Novel Chapter 13 The Picnic.

 

Chapter 13

The Picnic.

The picnic party drove to the south west of Birmingham, to the end of Bristol Road South, the Lickey Hills, which was an extended park about ten miles from the city centre. It is said that J.R.R. Tolkien created Middle Earth from his influences when he roamed the hills.

Finbar thought he might be travelling in a car journey with a roof or, at least with the top down, but Mr. Murdoch liked to drive with the wind in his hair, and his white silk scarf fluttering in the wind. The scarf wasn't that long but it fascinated Finbar as it had a certain hypnotizing rattle, as if evening was coming in with the tide with a lapping of waves and a dusky quality: he blew his harmonica so softly and sweetly, soft sweet melodies that came to him as they travelled along. Nobody spoke so they heard the gentle melody flowing from his lips – all blows and no sucks - a bit like the French composer Debussy's Nocturnes.

When Mr. Murdoch parked the sports car, they climbed up a road, the other side of the traffic island, to a road called Rose Hill, where Finbar deduced they had been before as they had little or no curiosity.

Stopping at a particular tree, Gillian went to it looked at something on the top of a tree stump; this is where they usually turned right along a little trail. Finbar regretted not changing out of his cowboy suit as it was a bit nippy.

As they walked on, Finbar went to the tree stump and saw an etching of some kind of a man with his face of leaves and twigs, with creepers and nettles coming out of his mouth.

When they settled, the blankets came out followed by picnic baskets, a little stove and lots of boxes of matches.

'The blanket might be for me', was his thought, but no: it was used as a table clothe over the ground.

'did think you might want to read your comics here whilst we get ready but er . . '

'That's okay, daddy,' Gillian said 'we can look at mine.'

Gillian shared her comics with Finbar: one called Girl and another School Friend.

He hadn't seen the inside pages before. In his Eagle he liked Dan Dare and The Mekon, with his big head floating around on a mini flying saucer and his minions, The Treens.

In School Friend, which was set in a girls' school, one of the characters wore a monocle; it fascinated him and he read the first story.

Gillian's parents gathered around the stove: they were trying to cook sausages and warm the water for the tea. Finbar and Gillian looked on and were so cold that snot was dripping from their noses, Finbar longed for the heat of a warm car, a warm fire – sunshine - anything and he dreaded the food they were about to be served.

Mrs. Murdoch took three mugs from the basket, and a cup for Finbar and was wiping them with a tea towel before placing them on the blanket. Then instead of pouring tea she poured a drop of milk into each of them and then the tea.

Finbar's dad poured it the other way around; tea first.

'You do take tea, don't you Finbar' she said.

'Yes.' said Finbar. “Please.'

'I think there's a flicker of rain, in the wind.' said Mr. Murdoch.

He picked the largest mug of tea and took a large sip. Finbar picked up the cup and said 'it's a bit like the three bears, isn't it?'

They looked at him.

'Oh.' said Mrs. Murdoch 'Yes, yes of course.'

The rain became steady. Mr. Murdoch was trying to eat a sausage but the rain then became fierce, so he emptied his tea and swallowed the sausage whole.

Behind him the rain was pouring so heavy that a stream of mud flowed over the blanket and took the sausages on a trip they hadn't bargained for.

He pulled on the blanket and the tea pot, delft and sandwiches, followed the sausages.

He gathered the blanket together and noticed the stove was soaked and so was everything else. Finbar's cowboy suit was wet through and Gillian, worrying about the comics, stuffed them into her bag.

'What will we do?' cried Gillian's mother 'everything is ruined.'

Three minutes after they settled down the whole shooting match was in a catastrophe.

Finbar noticed a little gap by the tree with the etching on and, instead of going left, with the others, he went right where a tree seemed to have a gap next to it. He went through the gap to see a very wide tree with a large hole, big enough to walk through shaped like an upside down 'V.'

a circumflex ^ -

'In here' he said, and went into the tree. It was very dark and had a kind of oak or acorn smell. They couldn't see much but they could hear the rain. Mr. Murdoch lit one of the matches, after a few tries, then lit some more to get a bigger flame. There was a carved bench which had been carved into the tree and the man of leaves like the one on the tree stump outside, scratched into the wood. Finbar sat on the bench.

' Looks like a place of magic.' said Finbar.

He referred to the man on the trunk of the tree but nobody else took any notice.

They stayed till the rain stopped and when they got to the car they found the top was still down, the seats were soaked and the floor had puddles formed from the teaming rain.

Everybody got in and Mr. Murdoch tried to close the top but it was blocked by something.

“Blast!! Blast!!' he was saying “I think there's something stopping that . . . what is that?'

“Oh . . it's Finbar's bag . . can you? Finbar?'

Finbar moved his bag and the top covered the soaked foursome.

There was no driving with the silk scarf blowing in the wind, on the way back, no wind in his face just misery. The soaked clothing rubbing on their limbs irritated everyone till they reached home.

As they pulled up by their gate, Mrs. Murdoch said “Let me walk you home, Finbar' and she took him by the hand as they walked down the lane.

Carmel had heard them coming and had already opened the door 'Jesus, look at him – are you all right son.'

“The heavens opened on us' said Mrs. Murdoch.

“Oh it was quite dry here' said Carmel.

“I'd better go'

“Okay – thanks a lot' said Carmel and closed the door on Mrs. Murdoch.

Finbar was shivering and his mother undressed him very quickly and threw a large towel around him.

“Go and stand by the fire,' she said.

Patrick brought in a large basin and put it near the fire, then went into the kitchen to boil some water as they didn't have hot water on tap.

Their tin bath was hanging up in the garden and as it was raining too hard, Patrick left it there as the basin would be good enough to warm his son and the blazing fire would be a comfort. No matter how he tried, Finbar couldn't stop shivering.

When the large saucepan boiled, Patrick warned the other two to make sure to be out of his way when he came in and he poured the hot water into the large basin. as his mother felt the heat of the water with her hand.

As he was sitting in the water in the basin he felt like The Mekon in The Eagle and eventually Carmel warmed him up with warm water over his shoulder.

Once a week the family went to the public baths across the street, which had wonderful swimming facilities. The baths were called 'slipper' baths and customers queued outside the actual baths with towels, waitingr their turn. The attendants called people in to a hot bath – with the cold water running.

Finbar usually shared the same bath as his mother whilst Patrick used another room.

His mother scooped more warm water up over his back and eventually he felt more comfortable and his father brought in a cup of cocoa as he stood by the fire getting dry.

Sunday Night at the London Palladium was on the television, the fire blazed and the room was comfortable.

A few days later Finbar woke during the night and when his mother went into him he seemed to have a temperature. She gave him a couple of junior aspirins and he went to sleep but when he got up for school he was finding it hard to breath without pain and they decided to keep him at home for the day. She gave him two more tablets in the afternoon but at five-o-clock he was worse so Carmel went to the doctors in St Paul's Road but was referred to the doctors' surgery where her friend, Phyllis, was the caretaker.

That surgery was on stand by and the doctor came to see Finbar.

He said he thought it was pneumonia and called an ambulance as he needed to go to hospital.

Two ambulance men came in and Finbar started to cry “Nark it, mate' said one of the ambulance men “Nark it.'

He was taken to The Children's Hospital in Ladywood. They didn't offer to take either of his parents and neither would they let Finbar bring his harmonica.