Page 11

Arthur

Every Saturday morning, Arthur Robinson visited St. Tredock library to collect new books for Esi.

Before she lost her sight, his wife used to go herself, spending hours choosing a stack of historical romances, which she’d bring home and devour in bed at night, her reading glasses balanced on the end of her nose and a mug of home-grown herbal tea in her hands. Even when her eyesight started to fail, Esi would still make her weekly pilgrimage, although as time passed, she became more and more reliant on Arthur to not just help her choose the books, but also to read them to her as well. Eventually, her eyesight became so bad that Esi found it too overwhelming to leave the farm, and she asked Arthur to go to the library for her.

To begin with he hated it, embarrassed in case someone saw him browsing the romance shelves, and he used to go to the library as soon as it opened and hide her books under his own biographies. But over time, Arthur had become less self-conscious and began chatting to the librarians, getting recommendations for books that Esi might enjoy. Now they all knew him by name, and they’d often set aside new historical romances for him to collect on his Saturday visits.

Today, Arthur greeted the librarian and headed straight to the familiar shelf. As he approached, he saw a gangly figure hunched over it.

“Ash! How are you, lad?”

The boy visibly jolted at being addressed and took a hurried step back from the shelf.

“Eh, hi…” he mumbled, flicking his long fringe over his face.

Arthur smiled in recognition; not so long ago, he’d been as embarrassed as Ash.

“Don’t worry,” he said, lowering his voice. “You’re near enough to the horror shelf that you can always pretend you’re looking at those if anyone spots you.”

Ash gave a shy smile. “I was just trying to find The Viscount Who Loved Me for book club.”

“Reading that already, are you? Well, it’ll be here if they have it.” Arthur bent down to the small row of Julia Quinn books on the lowest shelf. “You’re in luck.” He pulled out a well-worn copy of the paperback and handed it to Ash.

“Thanks,” the boy mumbled and turned to leave.

“Did you hear about the theft at the community center?”

Ash looked back. “A police officer came to my house yesterday. He said he thought it might’ve been someone from the book club.”

“It sounds like it was that Michael man, the one who ran out.”

“Have they arrested him?”

“Not yet. The police think he might’ve also murdered his mother and done a runner, although I’m still not convinced that man had a murdering temperament.”

“And he’s disappeared?” Ash’s eyes were wide. “If he didn’t kill his mum then maybe he’s been kidnapped? Or abducted?”

“Abducted?” Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle. “You sound like Phyllis!”

The teenager gave an embarrassed smile. “Sorry. I’ve just been reading this science fiction book where a character gets abducted by aliens, so I guess that’s on my brain.”

“Oh, that sounds like a good story. You like science fiction, do you?”

The boy nodded. Arthur waited for him to say something, but he’d clearly lost his confidence again.

“I have to confess, I’ve not read much myself, although I have watched a few science fiction films in my time. I used to like those Star Wars ones.”

“I love Star Wars !” Ash’s face was suddenly alight. He pulled back his jacket to reveal a well-worn Return of the Jedi T-shirt.

Arthur smiled. “I’ve only seen the original ones. My Esi was always fond of that Han Solo.”

“Maybe your wife would enjoy the Solo film, which is all about his backstory?”

“Thanks, I’ll tell her about it. Although between you and me, I think it’s the young Harrison Ford she likes more than the character,” Arthur said with a wink, and Ash gave a shy laugh when he realized what Arthur was referring to. “Maybe one month we could read some science fiction in book club. How about that one you just mentioned, about the alien abduction?”

“Oh no, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m not sure the others would enjoy it very much.”

“You’d be surprised. And even if they don’t, that won’t matter. I’m no expert, but I think the whole point of a book club is to read things you wouldn’t normally.”

“I’ve enjoyed all the books we’ve read so far,” Ash said, then frowned. “Not that you’d know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I can never think of anything to say about them in the meeting. Everyone else has clever ideas but my mind goes blank.”

“Oh, I never say anything clever,” Arthur said. “I just spout any old waffle and hope someone interrupts me.”

“That’s not true. You always have excellent ideas.”

“Well, any I do have I’ll have nicked off Esi. She’s the smart one in our relationship; any good idea I’ve ever had has been hers first.”

Ash smiled but didn’t say anything, and Arthur kicked himself for blabbing on about his wife to the teenager.

“Well, I’ve talked your ear off enough. I look forward to seeing you at the next book club and hearing what you think of this one.” Arthur nodded at the book in Ash’s hand and turned to leave. But he’d not got more than a few paces when he heard a new voice behind him.

“Ash, hey!”

Arthur glanced back to see a tall, strapping lad with blond hair walking across the library toward Ash. The boys must be about the same age, yet while Ash looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him, this boy oozed confidence. He was dressed in a muddy football kit, a rucksack slung over one shoulder and a pile of books in his hands. Arthur remembered boys like this from his days in school: the ones who always got picked first for sports and got the attention of all the prettiest girls.

“Oh…eh…hi, Dan.” Ash’s cheeks had gone bright scarlet, and Arthur could see him trying to hide The Viscount Who Loved Me behind his back.

“You getting books for English?” Dan said. “I started reading Much Ado About Nothing the other night but fell asleep a few pages in.”

“Erm…”

“What’s that you’re holding; anything good?”

Arthur saw Ash’s eyes go wide in panic. He tried to step back, but that only resulted in him knocking into the romance shelf and sending books scattering to the floor. With a groan of embarrassment, Ash bent down to pick them up, flashing the cover of The Viscount Who Loved Me in the process. Arthur saw Dan’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“Is that—”

“Ash, there you are, lad!” Before he knew what he was doing, Arthur was striding toward the two boys. “Have you got that book for me yet?”

Ash looked up at Arthur, his mouth hanging open like a cow. Arthur held out his hand for the book, but Ash stared at it blankly.

“Thanks for finding it for me,” Arthur said, speaking slowly to try and communicate to the teenager what he was doing.

Ash finally seemed to cotton on and thrust the book toward him. Arthur gave him a quick nod and stepped away. But as he started to leave, he heard the other boy speak again.

“Hi, I’m Dan.”

Arthur turned back round to see the teenager looking at him with curiosity.

“I’m in English class with Ash.” Dan paused, clearly waiting for Arthur to explain his connection.

“Hello. I’m, eh…” Heck, what should he say? Something told him Ash wouldn’t want his friend knowing he went to a book club with a load of old fogies. “I’m Arthur, Ash’s grandfather.”

He saw Ash blink in surprise, but what else was he meant to say?

“Ah, lovely to meet you, Arthur.” Dan’s face split into a warm smile.

“Ash was just helping me find this book for his grandma. My wife loves these soppy romances, doesn’t she, Ash?”

The teenager nodded, clearly struck mute with the horror of it all.

“Yeah, my mum loves the Bridgerton books too,” Dan said, and then he lowered his voice to a stage whisper. “Between us, I’ve watched all the series on Netflix with her.”

He laughed and Arthur laughed, too, although Ash still looked like he wanted to die of shame.

“Well, I’d better go. I’ve got to pick my car up from the garage,” Dan said. “It was nice to meet you, Arthur. And Ash, see you around.”

He gave them both a farewell wave and then strode toward the door. Arthur glanced at Ash and saw him staring after Dan, an expression on his face that Arthur recognized from the hundreds of romance novels he’d read Esi: a mixture of terror and longing that could only mean one thing. The poor boy was hopelessly in love.

Ash blinked and turned back to Arthur. “Thanks for helping me out.”

“No worries. I guessed you might not want your friend to know you were reading it.”

“Oh…he’s not my friend,” Ash stuttered. “I mean, we’re in the same class, but I don’t know him very well. I didn’t even realize he knew my name…” He trailed off, his cheeks flushed as he stared at his feet.

“He seems like a nice young man,” Arthur said gently.

Ash’s head snapped up, his eyes wide again. “Oh no, it’s not—”

“It’s all right, Ash.” Arthur smiled to try and reassure the boy he understood.

There was a moment of awkward silence and then Ash’s shoulders sunk as he let out a long, forlorn sigh. “Was I that obvious?”

Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, of course not.”

“I just freeze every time I see him. It’s so embarrassing, it’s like I forget how to speak. And Dan is so confident. You should hear him in English class, he always has such smart things to say about every book.”

Suddenly, Arthur understood something that had been bothering him. “That’s why you come to book club, isn’t it?”

Ash stared at his feet again. “I just wanted to learn how to talk about books so maybe I wouldn’t look like such a dick in front of Dan. But it’s no use, I’m just as useless there as I am in class.”

“I can help if you want?”

Ash’s head jolted up. “You?”

“I know I might look and sound like an old farmer—well, to be fair, I am one—but I’ve spent decades listening to my Esi talk about books. So I think a little bit of her knowledge must have rubbed off on me over the years.”

Ash chewed his fingernail, visibly weighing the offer up.

“It can be our secret, if you’re worried about anyone knowing,” Arthur added.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”

“?’Course not or I wouldn’t have offered. What are you reading in class at the moment?”

“We’re doing Much Ado About Nothing next,” Ash said, with all the enthusiasm of a criminal about to face the gallows.

“That’s by Shakespeare, isn’t it? I’ll be honest, I’ve not read much of his, but I’ll take a look and see what I can come up with. How about we meet at the community center on Tuesday?”

“Next week is half term so that would be great, thank you!” The boy grinned and Arthur felt a small, unexpected swell of pride.

“Grand. And don’t worry, I promise I won’t tell a soul.”