The Legacy, Caroline Bond [popular books to read txt] 📗

got a bit of shrapnel on me.’ He extracted a pound coin from his wallet and gave it to Freddie. ‘It goes in that slot there.’

Freddie pulled out the slide, fitted in his coin and pushed it back in. The boy had learnt how to ‘feed the machine’. Noah felt amused that he’d passed on at least something to his nephew in the past hour. There was clunk and a whirr, and the lights in the box began to flash. Noah watched Freddie’s delight as Zoltar’s deep, rumbling voice boomed out across the sea front. His piercing blue eyes flicked back and forth and his hand jerked up and down. There was another whirr and the fortune card slid out of the slot. That was always the bit that had fascinated Noah as a child. The slow glide of the patterned ticket out of the churning bowels of the machine. The lights and movement stopped as abruptly as they’d begun, and Zoltar fell silent again. Freddie glanced at Noah, seeking permission.

‘Go on. Take it. It’s your fortune.’

Freddie wiped his ice-cream-and-syrup-sticky hand down the front of his coat before he took his ticket. Noah watched as he studied the fairground-inspired design on the front, before turning it over. Noah had forgotten what was actually written on the cards and, like Freddie, was surprised at the amount of closely packed text. Freddie looked to Noah for help – the writing was well beyond his reading age.

Noah scanned the ticket with its cod, old-fashioned phrases about challenges and triumphs, and opted for a child-friendly paraphrase. ‘It says, “You are a fine young man and you will grow up to be”’ – Noah quickly thought about what his nephew wanted or, more precisely, what he thought he lacked – ‘“strong and quick. You will be lucky in your life and make many, many friends, who will be loyal to you. And you will travel to lots of interesting and exciting places, and learn secrets other people cannot begin to imagine.”’ Then, overcome with another of the sudden emotional waves that seemed to have been hitting him since his father’s death, he added, ‘“And you will be loved and will be happy and healthy.”’

Freddie beamed. Noah passed him his fortune card and watched as he unzipped the ‘secret’ pocket on the sleeve of his jacket and carefully put the ticket inside. Time for home. But Freddie had other ideas. ‘What about you, Uncle No? Don’t you want Zoltar to tell you your fortune?’

The answer to which was ‘No’, but Freddie was hopping from foot to foot, itching for another go. Not above a little manipulation – a trait that Noah couldn’t help but be impressed by – Freddie defaulted to charm. ‘Go on, Uncle No. I bet he’ll say something really good about you.’

In reality Zoltar ‘said’ exactly the same thing, which was no great surprise to Noah, but was a disappointment to Freddie, although at least the ticket that emerged was different. Noah skim-read it and gave Freddie a made-up rendition that focused on his cat-like agility, his sporting prowess and his future as a leader of men. Fortunes foretold, they walked on. They passed numerous litter bins, but Noah kept hold of his ticket. A fake future was better than an uncertain one.

Chapter 24

IT WAS his bright-blue coat that made Freddie easy to spot. He was hunched down in a squat by the shoreline, his head nearly touching Noah’s. They seemed engrossed. Angus and Arthur waved. It took a couple of attempts to attract their attention. When they finally registered Angus, Liv and Arthur’s presence, they raced up the beach – Noah outstripping Freddie easily, until the last few metres, when he pretended to trip. He sprawled headlong onto the sand, letting a red-cheeked Freddie win.

‘Have you had fun?’ Liv asked, though she knew the answer. Freddie had syrup all down the front of his coat and a grin on his dirty face. ‘I see you’ve already had an ice cream.’

‘Yes. Uncle No got me one, with a flake and strawberry sauce and sprinkles.’

‘I hope you said “thank you”.’

‘Of course he did.’ Noah looked relaxed, happy even.

‘We spent ages in the arcade, then we had our ice creams and then we had our fortunes told, and we were going to come back to Grandpa’s, but then you rang, and Uncle No said we could go and look for popping seaweed while we waited for you.’ Freddie was breathless with excitement and sugar.

Up on Angus’s shoulders, Arthur had obviously had enough of being left out. ‘I want popping seaweed.’ He started throwing his weight around.

Angus lifted him over his head and deposited him on the pavement. ‘Whoa there! Will you show your brother how to spot this special seaweed, Freddie?’ Freddie nodded and puffed out his chest, happy to play the marine biologist. ‘Come on, then.’ Angus led Arthur down the ramp to join his brother. ‘We’ll see you back at the house.’ He actually inclined his head towards Noah before they departed, reminding Liv of her promise to invest in a little sibling bonding of her own.

With her boys on their way back down to the sea, Liv looked at Noah, both of them at something of a loose end.

‘Shall we go back via the Spa?’ Liv suggested. Maybe Angus was right; perhaps what they needed was a bit of R&R.

‘A trip down memory lane?’ Noah asked.

‘Yeah, why not.’

Chapter 25

THE SPA was a glorious old structure nestled in the far corner of the South Bay. The layers of rust and peeling paint only added to its melancholic charm, like a trim of grubby lace on a faded but still elegant gown. The complex was a pleasure palace built in 1879 to attract the great and the good to the seaside, to take the restorative spa waters and spend their hard-earnt cash. Day-trippers and locals still made the trek around the bay from the noisy modern amusement arcades to peer