Not sure about this chapter, but I needed to get Hugh into Ted's house.

A WALK AND A LOST FRIEND.

Later that same day I decided to go for a walk. The afternoon had turned out as beautiful as the morning had promised.  With the end of September coming around it seemed like a crime not to make the best of it. 

Next to the railway embankment at the bottom of the street was a narrow, slightly overgrown path.  If you turned left and walked away from town you would eventually reach open countryside.  If you just planned to walk a mile or two like I did, you never really left the town proper but it was about as close to the countryside as you could get without getting on the bus.

It was pretty peaceful, except for the rush and roar of the express passing by every twenty minutes or so.  If you could ignore that and the litter strewn here and there it was very pleasant indeed.

I’d gone about half a mile when I heard hushed voices ahead.  It was so quiet that I couldn’t help but hear what they were saying.

“Where d’you get it Rick?”

“My dad.  He just leaves them lying around.  He’ll never miss one.”

“Great.  Get it lit then.”

There were a few muffled giggles and then a lot of choking coughs.  I stood there wondering what was going on and then I smelled a faint whiff of tobacco smoke.  So that was their game.  I was just too inquisitive to walk by so I crept a little closer and peered through the leaves.

The Bartholomew boy, whose name must be Rick, was passing a cigarette to Hugh.  Stood behind them, looking pretty worried was Billy.  The cigarette was passed backwards and forwards between Hugh and Rick until it was finished.  I was very glad to see that Billy didn’t take part in this.  In fact he just looked rather embarrassed to be there.

I decided, for Billy’s sake, that I’d just turn around and go back home now instead of risking them seeing me and having to explain what they were up to.  I could always talk about it to Billy later.

Well as you can imagine, that had spoiled my afternoon.  It seemed like Billy got the blame for things that he wasn’t really involved in.  The other children who lived on the street were certainly no angels, but it was Billy who was cast as the villain.

Back home I was back in my chair finishing off the paper when I saw Billy coming back down the street with Hugh.  Rick was nowhere to be seen.  I didn’t really want to speak to Hugh, but I was desperate to speak to Billy so I went to front door and asked them if they wanted a drink.

 “Yea, thanks Ted,” said Billy.

All I got from Hugh was a noncommittal grunt that I took to mean yes.

So there we were, sat in the parlour.  Billy was sat on the sofa and Hugh in my chair.  This irritated me straight away, but I don’t suppose he knew it was my favourite chair, so I sat down next to Billy on the sofa.  I was a bit stuck for how to say what I wanted to and there was a bit of an awkward silence.  I remembered what Elsie used to say to me, “If you’ve got something to say, for goodness sake just spit it out before it eats you up.”

“So, you have a nice time on the embankment this afternoon?”  I asked.

Hugh shot a warning glance at Billy and said nothing.  Billy stared at the floor.  I couldn’t work out whether he didn’t want to catch my eye or Hugh’s.

“Could I use the bathroom Ted?” he asked.

“Yes, of course you can Billy.  I’ll just go and get some biscuits.”

I went to rustle up some biscuits.  When I got back Hugh was gone and Billy was back on the sofa looking a bit happier.

“I take it you don’t smoke then Billy?” I asked, getting right down to it.

“No Ted.  I was just there.  I didn’t really want anything to do with it.  Hugh and Rick just do stuff like that and I’m there.  If we get caught it’s always me that gets the blame though.”

“So why don’t you go around with some different friends?”

“They’re the only ones who live around here.  Anyway, you won’t say anything will you?  If they think I’ve told I’ll really be in for it.”

“No Billy I won’t tell.  But have you thought it might be best to just walk away when something like that happens?” I knew that this was a difficult thing for a boy his age to do.  He didn’t want to be involved, but he didn’t want to look soft at the same time.

“I’ll be off I think Mr. Brown,” said Billy, his face a picture of unhappiness.  “It’ll be tea time soon and I’ve got to get dad’s medicine for him before mum’s home from work.”

He got up and left.

“Call in anytime Billy,” I shouted after him, but I felt then that that was the last I’d see of Billy for a while.  I’d only made friends with him yesterday and it seemed I’d managed to upset him already.  I wasn’t doing very well with the neighbours really.