Read Sadler's Birthday for Free Online Page B

was telling Annie,’ she said, ‘she should marry you, then my two nicest people would be in one house.’
    â€˜Know what, Bets,’ said Joe, ‘I do believe you always did think everyone should make their plans to suit you.’
    Betsy wished she’d taken off one of her little brown boots so that she could throw it at him. ‘Where’s my picnic?’ she whined.
    â€˜Come on,’ said Joe, ‘whoever heard of a picnic inside ?’
    So out they went, up into one of Farmer James’s big meadows, the one where two old oak trees stood side by side in the middle, giving them welcome shade. Joe spread the food out.
    â€˜Pork pies! I might have guessed,’ said Betsy.
    Joe looked bewildered.
    â€˜We should have told him not to get pork pies, shouldn’t we, Annie?’
    Annie smiled.
    â€˜Don’t you like them?’ asked Joe.
    â€˜Of course we don’t like them. Everyone in the whole town doesn’t like them any more.’
    Annie explained about the factory.
    â€˜I’d have thought you’d have heard about it,’ commented Betsy. ‘We’re famous for that.’
    Joe apologized, promised to eat the three pies himself and give them all the bread and cheese.
    â€˜That’s not fair,’ said Annie, ‘I might try a pie, anyway, I’ve not had one for so long, it’d make a change, wouldn’t it, Bets?’
    â€˜I’d be sick,’ said Betsy, ‘especially on a day like this.’
    â€˜Have a drink of cider, then,’ suggested Joe, ‘then you can go to sleep.’
    â€˜I don’t want to go to sleep.’
    â€˜I want you to.’
    â€˜Just so you can say evil things to my friend Annie.’
    â€˜Impossible.’
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜She’s too nice.’
    â€˜How d’you know, Joe Elkins?’
    â€˜I know.’
    â€˜She’s much nicer than me, everyone says so, don’t they Annie?’
    â€˜Only you, Bets.’
    â€˜No. They say it inside themselves, I can hear.’
    â€˜Serve you right for eavesdropping,’ said Joe, and Betsy laughed. Then she cut herself a large chunk of bread and some cheese and lay down on her back while she made an elaborate sandwich of it. Annie watched her and Joe leant back against the tree, enjoying his pie and watching Annie.
    He liked her shyness. There was, in his opinion, too fleeting a moment in a girl’s life when she had that kind of shyness and whenever he came across it, it amused and excited him. It was, he decided, a kind of covering that could play as seductive a role as a petticoat. His man’s mind judged as inconsequential the things that girls talked about, but when they didn’t talk much, blushed now and then, hid the brightness of their eyes, then he found them interesting.
    Annie fitted exactly the concept he had of ‘girl’. Her face was long but he found it appealing, her body was enchanting – small breasts whose firmness he had already glimpsed in his mind, slim legs and neat little hips. He could imagine that Annie’s tongue was rather small and pointed, that when he kissed her it would touch his nervously, reluctantly until, little by little, he’d taught it what to do.
    They’d eaten most of the food. Joe had had two pies and the big loaf of bread was nearly gone. Now they drank the cider, passing the jug round from one to the other, and Annie’s body was, for the first time that day, completely relaxed. She wanted to lie down, but wouldn’t let herself. To lie down so near to Joe was a temptation she felt she had to fight. Like looking at him. She only allowed herself to look at him every now and then. Annie closed her eyes. The sun had moved round a bit and was now on her face. She listened to the sounds in the field, letting them fill her head like a favourite piece of music.
    It was two weeks before Annie saw Joe again. So busy, Betsy said he was, settling