COLONEL NOAH

OTHER CHAPTERS

CHAPTER 2

Zit. Zit. Zit. Zit. Zit. Darren Sharp stood in front of the bathroom mirror and counted his spots. One more had erupted during the night and he eyed it dejectedly.

"Darren are you out of bed yet? Hurry up or you'll be late for school."

"Right, Mam, I'm up, I'm up!"

He pushed his long gangly legs into his school trousers, dragged his shirt with the tie still attached over his head and wandered onto the landing.

He hated school, apart from craftwork. His parents were expecting great things of him in his exams this summer and he knew he wasn't up to it. Everything was so boring. Why couldn't he be left alone to mooch around and do his own thing?

Darren would have loved to have had a dog and go off rambling over Farmer Denver's fields. Not a fat old spaniel like the Colonel's next door, but a real dog, a Doberman or a golden retriever. He could imagine himself racing along with his dog beside him, racing to adventure.

His mam said dogs were a nuisance and needed looking after. There just wasn't room for a dog in their hectic up-the-social-ladder lives.

Darren came out of his daydream as he heard his mother shout again. They ate breakfast in the kitchen perched on stools. Nicholas Sharp was already dressed for work in a beautiful dark grey suit, white shirt and maroon tie. The family rarely spoke at breakfast. Each in their own small world planning their day, or in Darren's case wondering how to get out of his set timetable. He coughed twice and looked at his mother through lowered lids, was it too late to take a sicky? It was.

"Darren call at the supermarket on the way home and get some chicken breasts. They're next to the freezer section. Don't slouch over your breakfast like that, lift your spoon to your mouth."

Darren grunted. He hated doing these domestic jobs and wished his mother would stay at home and do them herself.

"I may be a bit late this evening. I have some new stock arriving this evening and I have some pricing to do."

Laura Sharp owned a smart little boutique in town. She was a bright eager businesswoman, determined to succeed.

"I may be late myself tonight," Nicholas said. "I'm going for a game of squash with that new supplier I told you about."

His wife paused in her stacking of the dishwasher and smiled across at him.

"Isn't he the supplier for the Supermarket on the other side of town?"

"Yes, I'm hoping to sweeten him, introducing him to the local amenities."

"Make sure you find out about his family, we could ask them round for dinner some time."

Darren groaned again. That was something else he hated, having to be polite to boring business acquaintances. Usually he managed to keep out of the way as his mother was quite willing for him to grab a sandwich to eat in his room. Friends of his parents always quizzed him about school and his future plans. What did he want to do? He could hardly say that he hadn't any plans and that school was a complete pain. The whole business world could go and jump on its board of directors. He grinned to himself as he imagined them getting on board a raft in their smart suits and floating away down the river.

"Darren stop that inane grinning and get your bag. Dad'll give you a lift to the bus stop if you hurry."

Collecting his bag he wandered out to the front drive and opened the garage doors. Mrs Blount was just walking up the Colonel's drive with a bulging plastic bag. Laura had tried to requisition her but without success, she was solely the Colonel's domestic.

Darren quite liked the old Colonel. They often had a few words over the back fence. He was very knowledgeable about W.W.2. Lots of interesting facts about ships and battles. He said that Darren should look things up for himself, he should read more. It was too much effort, perhaps one day when he had more time.

The old man seemed to have gone off his rocker a bit lately though. Darren had heard him counting quite loudly when he was down the garden the previous week. He had stood on an old bucket and looked over the fence.

There was the Colonel striding down the garden with Jasper at his heels. After doing this twice he proceeded to stride across the garden finishing just under Darren's puzzled head. He felt obliged to make his presence known.

"Good morning Colonel Frazer-Lambert." Darren knew that adults were much more forth coming if you were polite.

"Good morning Darren. No school today?"

"Yes Colonel, I've been putting the wheely bin out as it's Thursday. I thought I heard something."

"What? What? Oh, that would be me counting aloud. Making contingency plans."

"Are you going to make a swimming pool in the garden?" Darren often thought about it. Great for the Summer holidays.

"Swimming pool? No, my boy, no just the opposite."

Darren could hear his father shouting so he had to go without finding out what the opposite of a swimming pool could be.

Father and son rode in silence together to the bus stop. Nicholas had a great deal to think about. Although he and Laura were on the same wavelength as far as material things went he felt they were miles apart in other directions. Life was becoming sterile, no excitement left. The old routine, home, work and goals. Holidays abroad were becoming predictable. He needed something new.

He dropped Darren off at the bus stop, noticing suddenly how tall he was. My god, I'll soon be middle-aged, where has all my enthusiasm and sense of adventure gone? He thought of Darren's favourite word - boring. He thought of Bob Hoskin's new secretary, she was fantastically built. He'd seen her leaning over the desk yesterday and had to physically stop himself from walking up behind her and having a feel. Laura was becoming too brittle. He was ready for someone lush, full bosomed and warm to hold.

Suddenly the day seemed more promising. He drew into the main stream of traffic feeling less depressed and fantasized on skirts stretched tight over well rounded thighs and blouses filled with globular delights.

Darren leaned against the bus stop and daydreamed his favourite. Today he was a pirate, battling against high seas and Spanish galleons. His ship was of his own design, faster, trimmer and more powerful than any other ever built. His crew of cutthroats cringed as he walked the decks with his two black mastiffs at his heels. He had taken more treasure and hostages than Blackbeard. Queen Elizabeth had heard of his exploits, some day soon she would summon him to court and make him captain of her Armada.

His school bag was knocked from his shoulder and a jeering voice brought him back to reality.

"Dreamy Darren, you're a dork."

"Get stuffed, Bunny Baldwin," he snarled at the overweight boy.

"Mr. Dexter is going to have you if you haven't done your homework."

"Mind your own!"

"I've done mine. I've designed a modern car that floats on a cushion of air."

"Load of rubbish."

"Dexter said we had to design a vehicle with practical uses and mine is futuristic. What have you done?"

Darren thought about his efforts at design. It was a superb galleon, fully rigged for sail, looking something like his Elizabethan fantasy but with an interior for the modern seafarer. A ship for today. He'd really enjoyed his homework for once.

Laura Sharp left the house shortly after her husband and son. She loaded her Astra with swatches of materials, coat hangers, various folders of designs and her capacious handbag. Laura's boutique was beginning to take off after a shaky start, but she was a determined and forward-looking woman. She knew she had a flair for modern design She also knew her market and was hoping to attract some of the wealthier ladies of the town from the golf club, which she had recently joined.

Her only problem seemed to be lack of time. Her day was stretched to its limits, every ounce of her energy was used in getting ahead, making the right contacts and making decisions. Housework was not a priority. She must make an effort to find a suitable daily. Mrs Blount may not be able to come herself but she might have contacts. Sighing with exasperation she started the car and moved off towards another day of clothes and expectations.

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