A Thousand Water Bombs Read Online Free Page B

a square of grey blanket. As soon as I stepped on his carpet he put it under his pillow and
got up. Charlie never gets out of bed unless someone comes to get him, because his mum says he mustn’t. It’s not normal to be so obedient. He’s the opposite of his
brother!
    ‘Hi Charlie,’ I said.
    ‘Heyyo Keener.’ It’s hard not to laugh about the ‘l’ thing. (Copper Pie makes him say lollipop - yoyyipop.) I think his nappy was full but I wasn’t going to
mention it. He waddled off, through all the debris. I followed him back down the stairs all the way to the kitchen.
    ‘Heyyo.’
    ‘Hello Snot,’ said Copper Pie.
    Charlie smiled. I don’t think he knows it’s an insult.
    ‘Can we make a marble wun?’
    ‘Make it yourself, Snot.’
    ‘I’ll do it with you,’ I said. We got the box out from the kitchen cupboard. I’m a whizz at marble runs. I heard feet on the stairs and then the noise of the telly coming
on in the room above. Copper Pie had deserted me. Charlie chose a clear marble with a green swirl.
    ‘Weady.’
    ‘Hang on,’ I said. ‘I haven’t made it yet.’ Charlie watched me construct a few towers and link them together.
    The back door banged open and in walked Copper Pie’s dad and another man – a stranger who definitely wasn’t Bee’s dad. I looked at his feet. Big white trainers.
    ‘There’s my Charlie-boy.’
    ‘I’m pwaying wiv Keener.’
    ‘Where’s your big brother?’
    ‘He’s in the telly room,’ I said.
    ‘Get down here and turn the googlebox off,’ shouted Copper Pie’s dad. (Everyone shouts in their house.) More feet-on-the-stairs noise.
    ‘This is my son.’ He pointed to Copper Pie who had appeared in the doorway. ‘And this is my old friend Simon.’ He put his arm round the stranger. I didn’t care who
he was. I was more interested in the mystery of where Bee’s dad had been since Wednesday if he hadn’t been at C.P.’s. Maybe he’d fallen over and knocked himself out and was
wandering around the streets with no idea what his name was . . . like that piano man. Maybe he’d be in the newspaper, Bee’s dad found with no memory except every Man United football
score ever.
    THE TRUE STORY OF PIANO MAN BY KEENER
    A man was found wandering with no identification on him. He couldn’t speak. He was handed over to the police because no one knew what to do with him. They gave him
     some paper so he could write his name and address but all he did was draw a picture of a grand piano. They found him one and he sat down and played like a professional.
    No one knew where he lived or what had happened to him to make him not be able to speak. All they ever knew was that he was a fantastic pianist.
    ‘Pleased to meet you. I hear you’re football crazy,’ said the stranger.
    Copper Pie grunted. He’s rubbish at talking to adults.
    ‘Simon and me used to play football together when we were kids. How many windows d’you think we broke?’ said C.P.’s dad.
    ‘Too many to count,’ said Simon the stranger, and they both laughed. I don’t get that about grown-ups. If Copper Pie broke a window he’d be for it, but they broke loads,
and for some reason it’s funny.
    Copper Pie’s dad smiled a big smile and said, ‘Simon is a scout. A real scout.’
    Big deal! I pictured him dressed in a green scout shirt with a red necker, wearing his huge trainers, and tying silly knots with his fat fingers.
    ‘Keener! A scout!’
    Copper Pie started bouncing, like a puppy. I couldn’t imagine why. Charlie clapped but there was no way he understood either.
    ‘Great,’ I said. I didn’t want to burst his bubble. Maybe he fancied joining.
    ‘He’s working for one of the big clubs. He can’t say who.’ Copper Pie’s dad winked at Simon. ‘It’s all hush-hush. They’re interested in a player
from round here.’
    I’d caught up. We were talking football. A football scout, not the sort you find at a jamboree. No wonder Copper Pie was excited.
    ‘I’m going back