‘You’ll learn your trade here. Observing good practice and practising yourselves are the heart of what we do. Nevertheless, there’s no avoiding the theoretical knowledge you need. At the end of each day, you’ll be given a written question from your tutor, and that evening, you’ll answer it to the best of your ability, using Scudamore. When your tutor has time, you’ll go through your answers together.

‘So’ – Arthur claps his large hands – ‘let’s get to work.’

As they follow Arthur back to the demonstration room, William glances at Ray’s feet, anticipating correctly that his shoes are scuffed and worn.

The subdued, dreamy light from the single opaque window high up on the wall snaps into something hard and bright as Arthur turns on a lamp next to the table. Once they are all gathered, with notebooks balanced on clipboards, he slides the paper sheet from the body.

33

‘It’s slave labour.’

Ray and William are waiting to order drinks while Roger and Simon save the table at their first lunchbreak.

‘Rubbish.’ William bristles every time this man opens his mouth and shows his ignorance. ‘We’ve got to practise on real bodies. We can’t just play around and then throw them away, so it’s better we help with a real embalming. What’s the other option?’

‘They pay us, Einstein.’

‘But they’re training us! Everyone pays to be trained, don’t they?’

‘No.’

William thinks Ray is making up for not knowing anything in class by being such a know-it-all now.

‘Apprentices get paid,’ says Ray. ‘Not much, but something.’

William hasn’t thought of that – he doesn’t really know much about how things work in the wider world. The barman is taking his time to wipe down the counter at the other end of the room, chatting to regulars. He wishes he’d hurry up and take their order so they can get back to Roger and Simon. He doesn’t want them to think he and Ray are a pair just because they’re young.

‘I was offered a car mechanic’s apprenticeship back home,’ says Ray, ‘and they’d have paid me.’

‘Maybe you should have taken it.’

Ray pulls his mouth down and hunches his shoulders. ‘Car mechanics are ten-a-penny there – and badly paid. The funeral home said there’d be a job waiting for me if I qualified here and they’d cover my rent while I trained.’ He shrugs again. ‘Didn’t seem a bad idea – a year in London, with a job at the end.’

‘It’s so still.’ William mimics Ray’s response when Arthur pulled back the sheet from the cadaver.

‘Well, son,’ Arthur said, a smile playing at his lips, ‘we’d all need to worry if it wasn’t.’

Ray looked quickly at their laughing faces. ‘I’ll get used to it.’ He nodded. ‘Don’t you worry.’