Page 14 of Goodnight
‘Of course, you’re welcome, Ed, but if you’d prefer to go back to your own family, then –’
‘Mum and Dad won’t mind. Doubt I’d get down to Essex anyway,’ Ed said, his hand going up to his forehead, causing him to frown when he encountered the goggles as if he’d forgotten they were there. ‘But a bit weird staying at your gaff, mate, no offence. And you might be a bit rammed if Goodie and the rest are going too.’ Nick’s mind flashed to the country estate and he suppressed a smile.
‘We can fit you in, Ed; we’ve got plenty of spare rooms.’
‘Well, I don’t want your mum to have to cook for us all; bit of a cheek.’
‘My mother hasn’t cooked a meal for twenty years at least.’
‘Uh … crikey. You lot must be down the chippy a fair bit,’ Ed said, and Nick smiled.
‘Something like that, but honestly, Ed, just come back with us. Until we get everything up and running we need to be as safe as possible.’
Ed shrugged. ‘Well, if you’re sure …’ He trailed off. ‘Guess it’s better than my bedsit.’
‘Ed,’ Nick said slowly, ‘please tell me you’ve moved into the flat I got for you three months ago.’
‘Um …’
Nick rolled his eyes. Ed would live in a cardboard box and not take any notice as long as he could carry on working in the lab uninterrupted. ‘I’ll sort it for you.’ Either Nick booked the moving company or Ed would be stuck in that dingy tower block for the rest of his life, no matter how much money was transferred into his bank account.
‘Well, I must say,’ Bertie boomed, ‘this Easter is turning out to be a chuffing good spot of fun, isn’t it? We can get a jolly game of charades going,’ he went on, becoming more and more excited, ‘or even twenty/ twenty-two and strip billiards if we’re feeling frisky as the nights wear on.’ Nick looked at Ed’s blank face. Bertie may as well have been talking in a foreign language. Nick’s mind flashed to his family, then added in Bertie’s, in combination with a mostly-silent Goodie and a freaked-out Ed. It was going to be a long few days.
Chapter7
You’re a right topper
‘What ho!’boomed Bertie.
‘What ho!’ boomed Nick’s dad even louder.
Nick glanced back at Goodie whose expression remained unreadable. Ed, however, was staring up at the house, his mouth wide open.
‘Guess you’ve likely got a spare room going then, mate,’ murmured Ed by Nick’s side. His eyes moved from the grand, stone, twenty-bedroom estate house to Nick’s father and Bertie, who were engaged in the activity of slapping each other on the back and booming intermittently – both wearing red trousers and wax jackets. ‘Jesus, you’re all dead posh. I’m going to look like a right plonker staying here. What were you thinking, you daft article?’
‘Ed, you knew this already,’ Goodie said.
‘Right, okay … this one’s got a posh accent, I’ll give you that,’ Ed replied, indicating Nick. ‘No offence, fella,’ he added for his benefit, and Nick gave him an amused nod. ‘And Bertie … well, I just thought he was … well, he’s inexplicable. To be honest I assumed he was barmy, not bloody aristocracy. Tell me the rest of your family aren’t as bad as Bertie?’
‘No,’ Nick told him, and he relaxed for a moment before Nick added, ‘they’re worse.’
‘What ho!’ Nick’s father interrupted, giving his son a hug and a few hearty slaps on the back, which no doubt would leave bruises. ‘Damn good to see you, Flopsy. It’s been too long since you’ve been out to the sticks. Your mother worries, you know.’
‘Hello, old man.’ Nick smiled as he hugged him back with a few back slaps of his own. “Your mother worries” was his father’s repressed way of saying “I’ve missed you”. ‘Dad, this is Ed Southern; Ed, this is my dad: Monty. And this is …’ Nick looked around for Goodie but she was nowhere to be seen. He frowned.
‘Great stuff!’ boomed Monty, grabbing hold of Ed’s hand and nearly lifting him off his feet with the violence of his shakes. ‘Always good to add in some fresh blood to a family do. And I hear you’re a frightfully clever chap too; you’ll be keeping the old duffers like me on my toes.’
‘Uh …’ Ed looked at a complete loss.
‘Jolly good, jolly good,’ boomed Nick’s dad.
‘Goodness,theEd at last,’ Nick’s sister, who had just come bounding out of the house to stand next to her father, put in. Her long legs were clad a pair of jodhpurs with riding boots, and her dark hair and her wool jumper were lightly dusted with straw. A miniature version of her, in a nearly identical outfit, was clinging onto her hand and hiding under her jumper. ‘I must say I’ve been terribly impressed by all this science stuff; total dunce with that sort of thing, aren’t I, Flopsy?’
‘Hi, Tils,’ Nick said as he almost went back onto one foot with the force of her hug.
‘Uncle Nicky!’ The straw-covered, dark-haired little girl emerged from out of her mother’s jumper and wriggled in between them, giving Nick’s legs a crushing squeeze.
‘Hey, hedgehog,’ Nick said, reaching down for her and settling her on his hip.
