Anyhow, there was something wrong with the animal I dont remember what, exactly so this old dear took it along to the surgery, and they filmed her for the programme, and Rolf asked her what its name wasblah blahYoure pretty familiar with the form, I guess?
Gaffar nodded again. He was very well acquainted with Animal Hospital protocol.
Yeah Kane carefully moistened the side of the joint, so this old girl says, Hes called Bonus. And Rolf thinks the names kind of cuteBonusIt means to get something for freeGratis.
Ah.
So he asks her why the dogs called Bonus, and she says something like, I was walking home from work one day and I saw this little dog running around. And it was obviously a stray. It was very dirty. Very thin
Kane mimed dirty, then thin.
Okay.
So she decided to take the dog home with her and to care for it. I mean she saved its life, effectively. And she called it Bonus because she got it for nothing. Like a gift from God.
Sure. So then Rolf says, Will you lift Bonus up on to the table so that the vet can take a look at him? And the old woman goes, Would you mind doing it for me? And shes looking kind of anxious. So Rolf says, Why? Whats the problem? And the old woman says, Even though I took him home that day and looked after him and loved him and have always cared for him the best way I possibly could, he absolutely despises me. But only me. With everyone else, hes fine
Ah, Gaffar looked impressed.
Yeah. The dog hated her. And it was all just pride, see? It resented the fact that she had come to its aid in its time of need, when it was truly vulnerable. It simply wouldnt forgive her for helping it, for saving it, yeah? But it loved everybody else, was very gregarious, very friendly. So Rolf could stroke it and pick it up and put it on the table, and the vet could give it a painful injection, but if this kind, old dear so much as went anywhere near it, itd snarl and take a quick snap
What?!
Because it was fucked up.
The phone stopped ringing.
Gaffar shook his head, slowly.
Yeah, Kane shrugged, sometimes life can be a bitch like that.
He finally located his matches, opened the box, took one out, struck it and lit up his joint. Gaffar continued to stare at him, expectantly, as if awaiting some kind of punch-line. But none was forthcoming.
He finally located his matches, opened the box, took one out, struck it and lit up his joint. Gaffar continued to stare at him, expectantly, as if awaiting some kind of punch-line. But none was forthcoming.
About five seconds into this perplexing hiatus, Beedes phone began ringing again. Kane glanced over at it, then back at the Kurd, then down at the ash on the tip of his roll-up. So youre gonna be at kind of a loose end for a while now, huh?
Gaffar grimaced.
Thats too bad.
He inhaled on his joint. He suspended his breath.
Ive actually got a couple of jobs you can do for me, he exhaled, with a slight cough, if you fancy
Work? Gaffar enquired, lifting his chin.
Kane nodded.
For you? his right brow rose, haughtily.
Yup.
Gaffar shrugged. Sure.
They shook hands.
Okay
Kane took another deep drag on the joint and then offered Gaffar the remainder. The Kurd took it. Kane gave him a long, searching look, then exhaled, sniffed and glanced back over towards the phone.
So Ill need you to check up on Kellyuh he grimaced, Ill be wanting to maintain a certain distance there, if you see what I mean
Gaffar looked blank.
Distance.
Kane measured out about a metres span between his two hands. Me he lifted one hand and Kelly he lifted the other, never the twain shall meet.
Still, Gaffar looked blank.
So you could take her some food salad, fruit, maybe. Some flowers. Make a quick delivery. Nothing too complicated
Beedes phone continued to ring.
Can you drive?
Gaffars face suddenly lit up.
Drive? Me? Sure.
Kane moved over towards the door. Good. Then you can use the Merc. Shes a dirty blonde. 220C. De-badged, of course. A strapping girl. Exceptionally reliable
He ushered Gaffar out into the hallway, yanking the door firmly shut behind them. But as soon as the lock clicked into its groove, he turned back, instinctively, and reached for the handle again. He didnt turn it, though not at first he just held on to it, loosely. He scowled. He struggled with himself. He proved unequal to the struggle.
ManYou head on up, okay?
He faltered, infuriated, on the threshold. Just let me quickly go answer that.
A bizarre coincidence Elen explained, picking up her mug, taking a small sip, and then quickly placing it down again (the tea was still very hot). Shed left a message for me at the practice. I was meant to be making a home visit this evening, but she was admitted last thing yesterday. Shes having trouble with her pace-maker. Id warned her about it the week before; her feet were unusually swollen during our last consultation
Perhaps I know her, Beede interrupted, pulling out a chair and sitting down himself. Whats her name?
Mrs Bristow. Evie Bristow. Although everybody who knows her calls her Hat.
Really? Why?
She shrugged, smiling.
Beede stirred his tea, removed the teaspoon and then couldnt find anywhere to put it, so pulled out a man-size tissue from a nearby box, folded it neatly in half, and placed the spoon on top (adjusting it, twice, to make certain it lay dead centre).
Elen watched this laborious process with an expression of wry amusement. He glanced up, absent-mindedly, caught her fond look, and started.
The tea She indicated towards her mug, trying to defuse his alarm. Its delicious.
Good.
Beede still seemed a little edgy.
Elens smile gradually faded. Is everything all right, Danny? Beede frowned. His mother was the only other person whod ever dared to use his Christian name in its abbreviated form (in her case, Dan). Yet Elen had always called him Danny, from the very first time they met, during a professional consultation (shed seen his full name on the cheque hed paid her with, and had used it, as a matter of course, ever since).
It still never failed to surprise him. He always felt a vague, nagging sense that she might actually be addressing another person, not this Daniel Beede, but some other, whom life and its pitfalls hadnt encouraged to prosper; a more approachable Daniel Beede; a more loveable one; more cuddly, even.
The only thing he knew for certain was that he actually bore no resemblance to this genial man (whom she appeared so determined to see in him), although a tiny part of him sometimes wondered whether he might not actually quite like to, occasionally (a brief excursion might be nice, into a world where fact was eclipsed by feeling), but whenever he started to experience these impulses and it wasnt often the hard, enamelled Beede within him swooped down from a great height and harried the gormless, hapless Danny; kicked him around a bit, then shoved him without scruple back into his box again.
He wouldnt have tolerated it from anybody else. But this was Elen
Elen
and everything she did was so effortless, so natural, so kind, so unforced, that to interfere (to block or confront or disrupt her), wouldve seemed like the worst kind of wrong-headedness.
Yes. Yes. Yes, everythings fine, Beede nodded, clearing his throat, absolutely fine.
They were sitting at a desk in Beedes corner office. A handful of people were working in the laundry outside, and could be observed going dutifully about their business through a slightly wonky window in one of the two, make-piece, plasterboard walls (the other struggled valiantly to remain perpendicular while doing its level best to support the door).
The radio was blaring (Beede had a rota-system for choosing the channel it was an inflammatory issue amongst the staff, whose ages varied and today, much to his horror, it was tuned to 1Xtra). He leaned back in his chair and shoved the door shut.
It was a very small room more of a cubby, really and now, if possible, it seemed still smaller. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. If he remained motionless and concentrated very hard he could pick up Elens distinctive scent of clove and peppermint (from the foot massage creams she used at work). It was a plain smell, and not particularly feminine, but he was almost ludicrously attached to it.
So what happened, exactly? she asked. She sounded tense. He opened his eyes, abruptly. Hed had no intention of worrying her. Nothing too apocalyptic, he murmured, it was just a littleuh, tricky, thats all.
He took a sip of his own tea and winced (itd been brewed too long), then placed the mug down, gently, on to his desk again.
Hed taken the horse from a field near the Brenzett roundabout he started off, casually.
She nodded.
And I presume although I cant be entirely certain that he rode it to the restaurant along the dual carriageway
She grimaced.
which iswell, you know
He absolutely promised me, she interrupted, that he wouldnt do anything crazy like that again.
He absolutely promised me, she interrupted, that he wouldnt do anything crazy like that again.
As she spoke, Elen slipped both of her hands around her tea mug, as if to comfort herself with the warmth it exuded. She seemed profoundly regretful, and yet (at another level and there was always another level with Elen) strangely detached.
He was terribly confused when he came around, Beede continued (not entirely ignoring her interjection, but feeling unable through loyalty to Dory, principally to trespass on to that particular discursive mine-field any further), and extremely suspicious
Hes petrified of horses, Elen interrupted him, her voice still stoical. A pony stood on his foot once when he was just a toddler. If you know what to look for, you can see how the injury the trauma has taken its toll, subsequently, on his entire body-posture
Yes, Beede nodded, he did mention it. I mean the fear. He knew almost immediately that he disliked horses, that he was afraid of them. It was actually one of the very first things he seemed absolutely certain of.
Good. Elen seemed bolstered by this.
Although the horse was standing right next to us at the time Beede shrugged.