Read A Kestrel for a Knave for Free Online

him.
    ‘You can train ’em.’
    ‘An’ how would you go about it?’
    Billy held the farmer’s gaze, then looked away, nibbling his bottom lip. He concentrated on his pumps for a minute, then looked up quickly.
    ‘Do you know?’
    ‘No, an’ there’s not many that does.’
    ‘Where could you find out about ’em?’
    ‘That’s why I won’t let anybody near, ’cos if they can’t be kept properly it’s criminal.’
    ‘Do you know anybody who’s kept one?’
    ‘One or two, but they’ve allus let ’em go ’cos they couldn’t do owt wi’ ’em. They never seemed to get tame like other birds.’
    ‘Where could you find out then?’
    ‘I don’t know. In books, I suppose. I should think there’s some books on falconry.’
    ‘Think there’ll be any in t’library?’
    ‘There might be in t’City Library. They’ve books on everything in there.’
    ‘I’m off then now. So long, mister.’
    Billy ran across the field, back the way he had come.
    ‘Hey!’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Go through t’gate! You’ll be having that wall down, climbing over it!’
    Billy changed direction and ran along the side of the wall, at right angles to his previous course.
    ‘Got any books on hawks, missis?’
    The girl behind the counter looked up from sorting coloured tickets in a tray.
    ‘Hawks?’
    ‘I want a book on falconry.’
    ‘I’m not sure, you’d better try ornithology.’
    ‘What’s that?’
    ‘Under zoology.’
    She leaned over the desk and pointed down a corridor of shelves, then stopped and looked Billy over.
    ‘Are you a member?’
    ‘What do you mean, a member?’
    ‘A member of the library.’
    Billy pressed a finger into the ink pad on the desk and inspected the purple graining on the tip.
    ‘I don’t know owt about that. I just want to lend a book on falconry, that’s all.’
    ‘You can’t borrow books unless you’re a member.’
    ‘I only want one.’
    ‘Have you filled one of these forms in?’
    She licked a forefinger and flicked a blue form up on to her thumb. Billy shook his head.
    ‘Well you’re not a member then. Do you live in the Borough?’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘The Borough, the City.’
    ‘No, I live out on Valley Estate.’
    ‘Well that’s in the Borough, isn’t it?’
    A man approached and plonked two books on thecounter. The girl attended to him immediately. Open stamp. Open stamp. She slotted the cards into his tickets and filed them in a tray. The man pulled his books to the edge of the counter, caught them as they overbalanced, then shouldered his way through the swinging doors.
    ‘Can I get a book now, then?’
    ‘You’ll have to take one of these forms home first for your father to sign.’
    She handed Billy a form across the counter. He took it and looked down at the dotted lines and blank boxes.
    ‘My dad’s away.’
    ‘You’ll have to wait until he comes home then.’
    ‘I don’t mean away like that. I mean he’s left home.’
    ‘O, I see…. Well in that case, your mother’ll have to sign it.’
    ‘She’s at work.’
    ‘She can sign it when she comes home, can’t she?’
    ‘I know, but she’ll not be home ’til tea time, and it’s Sunday tomorrow.’
    ‘There’s no rush, is there?’
    ‘I don’t want to wait that long. I want a book today.’
    ‘You’ll just have to want, won’t you?’
    ‘Look, just let me go an’ see’f you’ve got one, an’ if you have I’ll sit down at one o’ them tables an’ read it.’
    ‘You can’t, you’re not a member.’
    ‘Nobody’ll know.’
    ‘It’s against the rules.’
    ‘Go on. I’ll bring you this paper back on Monday then.’
    ‘ NO ! Now go on home and get that form signed.’
    She turned round and entered a little glass office.
    ‘I say.’
    Billy beckoned her out.
    ‘Now what?’
    ‘Where’s there a bookshop?’
    ‘Well, there’s Priors up the Arcade. That’s the best one.’
    ‘O ye! I know.’
    He went out into the sunlight. People crowded the pavements and