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Back Man at the Window Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. One
  3. Two
  4. Three
  5. Four
  6. Five
  7. Six
  8. Seven
  9. Eight
  10. Nine
  11. Ten
  12. Eleven
  13. Twelve
  14. Thirteen
  15. Fourteen
  16. Fifteen
  17. Sixteen
  18. Seventeen
  19. Eighteen
  20. Nineteen
  21. Twenty
  22. Twenty-One
  23. Twenty-Two
  24. Twenty-Three
  25. Twenty-Four
  26. Twenty-Five
  27. Twenty-Six
  28. Twenty-Seven
  29. Twenty-Eight
  30. Twenty-Nine
  31. Thirty
  32. Thirty-One
  33. Thirty-Two
  34. Thirty-Three
  35. Thirty-Four
  36. Thirty-Five
  37. Thirty-Six
  38. Thirty-Seven
  39. Thirty-Eight
  40. Thirty-Nine
  41. Forty
  42. Forty-One
  43. Forty-Two
  44. Forty-Three
  45. Forty-Four
  46. Forty-Five
  47. Forty-Six
  48. Forty-Seven
  49. Forty-Eight
  50. Forty-Nine
  51. Fifty
  52. Fifty-One
  53. Fifty-Two
  54. Fifty-Three
  55. Fifty-Four
  56. Fifty-Five
  57. Fifty-Six
  58. Fifty-Seven
  59. Fifty-Eight
  60. Acknowledgements
  61. About the author

After a while the boy saw movement at the other end of the corridor and turned quickly towards it. Carmody was standing there looking at him. The boy felt a stirring in his stomach. Did he love Carmody? Carmody looked back like ice. No, he didn’t love Carmody, he was just terrified of displeasing him. He looked down and waited. Shoes passed him. There was silence in the corridor, more shoes passed. The boy imagined the wearers watching their shoes flick out in front of them as they walked with their heads down, but then there were other boys who wouldn’t be looking at their shoes, the boys Captain Edmund couldn’t touch. He screwed his face up, he wanted to be one of those boys, boys who didn’t fear everything. He would give the bullet to Carmody and then he would be better dead. He thought about the speeding car; or on the farm he could use a rifle. But he would have to wait until the holidays.

‘Do you still have it?’ Carmody asked.

The boy looked up, puzzled, and nodded. ‘Yes’.

Carmody thawed a little. ‘Do you have it with you?’

The boy shook his head. He had it but he’d buried it again. The boy felt a tremor around his neck.

‘Can you bring it to me?’ Carmody asked.

The boy nodded.

‘You didn’t give it to the policeman?’ Carmody asked.

‘No,’ the boy said frowning.

‘Where is it?’

‘Near the hockey field steps,’ he told his shoes.

‘When the bell for dinner goes, wait for everyone to go, then you run down there, and come straight here after dinner.’ The boy nodded. ‘Who supervises your prep class?’

‘Lower,’ the boy said. Fifth form boys supervised Second Form prep classes.

‘You’ll bring it to me?’ Carmody confirmed.

The boy looked up, surprised, and nodded vaguely. ‘Yes.’

‘Did you speak to a policeman, a detective?’ Carmody asked.

The boy shook his head.

Carmody smiled. ‘I believe in you, Harper. Don’t disappoint me.’ The boy shook his head. ‘You get that for me and you’ll never have to hang your head again. I promise you that.’

The boy felt the heat of tears as they ran from his eyes. Carmody reached across and ruffled his hair firmly so the boy’s bobbing head scattered tears to each side. The boy smiled to himself and breathed fully. The shaking of his head stopped. He heard Carmody walking away. He looked up to see if anyone saw but no one did.

The bell for dinner sounded, the boy watched the sixth formers leave and pull the common room door closed behind them. A few, in curiosity, looked in the boy’s direction. The boy wasn’t sure if he was grimacing or grinning in response.