Mumbersons and The Blood Secret, The Read Online Free

Jerry. ‘In her private jet?’
     
    Mrs Mumberson ignored him again. ‘We worked without pay, without decent clothes, or food or anything. It’s a wonder we survived.’
     
    ‘And where are these so-called mines?’ asked Jerry.
     
    ‘In the Grimhilderness mountains.’
     
    ‘Never heard of them.’
     
    ‘They exist, let me tell you. They’re cold and high and we worked in a mine right inside the bottom of one. We were there for twenty years. There were a whole lot of other parents who hadn’t loved....’ She said nothing for a moment, then added, ‘parents who hadn’t loved their children.’
     
    ‘Well, that bit I can believe,’ said Jerry.
     
    The rest of the evening didn’t go any better. The three adults squabbled a great deal. There was a big argument about where the older couple were going to live: Jerry didn’t want them staying in the house under any circumstances. They insisted it was still their house. He told them they’d been declared dead officially years ago, and didn’t own anything, which gave them an awful shock. Mrs Mumberson, who was on the verge of tears, asked, ‘But what will we do? Where will we go?’
     
    ‘We’ve been prisoners for twenty years!’ shouted Mr Mumberson at the same time as Billy said, ‘You can’t throw your own family out, Dad.’
     
    ‘Family!’ Jerry snarled at him. ‘I don’t call them family. A family doesn’t abandon its child.’ He jumped up, and his chair fell back against the wall with a bang. Glaring at his parents, he said, ‘You arrive out of nowhere with a ridiculous story. You don’t even apologise for leaving me when I was only a kid. You’re self-centred and...and....heartless!’
     
    He marched to the kitchen door and tore it open. ‘Do what you like!’ he shouted, and slammed the door behind him.
     
    ‘Just like Grimhilda,’ said Mrs Mumberson. ‘Always slamming doors.’
     

Chapter 3 - A phone call and a text
     
    Billy helped his grandparents sort out the twin beds in the spare room. Since his mother left, no one ever stayed overnight; Jerry didn’t encourage visitors. The room was musty and stale, but his grandparents thought it was a palace after sleeping in the hard bunks at the mine, or out in the open as they’d done for the last week. Billy found spare sheets for them, and blankets from around the house.
     
    Mrs Mumberson was so tired she told Billy she’d go to bed straight away. ‘I’m very pleased to know you, Billy. You’re so helpful.’ She didn’t add, ‘Unlike your father.’ She gave Billy a hug. He hadn’t been hugged since his mother left a year ago.
     
    His grandfather didn’t hug him. ‘Your Dad’s had a bit of a shock,’ he said. ‘He’ll come round in the morning.’ Mrs Mumberson rolled her eyes.
     
    But if the arrival of the Mumbersons had been a shock to Jerry, it was nothing compared to the shock he got when the phone rang during breakfast next morning. He answered it and his face went white. ‘Madeleine?’ he said. ‘ Madeleine? ’
     
    Billy jumped up from the table. ‘Is it Mum?’ His father put his finger to his lips, silencing him. Billy couldn’t hear what was being said at the other end, and his father’s mutters didn’t give him any idea of the conversation. Whatever his mother was saying took a lot of explanation. Jerry finally slammed the phone down.
     
    ‘Was that Mum?’ asked Billy.
     
    ‘Yes, it was your Mum. Typical. Typical! Rings out of the blue to tell me she’s got something she has to give me. Insists I go and pick it up. Straight away!’
     
    ‘You know where she is? Can I come?’
    ‘No, you can’t!’ shouted his father, more worried than angry. He went to sit down, then changed his mind. ‘I’ll have to take the day off work. They’re not going to like that. I wonder if Khafoops can cover my shift?’ He began to make himself sandwiches. ‘Your mum’s three hundred kilometres away.’ He dropped some butter on the floor, and