Pegleg [antikvár]

Chapter 1 The kitchen was small and very hot. It seemed even hotter than it was because it was full of smoke from two mackerel in the frying pan on the gas stove. The old radio on the shelf was tuned to Radio 2, and Terry Wogan was saying something that might have been funny if it had been audible above the shrill yelling of the old woman. She was swearing at the cat because it had just tried to fish a mackerel out of the pan, burned its paw and leaped on to a high shelf where it had spilt the tea caddy into the milk jug. The old woman, who was called Grannie Dole, was purplish with rage. The thin boy prodding the mackerel with an old tin fork kept quiet. He had lived with Grannie Dole long enough to know what you did when. Just now, you cooked the breakfast while Grannie had it out with Mr Wilson the cat, and you ate it as fast as you could. Then you hopped it like a streak of lightning before Grannie Dole asked if you had done your homework. Grannie Dole didn't have much clue about homework, not knowing how to read. But she took her responsibilities as Gussie's guardian seriously, when she remembered. Gussie groaned at the mackerel. It was another Monday morning, and he was in another impossible situation. It was now six o'clock, and the boat that took the Tresco children cross-channel to St Mary's Comprehensive left at nine. On Saturday night. Grannie Dole had had one of her turns and drunk up the Social Security money. This meant she would not eat anything until next S.S. day, unless Gussie got her some money within the next three hours. Gussie had been putting off doing his 1