The Secret Catamite Bk 1, The Book of Daniel (4 page)

"Thank you," said Daddy and went
out with the men. Simon and Frances stayed, looking at the
unchanging test card, with its thin lines, squares and the big
circle in the middle with more lines inside. But it was magic. A
picture coming through the air.

Daddy came back in. The two
jumped up.

"Thanks Daddy," said Frances,
and they hugged Daddy. Daddy smiled down at his children. Mummy was
smiling too.

"You've got a telly," said
Daniel when the two met up.

"How'd you know?" asked Simon,
annoyed that his surprise had been spoiled.

"There's a damn great aerial on
your roof, idiot!" said Daniel, laughing.

"Oh," said Simon, deflated. He
had forgotten that. Daniel could see his house from his bedroom
window. They had tried to set up a signalling system from their
bedroom windows, but it had proved too complicated to devise a code
with sufficient variety of meaning. Then it occurred to him that
there was no aerial on Daniel's house.

"When's yours coming?" said
Simon.

"Dunno," said Daniel, glumly.
"Might not get it in time."

Simon remembered what the man
had said about waiting lists.

"Well, there's a long waiting
list for them, you know," said Simon knowledgeably.

"So how'd you get yours then?"
demanded Daniel crossly. Again Simon remembered the man's
comments.

"My Dad works for the BBC."

"Well, my Dad's important too,
he's a high up policeman."

"I know," said Simon, suddenly
aware of his friend's hurt feelings. It mattered to Daniel to be in
the lead, in their friendship, in everything. He hated being
second.

"You can come and watch it on
ours if you like," offered Simon, generously.

"Can I?" said Daniel, smiling
back now. Simon's soul warmed to that smile, as always. He nodded
happily.

A very similar conversation,
with a similar outcome was taking place not far away at Jennifer's,
with Frances being equally expansive. So it was at tea, the usual
place for family conversations, that the diplomacy began.

Sitting round the dining room
table, the burning question was on Simon's mind. He was committed,
he had asked Daniel, but now he had to make sure it was OK. But of
course, Frances got in first.

"Mummy, is it all right if
Jennifer comes to watch the Coronation? Their television hasn't
come yet, so I said she could."

"I think that'll be all right,"
said Mummy. Daddy just nodded.

"Can Daniel come? His telly
hasn't come yet," said Simon, hoping that the recently established
precedent would work in his favour.

"Television," said Daddy. Daddy
hated 'telly'. He said it was slovenly language.

"We can't have everybody," said
Mummy, a bit worried.

"I've asked Jennifer already,"
said Frances.

"That was naughty of you, dear,"
said Mummy.

"You should ask first, Frances,"
said Daddy.

Frances looked at her parents,
waiting for the decision. Simon waited, wondering what to do for
the best.

"I expect it'll be all right,"
said Mummy. Frances smiled, and turned to Simon with a look of
triumph.

"I've asked Daniel," said
Simon.

"For God's sake! This isn't a
public house!" said Daddy, getting angry.

Simon was taken aback by the
sudden change and Daddy's anger. He got frightened when Daddy was
angry. It showed.

"It's all right, Simon," said
Mummy. "Harry, it is a special occasion. And you have done well to
get a set in time."

Simon looked hopefully at
Daddy.

"Oh very well," said Daddy, "In
for a penny, in for a pound."

Simon and Frances cheered.

By the time Tuesday came, the
small sitting room was full. Some friends of Daddy's and Mummy's
were there, Jennifer and her brother and both parents, Daniel and
his Mummy. His sister Louise was watching it somewhere else, and
his Daddy was at work. They had brought some extra chairs round
from Daniel's, the two boys struggling round the corner with them.
Mummy had made some sandwiches and some jam tarts. Mummy's pastry
was lovely. There were cups of tea and pop for the children out of
their coronation mugs.

They watched, the end of
Westminster Abbey used as a filler shot becoming very familiar, but
there was the Queen, actually getting crowned. And it was happening
at the same time as they were watching it. The children all had
their special souvenir programmes, and it was a great occasion.

Simon and Daniel sat together in
one chair as there were still not enough chairs to go round. But
they enjoyed the close physical contact this afforded and when, to
make more room of course, Daniel boldly put his arm round Simon,
nobody seemed to care. So it stayed there. The two boys unified by
the common bond of friendship, Daddy in his chair, revelling in
being the generous host, who just happened to be the only person in
the road with a television. Of course, certain people had not been
invited, the nasty ones, and serve them right too! Simon rested his
head on Daniel's shoulder, and was happy.

1. 1953/8 Westward
   Ho!
   

A major event each year was the
annual family holiday. The week before this was always one of chaos
and stress, mixed with excitement and anticipation. The packing of
The Trunk was the centre of all this from Simon's point of view.
The Trunk was a large brown case, easily big enough for Simon to
climb inside, into which all the family's needs for two weeks away
in the boarding house would be packed. There were lists, and lists
of lists.

Simon looked forward to this.
Things seemed different somehow when they were away. Mummy seemed
happier, Daddy didn't get so cross with him and Frances played with
him.

The journey itself was an
adventure. The alarm clock would be set early so everybody would be
up in good time. They now had a telephone, which Daddy had for his
work, and not many people had telephones, although Daniel did
because his Daddy was a policeman. The phone would ring in the
small hours of the morning and Daddy or Mummy would go downstairs
to answer and speak to the operator. This was safer than just using
the alarm clock because sometimes you could go back to sleep.

To Simon, the world seemed
strange and exciting at three or four o'clock in the morning.
Outside there was a strange quiet, unlike the darkness of the
evening, this morning darkness was somehow peaceful, the family's
activity seeming out of place and a disturbance. Breakfast,
prepared the night before, would be eaten, although Simon and
Frances were usually too excited eat much, and then the taxi would
come. Daddy always said the taxi had to big enough to take The
Trunk, so it was usually a big car that came. It took Daddy and the
taxi driver to carry The Trunk out. Then they went down to the
station to catch the train to London.

Simon liked trains, they were
big, powerful and exciting. The train would arrive on its journey
south, everything would be loaded on board and off they would go.
Sometimes it was a corridor train which Simon liked because he and
Frances would explore the train, although Simon was always nervous
about crossing the wobbly bits where the coaches joined. They tried
to go from the very front to the back where the guard's van was,
and among everything else, The Trunk would be there. The guard was
usually friendly and didn't mind them looking in. When he went out
along the train for something, he locked it. Then they would go
back along, looking for their own compartment where Mummy and Daddy
would be sitting. Sometimes they got the wrong coach and a moment
of panic would set in, but Frances always knew which way to go.

Simon was always fascinated by
the stations in London. Every other station he knew of the trains
came in at one end and went out the other. But in London, the line
stopped! When they got off, he would run to the front of the train
where the huge locomotive was now at rest, hissing and steaming,
say hello to the driver in his mucky overalls and battered cap and
then look at the giant buffers with the front of the locomotive
just a few feet away.

But the best part of this
journey from Simon's point of view was yet to come. The Devon
Belle!

This took them from London to
Devon and their holiday. He loved the ornate Pullman coaches, the
slab sided look of the powerful locomotive and especially the
observation coach at the rear of the train with windows all round
and armchair seating. Simon liked to sit right at the back of the
train, looking out through the rear facing window, watching the
track speeding out from under him and the wreaths of smoke from the
locomotive many coaches ahead of him writhing away in the train's
slipstream.

It was teatime before they
arrived at Barnstaple, and from there to Bideford for the last leg
of their journey, another adventure, by pony and trap to the
boarding house at Westward Ho!

Mrs Thorne – there never seemed
to be a Mr Thorne in this world of widows – ran the boarding house
and Simon liked her because she was kind and gave him extra
biscuits. Mummy and Daddy used to grumble about her rules though,
but that was grown-ups' stuff.

In the morning after breakfast,
they would fill bags with buckets, spades and walk down to the
beach where the Atlantic rollers would come crashing when the
weather was rough, but often there would be waves just right for
Simon to jump around in, making Mummy and Daddy laugh. And then of
course there was the pebble ridge. This long mound of stones,
seemingly endless to Simon, was a source of fascination. He would
lift the stones and find crabs, search for barnacles and pull out
long strands of seaweed. There was a metal track laid over the
ridge and he would watch tanks come over this, going where to and
from he didn't know, and when they came, he had to watch from a
distance.

But this was the last year of
the Devon Belle, and Simon would never ride it again. A death and a
legacy meant the end of holidays in Westward Ho! and a new horizon
opening for Simon.

1. 1954/8 Swimming
   Lesson
   

"Why don't you come?" Daniel
looked at his friend and could not understand Simon's
hesitation.

"I can't swim," said Simon
dully.

"That's OK, I'll teach you,"
said Daniel confidently. Daniel had found swimming to add to his
love of music and piano, and what's more found that he loved it
just as much. He loved the feel of his healthy young body coursing
through the water, the almost weightless agility it gave him to
twist and turn, somersault and dive, and move in a way that was
simply impossible on dry land. He looked at Simon, who although
younger of course, was just as fit. "You'll love it," he continued
encouragingly.

Simon looked at Daniel whom he
trusted absolutely and nodded.

"Go get your trunks then,"
Daniel advised, adding helpfully, "You'll need a towel as well, and
a shilling."

Simon ran off home. Mummy was at
work but Frances was in.

"What's the matter?" she asked
as Simon entered like a tornado.

"Need my swimming trunks!"
shouted Simon back as he ran up the stairs. He found the rarely
used trunks at the bottom of his drawer and bounded down again.
Frances was in the sitting room.

"Which towel shall I take?"
Simon asked his big sister.

"Any," said Frances,
uninterested. But then, "You can't swim," she added, puzzled.

"Daniel's going to teach me at
the lido," said Simon.

"Might have guessed."

"I need a shilling, Daniel
says," said Simon hopefully.

"Well, don't look at me,"
responded Frances tersely. Then, seeing Simon's crestfallen face,
added, "Wait a moment." Frances disappeared upstairs while Simon
paced around impatiently.

"Here you are," said Frances
returning with the prized shilling. "you owe me that."

"I'll tell Mummy," shouted back
Simon, who was already half way out of the house.

Daniel was waiting at the
corner.

"Shall I get my bike?" asked
Simon.

"No," said Daniel, "We'll walk.
They might get pinched."

Simon nodded agreement. The Lido
wasn't far away and the noise of the bathers could clearly be
heard.

"Race you," said Simon,
impishly. He might not be able to swim yet, but at almost eight
years old Simon was a fast runner and could hold his own against
the older and slightly taller Daniel.

"One, two, three!" said Daniel,
setting off immediately.

"Hey, that's not fair!" shouted
Simon, taken unaware by the quick start. But soon he was off, hard
on Daniel's heels. The two boys raced down the hill, along past the
Parade and arrived at the Lido entrance, both panting out of breath
in the summer heat.

"I won," said Daniel.

"Only coz you set off first,"
complained Simon, then punching Daniel playfully. Daniel punched
back equally playfully. "Come on then," he said. "Got your
money?"

Simon nodded.

They paid their ninepence entry
fee. "The thruppence change, we can get some sherbet," Daniel
pointed out. They were each given a locker key.

Then they were through the
turnstile and the shimmering pool lay before them. It was
semicircular, the straight side was the deep part below the diving
boards, that looked horribly high to Simon. In the middle was an
island platform. On the grass and paved area around the pool,
people lay in the sunshine. The pool had quite a lot of people in
it.

"Come on," said Daniel. The two
boys moved around the semicircular building that followed the shape
of the pool looking for an empty cubicle. They squeezed into one
together. As they were only wearing a few summer things, there
weren't many clothes to cope with. They got undressed, each
comfortable with the other in their familiar nakedness and then
wriggled into their trunks.