp, relevant … makes you think.” meanings of the words ‘memory’ and ‘hindsight’.
Based on what you have read, what do you think What does the narrator’s use of these words say
would be its appeal to readers? about the act of remembering?

6
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

The narrator describes his memory as “a Now look at the voice that the author has created
collection of vivid particulars”. Which precise for Balram. Which of these words would you use
sights, sounds and feelings have stayed in his to describe it: confident, respectful, pragmatic,
memory from that time? How accurately do these realistic, critical, humorous, formal or informal?
details reflect the things that children notice? What impression does his voice create of
Which other details in the passage has the writer Balram’s character?
used to show the point of view of a young boy?
Consider how the author has structured this
The narrator refers to “our projects and passage. Identify the parts that hint at what
adventures”. How might the suggestion that will follow in the novel. What is their effect
Keith’s mother is a German spy lead them into a on the reader? Explain how the author has
project or adventure? From reading the passage, used contrast in this passage. What do the
do you think that the project or adventure that two contrasting scenes show about Balram’s
followed was a happy one? experience of life in India?

The White Tiger The Thirty-nine Steps

by Aravind Adiga (Atlantic Books 2008) by John Buchan (Penguin Classics 1915)
pages 34-38 from, “The inspector wrote four chapter 10 pages 110-113 from, “Meantime I
sentences…” to “That had been a big affair vote we have a game of bridge...” to the end of
too.” the novel.

Introduction Introduction
A successful Indian entrepreneur called Balram In this adventure story, Richard Hannay has
has heard that the Prime Minister of China is pursued a gang called The Black Stone to prevent
about to visit India. Balram decides to write to the them from leaving England with some secrets
Prime Minister, giving an account of his rise from that could precipitate a war. In this final passage
poverty. In this extract he recalls a surprise visit of the novel, he has entered a house where he
by a school inspector during his schooldays in a believes that members of the gang are staying
poor part of India known as the Darkness. undercover, passing themselves off as ordinary
English gentlemen until they can escape by sea
First responses to Germany. They have denied any knowledge
How does Balram distinguish himself during the of a plot, and their disguises are so effective
inspector’s visit? How does the inspector reward that Hannay has started to doubt himself. In this
him? Why does the inspector consider ‘White passage Hannay has accepted their invitation
Tiger’ to be an appropriate name for Balram? to sit and play a game of cards with them,
What is the bad news for Balram that follows wondering all the time what he should do next.
all the good news? What is the link between Peter Pienaar is the person who informed Hannay
his sisters’ marriages and Balram’s eventual about the gang and its plan.
employment as a coal breaker in the tea shop?
First responses
Close reading How is the situation in which Hannay finds himself
What do we learn in this passage about the dangerous and exciting? What clue does Hannay
conditions in Balram’s school? What is your first notice that confirms the identity of one of the
impression of the way in which the inspection is men? Which details does the author provide to
conducted? The inspector uses the metaphor of summarise the ruthless activities that the gang
a jungle to describe the school. Is this an effective have been involved in earlier in the novel? How
comparison? does it all work out well for Hannay and his men
at the end? Which details of characters and
Identify the ways in which Balram’s life is shown action do you recognise as being features of the
to be harsh. How do the boys from school mock adventure genre from other stories you have read
him in the tea shop? How does their mockery link and films you have seen?
together the scenes in the school and in the tea
shop?

7
Close reading he is being bullied by Edmund Hooper whose
The novel is a first person narrative. Identify parts father owns the house and who is Mrs Kingshaw’s
of the passage in which the author has allowed employer. Both boys are referred to by their
Hannay to give an account of his own thoughts surnames in the novel.
and feelings. What is the effect of this first person
account on our understanding of the action and Read the whole passage
characters, and our sense of Hannay’s character
and courage in the face of danger? What different First responses
effects might have been achieved if the novel had Explain what happens to Kingshaw in this
been written in third person? passage. How does the writer create an
impression of his isolation and helplessness?
Identify the features of the members of the gang Would you describe Kingshaw as a fearful boy?
that show them to be sinister. Explain how the In what ways does the passage resemble horror
author uses similes and metaphors to present stories or films that you know?
them.
Close reading
Read the passage again and assess the pace of This is a day in summer with good weather, and
the narrative. At which points is it leisurely, and yet the author does not make it seem pleasant.
when does it speed up? How has the author used Identify the descriptive details that make the
different sentence types to mark changes in the natural world appear hostile and sinister to
pace of the action? What do the short sentences Kingshaw.
contribute?
How does the author’s description of sound in the
The author has included some German words passage emphasise Kingshaw’s isolation and the
and phrases, even though many readers will horror of his encounter with the crow?
not understand them. Do they, nevertheless,
contribute to our understanding and Examine how the author has structured the
engagement? How and why? crow’s attack by highlighting its approach closer
and closer to Kingshaw. How does the attack
Read the final three short paragraphs. How reach a peak of horror? And how does the
satisfactorily do they conclude this episode and encounter with the crow close?
the whole of the adventure story?
There is no speech in this passage, but the author
provides some account of Kingshaw’s thoughts.
Presenting people, places Identify examples where the author reveals
Kingshaw’s thoughts in his own words and
and action explain what they show of his character.
Aims: • to be able to read for inference and
comprehension Highlight the details that show the physical effects
of fear and panic on Kingshaw. How effective are
• to understand how writers use language these in conveying an impression of his state of
to achieve effects and influence readers mind? Do you find the presentation of this eleven
• to be able to support their responses year old boy convincing? Why?
with appropriate textual references
To what extent do you sympathise with
I’m the King of the Castle Kingshaw?
by Susan Hill (Penguin 1970) chapter 3 pages
30-32

Introduction
Charles Kingshaw is running away from the house
called Warings where he and his mother have
recently come to stay when she was given the
position of housekeeper. He is unhappy because

8
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

Remarkable Creatures How do they regard the people around them?

by Tracy Chevalier How dangerous are the things they do? What
(Harper Collins 2009) chapter 1 “Different from was Paddy’s response on receiving a bike for
all the other rocks on the beach” Christmas? Why? What does the passage show
to be the secret of success when learning to ride
Introduction a bike? How much can you identify with that
This is the opening section of an historical novel experience?
about a young woman who became acclaimed
during the nineteenth century for her success in Close reading
finding fossils on the Dorset coast. The story is written in first person in the
uncomplicated voice of a ten year old boy. Read
Read the passage this passage again and comment on the author’s
use of short and single clause sentences to
First responses describe the action. How do they contribute to
What is your impression of the character of Mary the authenticity of the account?”
Anning? How does she regard herself? Note that
this chapter is entitled ‘Different from all the other Examine the writer’s handling of time in this
rocks on the beach’. Does the title refer to more extract. From describing the game of Indians,
than just the rock samples? What would have Paddy goes on to explain how he got his bike and
been the social status of a young, unmarried couldn’t ride it. Why is the narrative structured in
woman in 19th century England? this way?

Close reading Explain what this passage shows about childhood

Explain the meaning of the first two sentences in imagination. Identify examples from the passage
this extract. How effective are they in engaging that show Paddy’s ability to live in an imaginary
your interest? world. Explain what is in Paddy’s mind when he
“circled the garages to make sure the others had
Identify the details that Mary Anning remembers time to escape.” How does this sentence link with
from when she was struck by lightning, and the game they are playing?
comment on the similes she uses in the second
paragraph to express this unusual experience. Find examples of hyperbole. What is the effect of
the author’s use of this technique in recreating an
In her first person account, Mary Anning refers exciting story?
to other characters and events that will follow
as the novel progresses. What impression does What do we learn from this passage about
this create of her perspective on the events she Paddy’s relationship with his father? Do they
describes? understand each other? Does Paddy respect
him? Which details may imply that Paddy is
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha growing up?
by Roddy Doyle (Vintage 1993) pages 149-151
from “We charged through on our bikes” to To what extent do Paddy and his friends seem to
“We could see in all directions.” be free from care and responsibility?

Introduction Although Paddy and his friends are only ten

The novel is written in the voice of Paddy Clarke, years old, the passage uses some language
a ten year old boy living in Dublin during the that expresses control and power. Highlight the
1960s. examples that you can find, and explain what
these words and phrases show about Paddy’s
Read the passage point of view. Where does the real power lie in
Paddy’s world? Explain your answer.
First responses
How do Paddy Clarke and his friends play, and
what do they enjoy? Do you recognise their
behaviour as realistic for children of their age?

9
The Thirty-nine Steps Birdsong
by John Buchan (Penguin Classics 1915) by Sebastian Faulks (Vintage 1993)
chapter 6 pages 70-72 pages 349-352

Introduction Introduction
In this extract the narrator, Richard Hannay, is on Set in the trenches of the First World War, this
the run from a gang of spies after escaping from passage describes how a group of British soldiers
a locked room in their farmhouse by using some and miners take advantage of a break in the
explosive devices that he found there. Unable to action to venture into no man’s land and bring
travel away from the farm in daylight, he has now back the bodies of their colleagues who have
found a hiding place on top of a dovecote which been killed.
he needs to climb in spite of having been injured
in the explosion. Read the passage

Read the passage First responses

From the routine conversation that opens this
First responses passage, the writing moves on to present the
This is a typical scene from stories in the horror of dealing with the bodies of dead soldiers.
adventure genre: the injured hero hides as the How do the men react? How did you respond
villains search for him. Give examples of similar when reading it? Weir says that his father would
episodes from books and films that you know. say that the soldiers were all “doing their bit.”
What conditions make the narrator’s experience How does this make him feel? Why was Stephen
more uncomfortable? What discovery does he more frightened by the thought that one of those
make from the vantage point of the dovecote men was going to be alive? Explain why Brennan
roof? How does this discovery put him in more says at the end of the chapter that he feels better,
danger? even though one of the dead soldiers was his
brother.
Close reading
The adventure story genre has many recognisable Close reading
features. Make a list of the details that the author Comment on the writer’s presentation of the
provides of the villains and their behaviour in weather and the natural world alongside a scene
this passage. Which other details and events are of such horror. Where does he identify beauty?
familiar to you? What is the effect of the description of the rat and
crow in the scene?
Identify three narrow escapes that the narrator
has before the end of this passage. How does Consider the contribution made to our
the account suggest that he is smarter than his understanding and response by the following
enemies? sentences:
‘Goddard, releasing his mask, breathed in
Hiding in the full glare of the sun, Hannay is worse than he had expelled.’
tantalised by the near presence of cool water that
‘It was his brother.’
he cannot reach. Explore the language that the
writer has used to make the water seem all the ‘He was nineteen.’
more desirable. How does the description appeal ‘Michael Weir had a rigid smile.’
to our senses?
What comment can you make about the structure
How does the final sentence of this passage close of these sentences?
the episode and end the chapter satisfactorily for
the reader? How does the passage show normal human
interaction and compassion in the presence of
horror and suffering? Explain your response to the
closing sentence of the chapter.

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 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

Complete short story Voice recording technology was innovative at

the time. How do the couple plan to use it? Even
Aims: • to enjoy a complete short story though the recording succeeds in getting the
• to understand how aspects of structure baby to sleep, his mother feels uncomfortable
and language contribute to meaning and with it. “She felt as if her whole being was caught
effects. beneath the sharp needle, dragged round like a
piece of fluff in the shining groove.” How might
Lullaby we interpret this sentence as a comment on the
by Elizabeth Berridge (Published in Tell it to woman’s life and relationship with her husband?
a Stranger by Persephone Books Ltd. 2000;
first published in Selected Stories by Maurice Identify the words and phrases in which the
Fridberg 1947) husband’s character is presented. What do you
understand from the comment “It’s being in the
Read the story air so much, doing so much flying … it must do
something to you.”? Why does the woman use
First responses the imperative form of the verb in the sentence,
Explain the events in the story. Do the parents “Her fear was always there, but it must not spoil
realise what has happened at the end? Why his evening …”?
do they think they hear the sound of the lullaby
when they are nowhere near the house? Do you How do the shifts between what the couple say
sympathise with the parents? How would you and the events in the nursery build tension at
describe their relationship? Is this a story about the end of the story? Explain how the author’s
the dangers of ‘modern’ technology? Explain your description of the baby conveys a sense of his
answer. innocence and rising fear.

Close reading The writer gives no details at the end of the story
How does the author present the relationship beyond the man’s call for a taxi. What is your
between the couple in the first two paragraphs response to the conclusion of the story? Explain
of the story? What is ‘she’ not sure about? the effects of the two one-word exclamations.
What effect is achieved by the author’s delay
in explaining what the couple have disagreed To what extent do you consider this story to
about? Explain the metaphor used in “She could be a criticism of the man, the woman or both
keep them both spinning equably, dexterously, for characters? Or is its message something
a time …” different? Does it show anything about events
and the action of the natural world beyond our
The author does not name any of the characters. control?
What is the effect of the use of the third person
narrative perspective and the pronouns ‘she’, ‘he’
and ‘they’ instead of proper nouns?

11
Story openings

I’m the King of the Castle

by Susan Hill

Three months ago, his grandmother died, and ‘All he looks like,’ ‘Edmund Hooper said, ‘is one
then they had moved to this house. of his dead old moths.’

‘I will not live there again, until it belongs to me,’ ‘That is not the way to speak! You must show
his father had said. Though the old man lay respect.’
upstairs, after a second stroke, and lingered,
giving no trouble. His father had led him out. Though I am only
able to show respect now, he thought, to behave
The boy was taken up to see him. towards my father as I should, because he is
dying, he is almost gone away from me.
‘You must not be afraid,’ his father said nervously,
‘he is a very old man, now, very ill.’ Edmund Hooper, walking down the great
staircase into the wood-panelled hall, thought
‘I am never afraid,’ And that was no more than the nothing of his grandfather. But later, he
truth, though his father would not have believed it. remembered the moth-like whiteness of the very
old skin.
It will be very moving, Joseph Hooper had
decided, with the three generations together and Now they had moved, Joseph Hooper was master
one upon his deathbed, the eldest son of the in his own house.
eldest son of the eldest son. For, in middle age,
he was acquiring a dynastic sense. He said, ‘I shall be away in London a good deal.
I cannot live here the whole time, even in your
But it had not been moving. The old man had holidays.’
breathed noisily, and dribbled a little, and never
woken. The sick room smelled sour. ‘That won’t be anything new, will it?

‘Ah well, ‘Mr Hooper had said, and coughed, ‘he He looked away from his son’s gaze, irritated. I do
is very ill. You know. But I am glad you have seen my best, he thought, it is not the easiest of tasks
him.’ without a woman beside me.

Why?’ ‘Ah, but we shall be looking into things, ‘he said,

‘I shall see about getting you a friend, as well as
‘Well – because you are his only grandson. His someone to look after us in this house. Something
heir, I suppose. Yes. It is only as it should be.’ is soon to be done.’

The boy looked towards the bed. His skin is Edmund Hooper thought, I don’t want anything to
already dead, he thought, it is old and dry. But he be done about it, nobody must come here, as he
saw that the bones of the eye-sockets, and the walked between the yew trees at the bottom of
nose and jaw, showed through it, and gleamed. the garden.
Everything about him, from the stubble of hair
down to the folded line of sheet, was bleached ‘You had better not go into the Red Room without
and grey-ish white. asking me. I shall keep the key in here.’

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 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

‘I wouldn’t do any harm there, why can’t I go?’ ‘Well…’

‘Well - there are a good many valuable things.
That is all. Really.’ Joseph Hooper sighed, sitting Mr. Joseph Hooper moved his hand towards the
at his desk, in the room facing the long lawn. ‘And small, left-side drawer in the desk, underneath the
I cannot think that it will be a room to interest you drawer where sealing wax had always been kept.
much.’ But then, said ‘No, No, you had really much better
be playing cricket in the sun, Edmund, something
For the time being, the house was to be kept as it of that sort. You have been shown everything
was, until he could decide which of the furniture there is in the Red Room.’
to be rid of, which of their own to bring.
‘There’s nobody to play cricket with.’
He moved his hands uneasily about over the
papers on his desk, oppressed by them, uncertain ‘Ah, well now, I shall soon be doing something
where he should begin. about that, you shall have your friend.’

Though he was accustomed to paperwork. But ‘Anyway, I don’t like cricket.’

his father’s affairs had been left in disarray, he
was ashamed of the paraphernalia of death. ‘Edmund, you will not be difficult, please, I have
a good deal to do, I cannot waste time in foolish
‘Can I have the key now, then?’ arguments.’

‘May…’ Hooper went out, wishing he had said nothing. He

wanted nothing to be done, nobody should come
‘O.K.’ here.

‘The key for the Red Room?’ But he knew where to find the key.

‘Yes.’

13
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
by Roddy Doyle

We were coming down our road. Kevin stopped at headmaster’s office and the headmaster brought
a gate and bashed it with his stick. It was Missis him to his auntie’s in his car because there was
Quigley’s gate; she was always looking out the no one at home in his own house. Liam’s auntie’s
window but she never did anything. house was in Raheny.

–Quigley! –He used up two rolls of toilet paper, Liam told

us.—And he gave me a shilling.
–Quigley!
–He did not; show us it.
–Quigley Quigley Quigley!
–There.
Liam and Aidan turned down their culdesac. We
said nothing; they said nothing. Liam and Aidan –That’s only threepence.
had a dead mother. Missis O’Connell was her
name. –I spent the rest, said Liam.

–It’d be brilliant, wouldn’t it? I said. He got the remains of a packet of Toffo out of his
pocket and showed it to us.
–Yeah, said Kevin.—Cool.
–There, he said.
We were talking about having a dead ma. Sinbad,
my little brother, started crying. Liam was in my –Give us one.
class in school. He dirtied his trousers one day—
the smell of it rushed at us like the blast of heat –There’s only four left, said Liam; he was putting
when an oven door was opened—and the master the packet back in his pocket.
did nothing. He didn’t shout or slam his desk with
his leather or anything. He told us to fold our arms –Ah, said Kevin.
and go asleep and when we did he carried Liam
out of the class. He didn’t come back for ages He pushed Liam.
and Liam didn’t come back at all.
Liam went home.
James O’Keefe whispered,—If I did a gick in me
pants he’d kill me! Today, we were coming home from the building
site. We’d got a load of six-inch nails and a few
–Yeah. bits of plank for making boats, and we’d been
pushing bricks into a trench full of wet cement
–It’s not fair, said James O’Keefe.—So it’s not. when Aidan started running away. We could
hear his asthma, and we all ran as well. We were
The master, Mister Hennessey, hated James being chased. I had to wait for Sinbad. I looked
O’Keefe. He’d be writing something on the board back and there was no one after us but I didn’t
with his back to us and he’d say,—O’Keefe, I say anything. I grabbed Sinbad’s hand and ran
know you’re up to something down there. Don’t and caught up with the rest of them. We stopped
let me catch you. He said it one morning and when we got out of the fields onto the end of the
James O’Keefe wasn’t even in. He was at home road. We laughed. We roared through the gap in
with the mumps. the hedge. We got into the gap and looked to see
if there was anyone coming to get us. Sinbad’s
Henno brought Liam to the teachers’ toilet and sleeve was caught in the thorns.
cleaned him up and then he brought him to the

14
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

–The man’s coming! said Kevin, and he slid Liam and Aidan’s da howled at the moon. Late
through the gap. at night, in his back garden; not every night, only
sometimes. I’d never heard him but Kevin said he
We left Sinbad stuck in the hedge and pretended had. My ma said that he did it because he missed
we’d run away. We heard him snivelling. We his wife.
crouched behind the gate pillars of the last
house before the road stopped at the hedge, –Missis O’Connell?
O’Driscoll’s.
–That’s right.
–Patrick, Sinbad whinged.
My da agreed with her.
–Sinbahhhd, said Kevin.
–He’s grieving, said my mother.—The poor man.
Aidan had his knuckles in his mouth. Liam threw a Kevin’s father said that Mister O’Connell howled
stone at the hedge. because he was drunk. He never called him
Mister O’Connell; he called him the Tinker.
–I’m telling Mammy, said Sinbad.

I gave up. I got Sinbad out of the hedge and

made him wipe his nose on my sleeve. We were
going home for our dinner: shepherd’s pie on a
Tuesday.

15
Bring up the Bodies
by Hilary Mantel

Falcons Whitehall, galloped down by the post routes that

are laid wherever the court shifts. At supper with
Wiltshire, September 1535 the Seymours, he will defer any stories his hosts
His children are falling from the sky. He watches wish to tell: to anything the king may venture,
from horseback, acres of England stretching tousled and happy and amiable as he seems
behind him; they drop, gilt-winged, each with a tonight. When the king has gone to bed, his
blood-filled gaze. Grace Cromwell hovers in thin working night will begin.
air. She is silent when she takes her prey, silent as
she glides to his fist. But the sounds she makes Though the day is over, Henry seems disinclined
then, the rustle of feathers and the creak, the sigh to go indoors. He stands looking about him,
and riffle of pinion, the small cluck-cluck from her inhaling horse sweat, a broad, brick-red streak
throat, these are sounds of recognition, intimate, of sunburn across his forehead. Early in the day
daughterly, almost disapproving. Her breast is he lost his hat, so by custom all the hunting party
gore-streaked and flesh clings to her claws. were obliged to take off theirs. The king refused
all offers of substitutes. As dusk steals over the
Later, Henry will say, ‘Your girls flew well today.’ woods and fields, servants will be out looking
The hawk Anne Cromwell bounces on the glove for the stir of the black plume against darkening
of Rafe Sadler, who rides by the king in easy grass, or the glint of his hunter’s badge, a gold St
conversation. They are tired; the sun is declining, Hubert with sapphire eyes.
and they ride back to Wolf Hall with the reins
slack on the necks of their mounts. Tomorrow Already you can feel the autumn. You know there
his wife and two sisters will go out. These dead will not be many more days like these; so let
women, their bones long sunk in London clay, are us stand, the horseboys of Wolf Hall swarming
now transmigrated. Weightless, they glide on the around us, Wiltshire and the western counties
upper currents of the air. They pity no one. They stretching into a haze of blue; let us stand, the
answer to no one. Their lives are simple. When king’s hand on his shoulder, Henry’s face earnest
they look down they see nothing but their prey, as he talks his way back through the landscape of
and the borrowed plumes of the hunters: they see the day, the green copses and rushing streams,
a flittering, flinching universe, a universe filled with the alders by the water’s edge, the early haze that
their dinner. lifted by nine; the brief shower, the small wind that
died and settled; the stillness, the afternoon heat.
All summer has been like this, a riot of
dismemberment, fur and feather flying; the ‘Sir, how are you not burned?‘ Rafe Sadler
beating off and the whipping in of hounds, the demands. A redhead like the king, he has turned
coddling of tired horses, the nursing, by the a mottled, freckled pink, and even his eyes look
gentlemen, of contusions, sprains and blisters. sore. He, Thomas Cromwell, shrugs; he hangs
And for a few days at least, the sun has shone on an arm around Rafe’s shoulders as they drift
Henry. Sometime before noon, clouds scudded in indoors. He went through the whole of Italy – the
from the west and rain fell in big scented drops; battlefield as well as the shaded arena of the
but the sun re-emerged with a scorching heat, counting house – without losing his London pallor.
and now the sky is so clear you can see into His ruffian childhood, the days on the river, the
Heaven and spy on what the saints are doing. days in the fields: they left him as white as God
made him. ‘Cromwell has the skin of a lily,’ the
As they dismount, handing their horses to the king pronounces. ‘The only particular in which he
grooms and waiting on the king, his mind is resembles that or any other blossom.’ Teasing
already moving to paperwork: to dispatches from him, they amble towards supper.

16
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

by Mohsin Hamid

Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I it was Princeton! Quite a guess, I must say.
see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by
my beard: I am a lover of America. I noticed that What did I think of Princeton? Well, the answer to
you were looking for something; more than looking, that question requires a story. When I first arrived,
in fact you seemed to be on a mission, and since I I looked around me at the Gothic buildings—
am both a native of this city and a speaker of your younger, I later learned, than many of the mosques
language, I thought I might offer you my services. of this city, but made through acid treatment
and ingenious stonemasonry to look older— and
How did I know you were American? No, not thought, This is a dream come true. Princeton
by the color of your skin; we have a range of inspired in me the feeling that my life was a film in
complexions in this country, and yours occurs which I was the star and everything was possible. I
often among the people of our northwest frontier. have access to this beautiful campus, I thought, to
Nor was it your dress that gave you away; a professors who are titans in their fields and fellow
European tourist could as easily have purchased students who are philosopher-kings in the making.
in Des Moines your suit, with its single vent, and
your button-down shirt. True, your hair, short- I was, I must admit, overly generous in my initial
cropped, and your expansive chest—the chest, I assumptions about the standard of the student
would say, of a man who bench-presses regularly, body. They were almost all intelligent, and many
and maxes out well above two-twenty-five—are were brilliant, but whereas I was one of only two
typical of a certain type of American; but then Pakistanis in my entering class—two from a
again, sportsmen and soldiers of all nationalities population of over a hundred million souls, mind
tend to look alike. Instead, it was your bearing you— the Americans faced much less daunting
that allowed me to identify you, and I do not mean odds in the selection process. A thousand of your
that as an insult, for I see your face has hardened, compatriots were enrolled, five hundred times
but merely as an observation. as many, even though your country’s population
was only twice that of mine. As a result, the non-
Come, tell me, what were you looking for? Surely, Americans among us tended on average to do
at this time of day, only one thing could have better than the Americans, and in my case I reached
brought you to the district of Old Anarkali— my senior year without having received a single B.
named, as you may be aware, after a courtesan
immured for loving a prince—and that is the Looking back now, I see the power of that
quest for the perfect cup of tea. Have I guessed system, pragmatic and effective, like so much
correctly? Then allow me, sir, to suggest my else in America. We international students
favorite among these many establishments. Yes, were sourced from around the globe, sifted not
this is the one. Its metal chairs are no better only by well-honed standardized tests but by
upholstered, its wooden tables are equally rough, painstakingly customized evaluations—interviews,
and it is, like the others, open to the sky. But the essays, recommendations—until the best and the
quality of its tea, I assure you, is unparalleled. brightest of us had been identified. I myself had
among the top exam results in Pakistan and was
You prefer that seat, with your back so close to the besides a soccer player good enough to compete
wall? Very well, although you will benefit less from on the varsity team, which I did until I damaged
the intermittent breeze, which, when it does blow, my knee in my sophomore year. Students like
makes these warm afternoons more pleasant. And me were given visas and scholarships, complete
will you not remove your jacket? So formal! Now financial aid, mind you, and invited into the ranks
that is not typical of Americans, at least not in my of the meritocracy. In return, we were expected to
experience. And my experience is substantial: contribute our talents to your society, the society
I spent four and a half years in your country. we were joining. And for the most part, we were
Where? I worked in New York, and before that happy to do so. I certainly was, at least at first.
attended college in New Jersey. Yes, you are right:

17
Transition points and endings

Spies
by Michael Frayn

Where the story began, though. was where most It’s so difficult to remember what order things
of our projects and adventures began – at Keith’s occurred in – but if you can’t remember that, then
house. At the tea table, in fact – I can hear the it’s impossible to work out which led to which,
soft clinking made by the four blue beads that and what the connection was. What I remember,
weighted the lace cloth covering the tall jug of when I examine my memory carefully, isn’t a
lemon barley... narrative at all. It’s a collection of vivid particulars.
Certain words spoken, certain objects glimpsed.
No, wait. I’ve got that wrong. The glass beads Certain gestures and expressions. Certain moods,
are clinking against the glass of the jug because certain weathers, certain times of day and states
the cover’s stirring in the breeze. We’re outside, of light. Certain individual moments, which seem
in the middle of the morning, near the chicken to mean so much, but which mean in fact so little
run at the bottom of the garden, building the until the hidden links between them have been
transcontinental railway. found.

Yes, because I can hear something else, as well Where did the policeman come in the story? We
- the trains on the real railway, as they emerge watch him as he pedals slowly up the Close.
from the cutting on to the embankment above His appearance has simultaneously justified
our heads just beyond the wire fence. I can see all our suspicions and overtaken all our efforts,
the showers of sparks they throw up from the because he’s coming to arrest Keith’s mother...
live rail. The jug of lemon barley isn’t our tea- it’s No, no- that was earlier. We’re running happily
our elevenses, waiting with two biscuits each and innocently up the street beside him, and
on a tray his mother has brought us out from he represents nothing but the hope of a little
the house, and set down on the red brick path excitement out of nowhere. He cycles right past
beside us. It’s as she walks away, up the red brick all the houses, looking at each of them in turn,
path, that Keith so calmly and quietly drops his goes round the turning circle at the end, cycles
bombshell. back down the street ... and dismounts in front
of No. 12. What I remember for sure is the look
When is this? The sun’s shining as the beads on Keith’s mother’s face, as we run in to tell her
clink against the jug, but I have a feeling that that there’s a policeman going to Auntie Dee’s.
there’s still a trace of fallen apple blossom on the For a moment all her composure’s gone. She
earthworks for the transcontinental railway, and looks ill and frightened. She’s throwing the front
that his mother’s worried about whether we’re door open and not walking but running down the
warm enough out there. ‘You’ll come inside, street...
chaps, won’t you, if you get chilly?’ May still,
perhaps. Why aren’t we at school? Perhaps it’s I understand now, of course, that she and Auntie
a Saturday or a Sunday. No, there’s the feel of Dee and Mrs Berrill and the McAfees all lived
a weekday morning in the air; it’s unmistakable, in dread of policemen and telegraph boys, as
even if the season isn’t. Something that doesn’t everyone did then who had someone in the family
quite fit here, as so often when one tries to away fighting. I’ve forgotten now what it had
assemble different bits to make a whole. turned out to be- nothing to do with Uncle Peter,
anyway. A complaint about Auntie Dee’s blackout,
Or have I got everything back to front? Had the I think. She was always rather slapdash about it.
policeman already happened before this?

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 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

Once again I see that look cross Keith’s mother’s From those six random words, anyway, came
face, and this time I think I see something else everything that followed, brought forth simply by
beside the fear. Something that reminds me of the Keith’s uttering them and by my hearing them.
look on Keith’s face, when his father’s discovered The rest of our lives was determined in that one
some dereliction in his duties towards his bicycle or brief moment as the beads clinked against the jug
his cricket gear: a suggestion of guilt. Or is memory and Keith’s mother walked away from us, through
being overwritten by hindsight once more? the brightness of the morning, over the last of the
fallen white blossom on the red brick path, erect,
If the policeman and the look had already composed, and invulnerable, and Keith watched
happened, could they by any chance have her go, with the dreamy look in his eye that I
planted the first seed of an idea in Keith’s mind? remembered from the start of so many of our
projects.
I think now that most probably Keith’s
words came out of nowhere, that they were ‘My mother’, he said reflectively, almost
spontaneously created in the moment they were regretfully, ‘is a German spy.’
uttered. That they were a blind leap of pure
fantasy. Or of pure intuition. Or, like so many
things, of both.

19
The White Tiger
by Aravind Adiga

The inspector wrote four sentences on the board ‘Any boy in any village can grow up to become
and pointed his cane at a boy: the prime minister of India. That is his message to
little children all over this land.’
‘Read.’
The inspector pointed his cane straight at me.
One boy after the other stood up and blinked at ‘You, young man, are an intelligent, honest,
the wall. vivacious fellow in this crowd of thugs and idiots.
In any jungle, what is the rarest of animals –
Try Balram, sir,’ the teacher said. ‘He’s the the creature that comes along only once in a
smartest of the lot. He reads well.’ generation?’

So I stood up, and read, ‘We live in a glorious I thought about it and said:
land. The Lord Buddha received his enlightenment
in this land. The River Ganga gives life to our ‘The white tiger.’
plants and our animals and our people. We are
grateful to God that we were born in this land.’ ‘That’s what you are, in this jungle.’

Good,’ the inspector said. ‘And who was the Lord Before he left, the inspector said, ‘I’ll write to
Buddha?’ Patna asking them to send you a scholarship. You
need to go to a real school – somewhere far away
‘An enlightened man.’ from here. You need a real uniform, and a real
education.’
‘An enlightened god.’
He had a parting gift for me – a book. I remember
(Oops! Thirty-six million and five—!) the title very well: Lessons for Young Boys from
the Life of Mahatma Gandhi.
The inspector made me write my name on the
blackboard; then he showed me his wristwatch So that’s how I became the White Tiger. There will
and asked me to read the time. He took out his be a fourth and a fifth name too, but that’s late in
wallet, removed a small photo, and asked me, the story.
‘Who is this man, who is the most important man
in all our lives?’ Now, being praised by the school inspector in
front of my teacher and fellow students, being
The photo was of a plump man with spiky white called a ‘White Tiger’, being given a book, and
hair and chubby cheeks, wearing thick earrings being promised a scholarship: all this constituted
of gold; the face glowed with intelligence and good news, and the one infallible law of life in the
kindness. Darkness is that good news becomes bad news –
and soon.
‘He’s the Great Socialist.’
My cousin-sister Reena got hitched off to a boy
‘Good. And what is the Great Socialist’s message in the next village. Because we were the girl’s
for little children?’ family, we were screwed. We had to give the boy
a new bicycle, and cash, and a silver bracelet,
I had seen the answer on the wall outside the and arrange for a big wedding – which we did. Mr
temple: a policeman had written it one day in red Premier, you probably know how we Indians enjoy
paint. our weddings – I gather that these days people
come from other countries to get married Indian-

20
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

style. Oh, we could have taught those foreigners ‘Harder,’ he said, when I hit the coal against the
a thing or two, I tell you! Film songs blasting out brick. ‘Harder, harder.’
from a black tape recorder, and drinking and
dancing all night! I got smashed, and so did Finally I got it right – I broke the coal against the
Kishan, and so did everyone in the family, and for brick. He got up and said, ‘Now break every last
all I know, they probably poured hooch into the coal in this bag like that.’
water buffalo’s trough.
A little later, two boys came around from school to
Two or three days passed. I was in my classroom, watch me. Then two more boys came; then two
sitting at the back, with the black slate and chalk more. I heard giggling.
that my father had brought me from one of his
trips to Dhanbad, working on the alphabet on ‘What is the creature that comes along only once
my own. The boys were chatting or fighting. The in a generation?’ one boy asked loudly.
teacher had passed out.
‘The coal breaker,’ another replied.
Kishan was standing in the doorway of the
classroom. He gestured with his fingers. And then all of them began to laugh.

‘What is it, Kishan? Are we going somewhere?’ ‘Ignore them,’ Kishan said. ‘They’ll go away on
their own.’
Still he said nothing.
He looked at me.
‘Should I bring my book along? And my chalk?’
‘You’re angry with me for taking you out of school,
‘Why not?’ he said. And then, with his hand on my aren’t you?’
head, he led me out.
I said nothing.
The family had taken a big loan from the Stork
so they could have a lavish wedding and a lavish ‘You hate the idea of having to break coals, don’t
dowry for my cousin-sister. Now the Stork had you?’
called in his loan. He wanted all the members of
the family working for him and he had seen me in I said nothing.
school, or his collector had. So they had to hand
me over too. He took the largest piece of coal in his hand and
squeezed it.
I was taken to the tea shop. Kishan folded his
hands and bowed to the shopkeeper. I bowed to ‘Imagine that each coal is my skull: they will get
the shopkeeper too. much easier to break.’

‘Who’s this?’ The shopkeeper squinted at me. He’d been taken out of school too. That
happened after my cousin-sister Meera’s
He was sitting under a huge portrait of Mahatma wedding. That had been a big affair too.
Gandhi, and I knew already that I was going to be
in big trouble.

My brother,’ Kishan said. ‘He’s come to join me.’

Then Kishan dragged the oven out from the tea

shop and told me to sit down. I sat down next to
him. He brought a gunnysack; inside was a huge
pile of coals. He took out a coal, smashed it on a
brick, and then poured the black chunks into the
oven.

21
The Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan

‘Meantime I vote we have a game of bridge,’ said The three faces seemed to change before my
the plump one. ‘It will give Mr Hannay time to eyes and reveal their secrets. The young one was
think over things, and you know we have been the murderer. Now I saw cruelty and ruthlessness,
wanting a fourth player. Do you play sir?’ where before I had only seen good humour. His
knife, I made certain, had skewered Scudder to
I accepted as if it had been an ordinary invitation the floor. His kind had put the bullet in Karolides.
at the club. The whole business had mesmerised
me. We went into the smoking-room where a The plump man’s features seemed to dislimn, and
card-table was set out, and I was offered things form again, as I looked at them. He hadn’t a face,
to smoke and drink. I took my place at the table only a hundred masks that he could assume when
in a kind of dream. The window was open and he pleased. That chap must have been a superb
the moon was flooding the cliffs and sea with a actor. Perhaps he had been Lord Alloa of the night
great tide of yellow light. There was moonshine, before; perhaps not; it didn’t matter. I wondered if
too, in my head. The three had recovered their he was the fellow who had first tracked Scudder,
composure, and were talking easily – just the kind and left his card on him. Scudder had said he
of slangy talk you will hear in any golf club-house. lisped, and I could imagine how the adoption of a
I must have cut a rum figure, sitting there knitting lisp might add terror.
my brows with my eyes wandering.
But the old man was the pick of the lot. He was
My partner was the young dark one. I play a sheer brain, icy, cool, calculating, as ruthless as a
fair hand at bridge, but I must have been rank steam hammer. Now that my eyes were opened I
bad that night. They saw that they had got me wondered where I had seen the benevolence. His
puzzled, and that put them more than ever at jaw was like chilled steel, and his eyes had the
their ease. I kept looking at their faces, but they inhuman luminosity of a bird’s. I went on playing,
conveyed nothing to me. It was not that they and every second a greater hate welled up in my
looked different; they were different. I clung heart. It almost choked me, and I couldn’t answer
desperately to the words of Peter Pienaar. when my partner spoke. Only a little longer could I
endure their company.
Then something awoke me.
‘Whew! Bob! Look at the time,’ said the old man.
The old man laid down his hand to light a cigar. ‘You’d better think about catching your train.
He didn’t pick it up at once, but sat back for a Bob’s got to go to town to-night,’ he added,
moment in his chair, with his fingers tapping on turning to me. The voice rang now as false as hell.
his knees.
I looked at the clock, and it was nearly half-past
It was the movement I remembered when I had ten.
stood before him in the moorland farm, with the
pistols of his servants behind me. ‘I am afraid he must put off his journey,’ I said.

A little thing, lasting only a second, and the odds ‘Oh damn,’ said the young man, ‘I thought you
were a thousand to one that I might have had my had dropped that rot. I’ve simply got to go. You
eyes on my cards at the time and missed it. But can have my address, and I’ll give any security
I didn’t, and, in a flash, the air seemed to clear. you like.’
Some shadow lifted from my brain, and I was
looking at the three men with full and absolute ‘No,’ I said, ‘you must stay.’
recognition.
At that I think they must have realised that the
The clock on the mantelpiece struck ten o’clock. game was desperate. Their only chance had been

22
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

to convince me that I was playing the fool, and Suddenly my prisoner broke from me and flung
that had failed. But the old man spoke again. himself on the wall. There was a click as if a lever
had been pulled. Then came a low rumbling far,
I’ll go bail for my nephew. That ought to content far below the ground, and through the window
you, Mr Hannay.’ Was it fancy, or did I detect I saw a cloud of chalky dust pouring out of the
some halt in the smoothness of that voice? shaft of the stairway.

There must have been, for as I glanced at him, his Some one switched on the light.
eyelids fell in that hawk-like hood which fear had
stamped on my memory. The old man was looking at me with blazing eyes.

I blew my whistle. ‘He is safe,’ he cried. ‘You cannot follow in

time… He is gone… He has triumphed… Der
In an instant the lights were out. A pair of strong Schwarzestein ist in der Siegeskrone.’
arms gripped me round the waist, covering the
pockets in which a man might be expected to There was more in those eyes than any common
carry a pistol. triumph. They had been hooded like a bird of
prey, and now they flamed with a hawk’s pride.
‘Schnell, Franz,’ cried a voice, ‘das Boot, das A white fanatic heat burned them, and I realised
Boot!’ As it spoke I saw two of my fellows emerge for the first time the terrible thing I had been up
on the moonlit lawn. against. This man was more than a spy; in his foul
way he had been a patriot.
The young dark man leapt for the window, was
through it, and over the low fence before a As the handcuffs clinked on his wrists I said my
handcould touch him. I grappled the old chap, last word to him.
and the room seemed to fill with figures. I saw the
plump one collared, but my eyes were all for the ‘I hope Franz will bear triumph well. I ought to tell
out-of-doors, where Franz sped on over the road you that the Ariadne for the last hour has been in
towards the railed entrance to the beach stairs. our hands.’
One man followed him, but he had no chance.
The gate of the stairs locked behind the fugitive, Three weeks later, as the world knows, we went
and I stood staring, with my hands on the old to war. I joined the New Army the first week, and
boy’s throat, for such a time as a man might take owing to my Matabele experience got a captain’s
to descend those steps to the sea. commission straight off. But I had done my best
service, I think, before I put on khaki.

23
Presenting people, places and actions

I’m the King of the Castle

by Susan Hill

The cornfield was high up. He stood in the very Kingshaw began to run, not caring, now, if he
middle of it, now, and the sun came glaring trampled the corn, wanting to get away, down into
down. He could feel the sweat running over his the next field. He thought that the corn might be
back, and in the creases of his thighs. His face some kind of crow’s food store, in which he was
was burning. He sat down, although the stubble seen as an invader. Perhaps this was only the first
pricked at him, through his jeans, and looked of a whole battalion of crows, that would rise up
over at the dark line of trees on the edge of Hang and swoop at him. Get on to the grass then, he
Wood. They seemed very close – all the individual thought, get on to the grass, that’ll be safe, it’ll
branches were clearly outlined. The fields around go away. He wondered if it had mistaken him for
him were absolutely still. some hostile animal, lurking down in the corn.

When he first saw the crow, he took no notice. His progress was very slow through the cornfield,
There had been several crows. This is one glided the thick stalks bunched together and got in his
down into the corn on its enormous, ragged black way, and he had to shove them back with his
wings. He began to be aware of it when it rose arms. But he reached the gate and climbed it, and
up suddenly, circled overhead, and then dived, dropped on to the grass of the field on the other
to land not very far away from him. Kingshaw side. Sweat was running down his forehead and
could see the feathers on his head, shining blank into his eyes. He looked up. The crow kept on
in between the butter-coloured corn-stalks. Then coming. He ran.
it rose, and circled, and came down again, this
time not quite landing, but flapping about his But it wasn’t easy to run down this field, either,
head, beating its wings and making a sound like because of the tractor ruts. He began to leap
flat leather pieces being slapped together. It was wildly from side to side of them, his legs stretched
the largest crow he had ever seen. As it came as wide as they could go, and for a short time,
down for the third time, he looked up and noticed it seemed that he did go faster. The crow dived
its beak, opening in a screech. The inside of its again, and, as it rose, Kingshaw felt the tip of its
mouth was scarlet, it had small glinting eyes. black wing, beating against his face. He gave
a sudden, dry sob. Then, his left foot caught in
Kingshaw got up and flapped his arms. For a one of the ruts and he keeled over, going down
moment, the bird retreated a little way off, and straight forwards.
higher up in the sky. He began to walk rather
quickly back, through the path in the corn, looking He lay with his face in the coarse grass, panting
ahead of him. Stupid to be scared of a rotten bird. and sobbing by turns, with the sound of his own
What could a bird do? But he felt his own extreme blood pumping through his ears. He felt the
isolation, high up in the cornfield. sun on the back of his neck, and his ankle was
wrenched. But he would be able to get up. He
For a moment, he could only hear the soft raised his head, and wiped two fingers across
thudding of his own footsteps, and the silky his face. A streak of blood came off, from where
sound of the corn, brushing against him. Then, a thistle had scratched him. He got unsteadily to
there was a rush of air, as the great crow came his feet, taking in deep, desperate breaths of the
beating down, and wheeled about his head. The close air. He could not see the crow.
beak opened and the hoarse caaw came out
again and again, from inside the scarlet mouth.

24
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

But when he began to walk forwards again, it Kingshaw thought that, in the end, it must have
rose up from the grass a little way off, and began been his screaming that frightened it off, for he
to circle and swoop. Kingshaw broke into a run, dared not move. He lay and closed his eyes and
sobbing and wiping the damp mess of tears and felt the claws of the bird, digging into his skin,
sweat off his face with one hand. There was a through the thin shirt, and began to scream in a
blister on his ankle, rubbed raw by the sandal queer, gasping sort of way. After a moment or
strap. The crow was still quite high, soaring easily, two, the bird rose. He had expected it to begin
to keep pace with him. Now, he had scrambled pecking at him with his beak, remembering
over the third gate, and he was in the field next terrible stories about vultures that went for living
to the one that belonged to Warings. He could people’s eyes. He could not believe in his own
see the back of the house. He began to run much escape.
faster.
He scrambled up, and ran on, and this time, the
This time, he fell and lay completely winded. crow only hovered above, though not very high
Through the runnels of sweat and the sticky tufts up, and still following him, but silently, and no
of his own hair, he could see a figure, looking longer attempting to swoop down. Kingshaw felt
down at him from one of the top windows of the his legs go weak beneath him, as he climbed the
house. last fence, and stood in the place from which he
had started out on his walk, by the edge of the
Then, there was a single screech, and the terrible copse. He looked back fearfully. The crow circled
beating of wings, and the crow swooped down a few times, and then dived into the thick foliage
and landed in the middle of his back. of the beech trees.

25
Remarkable Creatures
by Tracy Chevalier

Chapter 1 house was close to the sea, I could see it from

our windows. Then I opened my eyes, and it feels
Different from all the rocks on the beach
like they haven’t been shut since.
Lightning has struck me all my life. Just once was
The lightning killed the woman holding me, and
it real. I shouldn’t remember it, for I was little more
two girls standing next to her, but I survived.
than a baby. But I do remember. I was in a field,
They say I was a quiet, sickly child before the
where there were horses and riders performing
storm, but after it I grew up lively and alert. I
tricks. Then a storm blew in, and a woman – not
cannot say if they’re right, but the memory of
Mam – picked me up and brought me under a
that lighting still runs through me like a shiver. It
tree. As she held me tight I looked up and saw the
marks powerful moments of my life: seeing the
pattern of black leaves against a white sky.
first crocodile skull Joe found, and finding its
body myself; discovering my other monsters on
Then there was a noise, like all the trees falling
the beach; meeting Colonel Birch. Other times I’ll
down round me, and a bright, bright light,
feel the lighting strike and wonder why it’s come.
which was like looking at the sun. A buzz ran
Sometimes I don’t understand, but accept what
right through me. It was as if I’d touched a hot
the lightning tells me, for the lightning is me. It
coal, and I could smell singed flesh and sense
entered me when I was a baby and never left.
there was pain, yet it weren’t painful. I felt like a
stocking turned inside out.
I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a
fossil, a little jolt that says, “Yes, Mary Anning, you
Others begun pulling at me and calling, but I
are different from all the rocks on the beach.” That
couldn’t make a sound. I was carried somewhere,
is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning,
then there was warmth all round, not a blanket,
and that difference, every day.
but wet. It was water and I knew water – our

26
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
by Roddy Doyle

We charged through on our bikes. Bikes became I’d got the bike for Christmas, two Christmases
important, our horses. We galloped through the before. I woke up. I thought I did. The bedroom
garage yards and made it to the other side. I tied door was closing. The bike was leaning against
a rope to the handlebars and hitched my bike to a the end of my bed. I was confused. And afraid.
pole whenever I got off it. We parked our bikes on The door clicked shut. I stayed in the bed. I heard
verges so they could graze. The rope got caught no steps outside in the hall. I didn’t try to ride the
between the spokes of the front wheel; I went bike for months after. We didn’t need them. We
over the handlebars, straight over. It was over were better on foot through the fields and sites.
before I knew. The bike was on top of me. I was I didn’t like it. I didn’t know who’d given it to me.
alone. I was okay. I wasn’t even cut. We charged It should never have been in my bedroom. It was
into the garages— a Raleigh, a gold one. It was the right size for me
and I didn’t like that either. I wanted a grownup
–Woo wooo wooo wooo wooo wooo wooo! one, with straight handlebars and brakes that
fit properly into my hands with the bars, like
and the garages captured our noise and made it Kevin had. My brakes stuck down under the
bigger and grownup. We escaped out the other bars. I had to gather them into my hands. When
end, out onto the street and back for a second I held the bar and the brake together the bike
attack. stopped; I couldn’t do it. The only thing I did like
was a Manchester United sticker that was in my
We got material from our houses and made stocking when I woke up again in the morning. I
headbands. Mine was a tartan one, with a stuck it on the bar under the saddle.
seagull’s feather. We took off our jumpers
and shirts and vests. James O’Keefe took off We didn’t need bikes then. We walked; we ran.
his trousers and rode through Bayside in his We ran away. That was the best, running away.
underpants. His skin was stuck to the saddle We shouted at watchmen, we threw stones at
when he was getting off, from the sweat; you windows, we played knickknack—and ran away.
could hear the skin clinging to the plastic. We We owned Barrytown, the whole lot of it. It went
threw his trousers onto the roof of a garage, and on forever. It was a country.
his shirt and his vest. We put his jumper down a
shore. Bayside was for bikes.

The garage roofs were easy to get up onto. We I couldn’t cycle it. I could get my leg over the
climbed up on our saddles and onto the roofs saddle and onto the pedal and push but that was
when we’d conquered the forts. all. I couldn’t go; I couldn’t stay up. I didn’t know
how. I was doing everything right. I ran the bike,
–Woo wooo wooo wooo wooo wooo wooo! got onto it and fell over. I was frightened. I knew
I was going to fall before I started. I gave up. I
A woman looked out of a bedroom window and put the bike in the shed. My da got angry. I didn’t
made a face and moved her hands, telling us to care.
get down. We did the first time. We got on our
bikes and hightailed it out of Bayside. She’d –Santy got you that bike, he said.—The least you
called the police; her husband was a Guard; she can do is learn how to cycle the bloody thing.
was a witch. I got straight from the roof onto the I said nothing.
bike without touching the ground. I pushed off
from the wall. There was a wobble but then I was –It comes natural, he said.—It’s as natural as
gone. I circled the garages to make sure that the walking.
others had time to escape.
I could walk.

27
I asked him to show me. I couldn’t. He had the bike. He realised this. He
gave it back. I got up. He held the back. He said
–About time, he said. nothing. I pedalled. We went down the garden.
I went faster. I stayed up; he was still holding. I
I got up on the bike; he held the back of the looked back. He wasn’t there. I fell over. But I’d
saddle and I pedalled. Up the garden. Down the done it; I’d gone a bit without him. I could do it. I
garden. He thought I was enjoying it; I hated it. I didn’t need him now. I didn’t want him.
knew: he let go: I fell over.
He was gone anyway. Back into the house.
–Keep pedalling keep pedalling keep pedalling—
–You’ll be grand now, he said.
I fell over. I got off the bike. I wasn’t really falling.
I was putting my left foot down. That made him He was just lazy.
more annoyed.
I stayed on. I turned at the top of the garden
–You’re not trying. instead of getting off and turning the bike and
getting back on. I stayed on. Around the garden
He pulled the bike away from me. three times. Nearly into the hedge. I stayed on.

–Come on; get up. We ruled Bayside. We camped up on the garage

roofs. We lit a fire. We could see in all directions.

28
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

The Thirty-Nine Steps

by John Buchan

That was one of the hardest jobs I ever took on. I had a fine prospect of the whole ring of
My shoulder and arm ached like hell, and I was so moorland. I saw the car speed away with two
sick and giddy that I was always on the verge of occupants, and a man on a hill pony riding east.
falling. But I managed it somehow. By the use of I judged they were looking for me, and I wished
out-jutting stones and gaps in the masonry and them joy of their quest.
a tough ivy root I got to the top in the end. There
was a little parapet behind which I found space to But I saw something else more interesting. The
lie down. Then I proceeded to go off into an old- house stood almost on the summit of a swell of
fashioned swoon. moorland which crowned a sort of plateau, and
there was no higher point nearer than the big
I woke with a burning head and the sun glaring in hills six miles off. The actual summit, as I have
my face. For a long time I lay motionless, for those mentioned, was a biggish clump of trees – firs
horrible fumes seemed to have loosened my joints mostly, with a few ashes and beeches. On the
and dulled my brain. Sounds came to me from the dovecot I was almost on a level with the tree-
house – men speaking throatily and the throbbing tops, and could see what lay beyond. The wood
of a stationary car. There was a little gap in the was not solid, but only a ring, and inside was
parapet to which I wriggled, and from which I had an oval of green turf, for all the world like a big
some sort of prospect of the yard. I saw figures cricket-field.
come out – a servant with his head bound up, and
then a younger man in knickerbockers. They were I didn’t take long to guess what it was. It was an
looking for something, and moved towards the aerodrome, and a secret one. The place had been
mill. Then one of them caught sight of the wisp of most cunningly chosen. For suppose anyone
cloth on the nail, and cried out to the other. They were watching an aeroplane descending here, he
both went back to the house, and brought two would think it had gone over the hill beyond the
more to look at it. I saw the rotund figure of my trees. As the place was on the top of a rise in the
late captor, and I thought I made out the man with midst of a big amphitheatre, any observer from
the lisp. I noticed that all had pistols. any direction would conclude it had passed out
of view behind the hill. Only a man very close at
For half an hour they ransacked the mill. I could hand would realise that the aeroplane had not
hear them kicking over the barrels and pulling up gone over but descended in the midst of the
the rotten planking. Then they came outside, and wood. An observer with a telescope on one of
stood just below the dovecot, arguing fiercely. the higher hills might have discovered the truth,
The servant with the bandage was being soundly but only herds went there, and herds do not carry
rated. I heard them fiddling with the door of the spy-glasses. When I looked from the dovecot
dovecot, and for one horrid moment I fancied they I could see far away a blue line which I knew
were coming up. Then they thought better of it, was the sea, and I grew furious to think that our
and went back to the house. enemies had this secret conning-tower to rake
our waterways.
All that long blistering afternoon I lay baking on
the roof-top. Thirst was my chief torment. My Then I reflected that if that aeroplane came back
tongue was like a stick, and to make it worse I the chances were ten to one that I would be
could hear the cool drip of water from the mill- discovered. So through the afternoon I lay and
lade. I watched the course of the little stream as it prayed for the coming of darkness, and glad I was
came in from the moor, and my fancy followed it when the sun went down over the big western
to the top of the glen, where it must issue from an hills and the twilight haze crept over the moor.
icy fountain fringed with cool ferns and mosses. The aeroplane was late. The gloaming was far
I would have given a thousand pounds to plunge advanced when I heard the beat of wings and
my face into that. saw it vol-planning downward to its home in the

29
wood. Lights twinkled for a bit and there was realised that any attempt would probably be futile.
much coming and going from the house. Then the I was pretty certain that there would be some kind
dark fell, and silence. of defence round the house, so I went through
the wood on hands and knees, feeling carefully
Thank God it was a black night. The moon was every inch before me. It was as well, for presently
well on its last quarter and would not rise till I came on a wire about two feet from the ground.
late. My thirst was too great to allow me to tarry, If I had tripped over that, it would doubtless have
so about nine o’clock, so far as I could judge, rung some bell in the house and I would have
I started to descend. It wasn’t easy, and half- been captured.
way down I heard the back-door of the house
open, and saw the gleam of a lantern against the A hundred yards farther on I found another wire
mill wall. For some agonising minutes I hung by cunningly placed on the edge of a small stream.
the ivy and prayed that whoever it was would Beyond that lay the moor, and in five minutes I
not come round by the dovecot. Then the light was deep in bracken and heather. Soon I was
disappeared, and I dropped as softly as I could on round the shoulder of the rise, in the little glen
to the hard soil of the yard. from which the mill-lade flowed. Ten minutes later
my face was in the spring, and I was soaking
I crawled on my belly in the lee of a stone dyke till down pints of the blessed water.
I reached the fringe of trees which surrounded the
house. If I had known how to do it I would have But I did not stop till I had put half a dozen miles
tried to put that aeroplane out of action, but I between me and that accursed dwelling.

30
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

Birdsong
by Sebastian Faulks

‘Quiet, isn’t it?’ said Stephen. moments of extreme tension, a dislocation in his
sense of time. It seemed to stutter, then freeze.
‘Tolerable,’ said Ellis. ‘I’ve got a problem. I’m
trying to get a working party to go out and bring At noon on the firestep in gas masks. Taste of
back some bodies. It’s pretty quiet, as you say, death, smell of it, thought Stephen. Coker slashed
and we may not have a better chance.’ sandbags into gloves. ‘Wear these.’ Firebrace
and Fielding of the miners, Ellis, white like milk,
‘So what’s the problem?’ Barlow, Bates, Goddard, Allen of the infantry; Weir
taking rum on top of whisky, unsteady on the step
‘My men wouldn’t do it unless I went too. So I of the ladder.
said I would. Then they insisted on having at least
one miner with them, but the miners’ CO says it’s ‘What are you doing, Brennan?’
nothing to do with them and in any case they’re
fed up with doing our fatigues.’ ‘I’m coming too.’

Ellis’s white, freckled face was agitated. He They tracked out towards a shellhole, the sun
pushed the cap back from his forehead to show bright, a lark above them. Blue sky, unseen
a puckered hairline from which the gingerish hair by eyes trained on turned mud. They moved
had started to recede. low towards a mine crater where bodies had
lain for weeks uncollected. ‘Try to lift him.’ No
Stephen smiled vaguely and shook his head. ‘We sound of machine guns or snipers, though their
should all go. It doesn’t matter. It’s only death.’ ears were braced for noise. ‘Take his arms.’
The incomprehensible order through the gas
‘Well, will you tell Captain Weir to get one of his mouthpiece. The arms came away softly. ‘Not
sappers out with us?’ like that, not take his arms away’. On Weir’s
collar a large rat, trailing something red down
‘I can ask him. Perhaps he’d like to come too, his back. A crow disturbed, lifting its black body
now that his arm’s better.’ up suddenly, battering the air with its big wings.
Coker, Barlow shaking their heads under the
‘Are you serious?’ said Ellis crossly. assault of risen flies coming up, transforming
black skin of corpses into green by their absence.
‘I don’t know, Ellis. There’s something about you The roaring of Goddard’s vomit made them
that makes me quite unsure. Get your working laugh, snoring private mirth inside their masks.
party ready for twelve o’clock. I’ll see you in the Goddard, releasing his mask, breathed in worse
next firebay.’ air than he had expelled. Weir’s hands in double
sandbags stretched out tentatively to a sapper’s
Weir laughed drily when Stephen made the uniform, undressing the chest in search of a disc
suggestion. which he removed, bringing skin with it into his
tunic pocket. Jack’s recoil; even through coarse
‘There’ll be rum,’ said Stephen. material, to the sponge of flesh. Bright and sleek
on liver, a rat emerged from the abdomen; it
Weir’s eyes opened in interest. levered and flopped fatly over the ribs, glutted
with pleasure. Bit by bit on to stretchers, what
Then when the moment came it brought a sudden flesh fell left in mud. Not men, but flies and flesh,
fear and unreality. They could never be prepared thought Stephen. Brennan anxiously stripping
to look at death in the crude form that awaited a torso with no head. He clasped it with both
them. Stephen felt, as he had done before at hands, dragged legless up from the crater, his

31
fingers vanishing into buttered green flesh. It was ‘I’m sorry, Brennan,’ he said. ‘That was a terrible
his brother. thing for you. You needn’t have come.’

When they got back to the safety of the trench ‘I know. I wanted to come. I feel better now.’
Jack was angry that he and Fielding had been
made to go, but Weir pointed out that there were ‘You feel better?’
three men from their company unburied. Goddard
could not stop vomiting, though his stomach was Brennan nodded. He had a narrow head, with
long since empty. When he was not retching, he thick, black greasy hair on which Stephen was
sat on the firestep, weeping uncontrollably. He looking down. When he turned his face up, its
was nineteen. features were calm.

Michael Weir had a rigid smile. He told Fielding Stephen said, ‘At least wash your hands,
and Jack they were excused fatigues for a week, Brennan. Get some chloride of lime on them.
then went to Stephen’s dugout in the hope of Take some time off if you want to. I’ll tell your
whisky. sergeant you’re excused fatigues.’

‘I wonder what my father would say, he said It’s all right. I feel lucky in a way. You know last
reflectively. ‘Of course they’re all “doing their bit”, July when I fell off the firestep when the mine
as he put it.’ Weir swallowed and licked his lips. went up and I broke my leg? Then watching you
‘It’s just that his “bit” and mine seem so different.’ lot go over the top. I was lucky.’

Stephen watched him and shook his head fondly. ‘Yes, but I’m sorry about your brother.’
‘You know what I really dreaded?’ he said. ‘What
frightened me was the thought that one of those ‘It’s all right, I found him, that’s the thing. I didn’t
men was going to be alive.’ let him lie there. I got him back and now he’ll have
a proper burial. There’ll be a grave that people
Weir laughed. ‘After all that time?’ can see: I can come and put flowers on it when
the war’s over.’
Stephen said, ‘It’s been known.’ He had a
thought. ‘Where’s Brennan? Did you see him Stephen was surprised by how confident Brennan
when we got back?’ was that he himself would survive. As he turned
to go, Brennan began to sing softly to himself, an
‘No.’ Irish song that he had sung on the morning when
they waited to attack. His voice was a grating,
Stephen went along the trench looking for him. persistent tenor and he knew many songs.
He found him sitting quietly on the firestep near
the dugout where he and half a dozen others All night he sang for his brother, whom he had
slept. brought, home in his hands.

32
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE READING RESOURCE PAPER 1

Complete short story

Lullaby
by Elizabeth Berridge

She had never been quite sure about it, but he of his own. He sang a little, chuckled and made
was convinced. astonished noises. Then the record was started.

‘It’s a great idea, a marvellous idea,’ he said, ‘but ‘Go to sleep, darling,’ came his mother’s voice
of course if you don’t want to come out with me from the black box. There was a pause, then
when I’m on leave, just say so.’ ‘Hush now, bye-byes.’ The baby stopped
murmuring and settled down. Then the voice
So she had given in. She always did. Life with said: ‘Everything’s all right, Mama’s here.’ The
him was precarious; always had been. She had child seemed to be asleep, but they let the
sudden terrible fears of him leaving her. Suddenly record run to the end. ‘It won’t disturb him,’ she
walking from the room, out of the house, knowing whispered, and gazed as the voice sang, a little
he had gone on to some other life and needed self-consciously spinning from under the needle.
no one. ‘It’s being in the air so much, doing so ‘What’s to be done with the baby son –‘
much flying.’ she thought. ‘It must do something
to you.’ Hanging on to a cloud and never coming A little breathlessly the record stopped, clicked.
down – only of course you fell through a cloud. The next room was silent.

When they had the child it was better, for a time. ‘There!’ he said triumphant. ‘That’s all right, isn’t
Then the juggling began. She could keep them it? He only needs to hear your voice and off he
both spinning equably, dexterously, for a time; goes.’ She smiled. It did seem a good idea.
father and son, son and father, but then her hand
would become tired, the trick fail. This was such ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘let’s go.’
a time, so she said yes, and they went to friend
of his who had cashed in on the pre-war vanity of They did it once or twice after that, until he had to
people who wanted their voices recorded. return to his station. But he couldn’t forget it. ‘You
must make one for me,’ he wrote. But somehow
‘Only a few left,’ he said. Wistfully he looked over she never did. She hated her voice spinning off
the wax discs. ‘Still, it was fun while it lasted.– the black disc; she felt as if her whole being was
Did I tell you the story of the man who was too caught beneath the sharp needle, dragged round
nervous to propose on the spot?’ like a piece of fluff in the shining grooves.

‘Yes,’ he was told. When he next came on leave he said: ‘Sanders

tells me we positively must see that film at the
‘Oh.’ He was obviously disappointed, ‘Well, what Empire. It’s tremendous.’
are you going to do?’
‘The Empire?’ she said. ‘It’s a long way.’
It was explained.
He looked at her with the peculiarly blank
‘Why, that’s wonderful’ he exclaimed. ‘That’s – expression he assumed when he was determined
come on, let’s hear you.’ to do something in the face of any obstacle.

They tried it out that evening and sat listening ‘We’ve got the record,’ he said. ‘We’ll be home by
in the next room. The child was in his cot, but ten if we go early.’
was talking to himself in a queer half-language

33
So that evening she put the baby to bed earlier, to tell his mother about it. ‘Hush now, bye-byes.’
and they set the record off as they went out of Obediently he closed his eyes. A sudden intensity
the door. In the hall, he stopped suddenly and of light swept across his eyelids; the curtains were
caught her in his arms. ‘You’re sure you feel all blazing. He opened his mouth to scream with
right about leaving him, darling?’ he asked. ‘I’m a sudden inexplicable fear, but across the lighted
selfish brute.’ room came the trusted voice that was with him
all day, ‘You’re quite all right. Mama’s here.’ He
She laughed. Her fear was always there, but it looked about, where was she?
must not spoil his evening, and the idea of him
being worried somehow strengthened her. He didn’t like it. The wind rushed round the
corner and swept the fire across to the chest of
‘He’ll be all right,’ she said firmly. ‘Don’t worry.’ drawers – cottonwool, picture-books. The baby
was standing in his cot now, gripping the rail and
Together they walked down the road. shaking, his eyes wide and black with fear, almost
islanded by flame and across the room came the
‘What a wind!’ she said. lullaby… ‘we’ll put him away for a rainy day…’

Back in the nursery the wind in a sudden gust As they got off the bus, she gripped his arm. The
shifted aside the blackout curtain they had always journey had passed in silence, but now it was as
meant to fix. The house stood on a corner and if she lay beneath the sharp needle, caught in the
took the full force of any storm. spinning grooves.

‘More of a gale,’ he said. ‘Did you hum that song we made up for the baby
just then?’ Her voice was edged, and he looked at
The nightlight, usually unwavering in its saucer, her, startled.
flickered unsteadily; a tiny edge of the curtain
was blown across and remained a little above it. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I could have sworn you were
From his cot the baby watched the flame grow singing it.’
bright. He chuckled and sang to himself. Then his
mother’s voice came gently. ‘Go to sleep, darling.’ For a moment they looked at one another. Then:
He turned over and put his thumb in his mouth.
But the brightness still fascinated him; he wanted ‘Taxi!’ he shouted. ‘Taxi!’

34
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February 2016