Chapter Eight
1
"Jim, I'll have another of these when you're ready." Alan Stephens downed the last of his beer.
"Don't you let my Sarah see you drinking like that," the landlord smiled. He picked up a fresh glass from under the bar and started to pull another pint.
"Why not?"
"She looks up to you know."
"What the hell are you talking about now?" Stephens asked, fishing in his inside jacket pocket for his wallet.
"Yeah, she's always telling us how you're her favourite teacher, how English is the best lesson, how your always so helpful to her. How do you think she would feel if she came in and saw you knocking 'em back like that eh?"
Stephens smiled back at the man behind the bar. "Favourite teacher? Did she say that?"
"Sure, Sarah's always talking about your class."
Stephens took a sip from his fresh pint. "I haven't seen her about much since the end of term, how's her holiday going?"
The burley landlord leaned over the bar, his voice low and confidential. "To tell you the truth mate I don't see that much of her myself; always out with her friends these days."
Jim Wilmot's words made Stephens cringe. "You don't mean Wendy Jones and Amanda Gardener?"
"Yeah, that's right. Why?"
"To tell you the truth Jim, I don't think that she should be hanging around with a couple of trouble makers like those two."
"Well, that's a fine thing coming from you mate."
Stephens raised his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well... I mean... your penny hangs about with them too, doesn't she?"
"Does she? Just you wait till I see her later." Stephens took a large gulp from his glass and banged it back down onto the polished woodwork.
"Oops!" Wilmot picked up a tea towel from under the bar and wiped up the spilt larger. "I take it she's not meant to then?"
"Let's put it this way, I can think of better kids she could have as friends."
"Come on Al, their not all that bad."
"That's one opinion I suppose." Stephens looked at his watch. 2:35! Shit! He managed to down the last of his pint in one.
"Wow, now there's a man on a mission." The landlord laughed reaching for a fresh glass.
Stephens jumped up from his stool. "No, not for me thanks, Jim. I've just realized that I have to be somewhere."
"The little woman got you under manners has she?"
"Yeah, you could say something like that," Stephens shouted over his shoulder as he ran out of the pub.
Author's Note
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The Dark Place (#FrightFest2016 Gold Winner)
HorrorThe twists and turns will keep your spine nicely chilled until the very end. Following the death of her mother 11-year-old Tamicka Moon and her father move from Canada to Eastlake in England, where they both struggle to come to terms with their gr...
