No, Not I [antikvár]

ONE Alan pushed open the door of the small terraced house, remembering not to knock. There was no front garden, and he stepped straight from the pavement into the tiny hall, then across to the front room where the double bed had been put up. It filled most of the space, leaving just enough beside it for a kitchen chair where old Mrs. Bennett, a neighbour, sat knitting, turning at the rustle of his anorak. 'There's a good boy,' she whispered, getting up stiffly and pushing her needles into a paper bag. T thought you'd come today. District Nurse has been and gone.' Then, even more softly, 'Did your mother say anything about looking in?' He did not know what to say, and shrugged his shoulders. She clicked her tongue and rummaged in her handbag, producing two toffees which she handed to him. 'Never mind. You sit with your gran for a bit while I run over and see how Maureen's placed,' she said. 'She'll come in for an hour or so, and let you get off to school.' Alan took offhis anorak and held it for a moment, then let it fall to the floor, as there was nowhere to put it but the bed, which seemed wrong. Then he sat down holding the toffees as the front door latch clicked behind Mrs. Bennett. He had not looked at his grandmother till now, almost as if she were not there. And even when he looked he could not quite believe in her. Her hands lay out on top of the covers, twitching a little now and then, but apart from that she was very still, her face grey and sunk in without her teeth, her nose looking outlandishly big and pointed, her eyes closed. As a rule the lively eyes held his attention, so that he had never noticed the signs of age upon her, 9