La went outside and looked up at the sky, where there was still a glimmer of light. Feliks’s little boy was with her, but she had almost forgotten him. He does not understand, she thought, which was just as well.
15
She had put Feliks and his son in the spare room at the end of the corridor downstairs. When she awoke the next morning and went into the kitchen, she saw that the two of them were already up and out in the garden. Feliks was showing his son the shrubbery, which reminded her that he had planted some of those shrubs, still there after all those years.
He wanted to show his son where he had lived, and so he took him off after breakfast, in his car. She stayed behind. She was giving coffee to a number of members of the orchestra who had travelled down for the concert and would be leaving later that morning.
‘Well,’ one of them said, ‘I hope that helps. I doubt it, though. Isn’t it awful?’
‘Music helps,’ she said. ‘Even if … even if …’ But she could not bring herself to finish the sentence.
Then they heard the news. It came on the radio, in the kitchen, and it was shouted out. Somebody said, quite simply, peace. She sat down because she thought that she would pass out. She held her head in her hands. ‘Oh,’ she said. Just: ‘Oh.’
She wanted to find Feliks immediately and tell him, but she made herself wait until he came back. Then she went out to the driveway. He saw her through the window of his car, and she realised that she must smile or he would think that it was bad news. She smiled. Then, to underline the point, she waved her hands in the air.
He said, ‘Good news? Is it good news?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes.’
He turned round and embraced his young son and kissed him. The boy looked surprised, even embarrassed. Then Feliks took La’s hands in his. He did not kiss her, but squeezed her hands, as if sharing some secret good news.
‘Your orchestra, La,’ he said. ‘Your orchestra saved the world. Again.’
She thought about this later. He had said again, and then she knew what he meant.
They went inside, where she had made coffee. The last time they had been together there had been no real coffee; now, such luxury. There would still be coffee, and water to make it with, and people to drink it. Those things had been threatened, but now the threat was gone.
‘When do you have to leave for Glasgow?’ she asked.
He hesitated, and she realised that there were times when something must be said, something wildly inappropriate – forward, really.
‘Don’t go,’ she said. ‘Stay. Just stay. We could get the orchestra going again.’
He looked at his son, and then looked back at her. She rose to her feet and picked up the little boy and kissed him.
Quick Reads
Books in the Quick Reads series
Amy’s Diary
Maureen Lee
Beyond the Bounty
Tony Parsons
Bloody Valentine
James Patterson
Buster Fleabags
Rolf Harris
The Cave
Kate Mosse
Chickenfeed
Minette Walters
Cleanskin
Val McDermid
The Cleverness of Ladies
Alexander McCall Smith
Clouded Vision
Linwood Barclay
A Cool Head
Ian Rankin
The Dare
John Boyne
Justin Richards
Doctor Who: I Am a Dalek
Gareth Roberts
Doctor Who: Made of Steel
Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who: Magic of the Angels
Jacqueline Rayner
Doctor Who: Revenge of the Judoon
Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who: The Sontaran Games
Jacqueline Rayner
A Dream Come True
Maureen Lee
Follow Me
Sheila O’Flanagan
Full House
Maeve Binchy
Get the Life You Really Want
James Caan
Girl on the Platform
Josephine Cox
The Grey Man
Andy McNab
Hell Island
Matthew Reilly
Hello Mum
Bernardine Evaristo
How to Change Your Life in 7 Steps
John Bird
Humble Pie
Gordon Ramsay
Jack and Jill
Lucy Cavendish
Kung Fu Trip
Benjamin Zephaniah
Last Night Another Soldier
Andy McNab
Life’s New Hurdles
Colin Jackson
Life’s Too Short
Val McDermid, Editor
Adèle Geras
The Little One
Lynda La Plante
Men at Work
Mike Gayle
Money Magic
Alvin Hall
My Dad’s a Policeman
Cathy Glass
One Good Turn
Chris Ryan
The Perfect Holiday
Cathy Kelly
The Perfect Murder
Peter James
Quantum of Tweed: The Man with the Nissan Micra
Conn Iggulden
RaW Voices: True Stories of Hardship
Vanessa Feltz
Reading My Arse!
Ricky Tomlinson
Star Sullivan
Maeve Binchy
Strangers on the 16:02
Priya Basil
The Sun Book of Short Stories
Survive the Worst and Aim for the Best
Kerry Katona
The 10 Keys to Success
John Bird
Tackling Life
Charlie Oatway
Traitors of the Tower
Alison Weir
Trouble on the Heath
Terry Jones
Twenty Tales of the War Zone
John Simpson
We Won the Lottery
Danny Buckland
Quick Reads
Quick Reads are brilliantly written short new books by bestselling authors and celebrities. Whether you’re an avid reader who wants a quick fix or haven’t picked up a book since school, sit back, relax and let Quick Reads inspire you.
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NIACE • unionlearn • National Book Tokens
The Reading Agency • National Literacy Trust
Welsh Books Council • Welsh Government
The Big Plus Scotland • DELNI • NALA
We want to get the country reading
Quick Reads, World Book Day and World Book Night are initiatives designed to encourage everyone in the UK and Ireland – whatever your age – to read more and discover the joy of books.
Quick Reads launches on 14 February 2012
Find out how you can get involved at www.quickreads.org.uk
World Book Day is on 1 March 2012
Find out how you can get involved at www.worldbookday.com
World Book Night is on 23 April 2012
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Join the Reading Agency’s Six Book Challenge at
www.sixbookchallenge.org.uk
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Stoke and New Island also provide books for new readers.
www.barringtonstoke.co.uk • www.newisland.ie
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See www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise
THE NO.1 LADIES’
DETECTIVE AGENCY
Alexander McCall Smith
The multi-million bestselling phenomenon
If you’ve got a problem and no one else can help you, then pay a visit to Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s finest – and only – female detective and proud proprietor of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Her methods may not be conventional but she’s got warmth, wit and intuition on her side, not to mention Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, the charming owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. She’s going to need them all as she sets out on a trail that will lead her into some sticky situations and more than a little danger in this first novel in Alexander McCall Smith’s much-loved series.
Abacus
978-0-349-11675-4
Discover the world of Alexander McCall Smith and sample his other books at