BooksBarbecue
Back The Beast Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. Cover
  2. THE BEAST
  3. About The Beast
  4. Contents
  5. Epigraph
  6. Tuesday
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. Wednesday
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. Thursday
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. Acknowledgments
  43. About Alexander Starritt
  44. More from Apollo
  45. About Apollo
  46. Copyright

‘Oh, you know I hate it when you do this.’

‘Do what?’

‘You’re not really saying anything. You sound like the paper. You’re not actually telling me anything, you’re just making words.’

‘Are you saying it’s not a question of national—?’

‘Oh, spare me. Why did you ring me when you didn’t want to talk? Can you call me back later please? I’ll figure out what to do with the girls today. I’m not going to send them to school.’ And she hung up.

31

To Adrian’s incredulity, he noticed that Gavin was still picking at the by now almost-invisible grass stains on his lapel. That Gavin could be thinking about his suit when they were inside the Beast’s secret base astounded him. He ought to be as rapt as a fox in a hen-house with plump defenceless stories flapping all about him, but instead he was thinking about his outfit. The lad would never make it as a reporter. Adrian hissed, ‘Leave it alone.’

They were standing in a corridor and pretending to peruse the framed pictures from the Beast’s glorious past. Gavin sullenly swivelled his head towards Adrian to complain, ‘It’s never really going to come out.’

Adrian looked at the lapels. The stains were now no more than shiny discolorations of the grey material. Under the jacket was the white shirt Adrian had had to lend Gavin when he himself had changed into his suit jacket yesterday afternoon. It was the spare shirt he kept in his car, a routine maintained from his reporting days, and now it was creased and crumpled from Gavin’s sleeping in it. ‘Of course it’ll come out. You just need to get it properly dry-cleaned. We’ll deal with it tomorrow, alright? You’re just making it more conspicuous.’

Gavin turned back to the picture. ‘Fine.’

‘Now come on, Gavin, we’ve got bigger—’

A lugubrious middle-aged man with a paunch and fresh razor-burn shambled around the corner. Adrian and Gavin quickly focused on the picture in front of them. It showed an adolescent chimp wearing a fez and studying an issue of the Beast triumphantly headlined:

ARGIES

BARGED

OUT OF

STANLEY

The caption read, ‘Bernie, unofficial mascot of Royal Marines 45 Commando, reads the Daily Beast’s account of victory in the Falkland Islands. Beast reporter Brendan Walters was the first Englishman into Port Stanley, entering at the head of the heroic liberators.’