Trader Jack -The Story of Jack Miner (The Story of Jack Miner Series) Read Online Free Page B

Trader Jack -The Story of Jack Miner (The Story of Jack Miner Series)
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been an outpatient at the hospital and was waiting for a heart bypass operation. He had decided to write to me just in case.
    They told me to stop smoking and lose weight, he wrote.
    You know those pills that I've been putting under my tongue . . . They're Glyceryl Trinitrate. They help me through the chest pains.
    It was a pity that Bill had kept all his problems to himself. I knew that he had angina. I just didn't know how bad it was. I read on: I've cut down on smokes and sweets, but it's bloody hard. I think it's mainly stress. The shop's been losing money for a long time. You've been a great help, but we're not making enough to meet the bills. I don't know if I can hold out until the end of the year. I owe rent on the shop and flat and the bank is threatening to call in the overdraft.
    The kid fell and began to howl. His mum picked up her dress, waded in, dragged him out and dried him. After he was dry, she changed his nappy and he quietened down.
    The letter continued: I'm fifty three next birthday, so it's going to be a battle to get a new job. I hope that it will be some years before you read this, Jack. All I can say is that I've been thinking of your lovely Mum.
    I turned away from the family and wiped my eyes with my sleeve.
    Look after yourself. That's why I shouted at you when I saw you smoke the other day. Give it up! OK! Don't chuck in school. Make something of yourself. You've got it in you.
    Take care of Jazz. I can see him now. Snug in his basket. Always sleeps in the same place. Keep him there. He likes it.
    Love Bill.
    If Dad's somewhere up there, he needn't worry. I stopped smoking when he died. That stuff about Jazz, his basket and his sleeping place. Why was Baton so interested in it?
     
    *   *   *
     
    We walked up the stairs to the flat and bumped into Gill. She offered me a bed for the night. That puzzled me a bit until we were inside. I couldn't switch on the TV. They had cut off the electricity. It was still light enough to go through all the letters and photos in the small leather case. I kept some and threw out others. I went to Bill's cupboard and put his clothes into two black bags and carried them to the living room. That would be for Oxfam or some other charity.
    I kept thinking about Dad's letter as I walked around the flat, putting some photos, a few family things, jazz CDs and a few books in his large brown suitcase.
    Bill's favourite Louis Armstrong CD, a photo of Dad and Mum and her engagement ring were put in the side pocket of my backpack. My passport and birth certificate went in my inside jacket pocket. There was nothing for me here. Might as well go to London. Far more opportunities there. Try to find Sandy. There was just enough money to get there. I could be a waiter, get a job in a shop or something. Had plenty of experience selling fish and chips.
    When I was finished, I felt much better. I had made a decision. The backpack and sleeping bag were on the bed, with a towel, trousers, shirts, socks and a few other things. It was beginning to get dark. After feeding the dog, I had a lukewarm bath and got into Dad's bed. It made me feel close to him.
    The early morning sun woke me up. Jazz was fast asleep in the corner of the room. I thought of Dad's letter and remembered Baton examining the battered basket. By mentioning it in his letter, Bill had obviously made the liquidator suspicious. Jazz woke up, jumped out of the basket, stretched and wagged his tail. I went over to the corner where he slept, picked up the basket and took out the dog's cushion. I felt the basket to see whether there was a false bottom or hidden compartment or something. Same as Baton, I found nothing.
    Just when I was about to put it back in the corner, I noticed that the floorboard wasn't nailed down. I knelt down and touched the board. It moved slightly. I took out my pocketknife, pushed it into a crack and started loosening the floorboard. It came out. The gap was about a foot long and about four inches

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