"'The day me and my family came to the village 'was the summer of the last year of the First World War." "'Heat oozed from the ground 'and snow clouds of elder blossom banged in the sky.'" "'The chatter of haymakers drifted on waves of air from the fields, 'humming with blundering bees 'and flickering with scarlet butterflies.'" "Morning!" "Morning!" "Oh, my God, I'm going to have my baby!" "Just look at this place." "What did I tell you, Doth?" "Marj, isn't it somethin'?" "Beautiful, Ma!" "See, didn't I tell you?" "We got veggies!" "Look, we got veggies!" "Marj!" "Look at this!" "Didn't I tell you?" "!" "I can't pick you up, my love!" "'My first memories are of being washed up 'in this strange new land, 'dizzy with scent 'and burnt all over with hot white flowers.'" "Look, we got strawberries here!" "Oh, look at this place." "Reg is going to love it!" "Lol!" "Lol?" "Come and get some strawberries." "Marj, he's not 'ere!" "Oh, he's gone a-wandering." "Lol!" "Lol?" "There you are." "'The world was a miracle to me." "'And one day I would record what I had seen 'so that others could see it too.'" "'Before it was lost and gone forever.'" "Now you go away..." "Oh, I want the place filled with flowers!" "You can make a posy here." "# As I was a-walking for my recreation... #" "'The eldest were my father's of another marriage," "'Marj, Doth and Phyll." "'These half-sisters I cherished." "'And my mother cared for the halves 'just as much as she did for the wholes." "'Me, my brother Jack and my sister Frances.'" "Reg, where'd I put him?" "Is he there?" "Yeah." "You got him?" "Yeah." "Safe and sound." "Pride of place." "'My father was away in London, 'working in the War Office." "'His picture was the only thing I'd seen of him since I was three.'" "Home." "Hello, darling." "How is everyone?" "Oh, all right." "You behaving yourself?" "I've not broken nothin'." "Good boy." "What's everybody up to?" "Marj is out in the yard," "Doth's peeling spuds." "What about the others?" "Frances is cleaning her trolley and Phyll is sitting on the steps." "What about our Lol?" "Lol's dead." "Turned yellow." "Mrs Moores is laying him out." "Lol's dead?" "What're you doing?" "Poor boy." "He's gone." "Fled to the angels." "I..." "I was getting him ready for the box." "No, Lol ain't dead, no." "Our Lol ain't dead, no, no." "Doth, go and mind the baby." "Marj, go and get the vicar." "Now!" "And send to Stroud for the doctor!" "Get me some blankets." "Oh, my darling." "Oh, my darling." "Come on!" "Please, hurry!" "Please!" "Please!" "Please!" "In the name of God, and trusting in his might alone, receive Christ's healing touch to make you whole." "May Christ bring you wholeness of body, mind and spirit..." "My darling!" "..deliver you from every evil, and bring you his peace." "Amen." "My darling, amen." "'I came close to death.'" "'But somehow I clung on." "'But it was a very near thing." "'A very near thing indeed.'" "Through the hole, see?" "She's coming!" "'My sister Frances was a beautiful, fragile child.'" "Come on." "'We were full of mischief 'and as thick as thieves.'" "Think she'll be a while." "Here it is." ""A murdered cad-a-ver" ""will be shocking-ly un-covered..."" "What's a cad-a-ver?" "I think it's a kind of... bird." "Varmints been in again." "'Our two old neighbours were rival ancients." "'Er-Up-Atop we called Granny Trill.'" "Keep it down, you great troll!" "'And 'Er-Down-Under was Granny Wallon.'" "You keep it down up THERE, you great boar!" "Miserable old trout." "'We had a feeling that the summer would never end.'" "Little varmints." "'All sights twice brilliant 'and smells twice sharp.'" "Come on!" "'All games twice as long.'" "'It seemed that here, no disaster could happen, 'that nothing could ever touch us.'" "Never been as bad as this before." "It's cruel." "Poor little mite." "Don't you fret." "He always fights back." "Come on." "Let's leave him be." "I'll make sure you're all right, Lol." "'As I lay in my bed," "'I could sense the whole valley 'by the surfaces of my skin, 'the turn of the hour, 'the set of the year, 'the weather and all the life to come.'" "'I was made one with the valley...'" "'..so that I felt part of its destination." "'Washed of my fever, 'ice-cold but alive, 'it seemed I would never lose it again.'" "Lol?" "Hey, darlin'." "I've cut you some lovely thin bread and butter to go with it." "Tummy ache!" "Darlin', that's because you haven't eaten in a week." "Look, just don't eat it too fast, cos you'll make yourself sick." "Hey, I'm going to walk into Stroud later on." "I'm going to buy you a paintbox." "Maybe some liquorice." "Would you like that?" "Everyone's been asking about you." "Fancy that." "Where's Frances?" "We buried her yesterday." "Cos of me?" "No, darlin', no." "No, you mustn't think that." "You mustn't." "Understand me?" "I'm sorry." "Come here." "Oh, my darling." "'Frances died suddenly, silently." "'Hers was a death which should never had happened." "'like so many children at the time.'" "'I've always believed she gave me her life, 'something so precious" "'I would live it to the full.'" "'For both of us.'" "Stop messin' me!" "Give over, Lol." "Doth, pass us Jack's old jumper." "Oi, that's mine!" "It's more holes than jumper anyway." "Marj, he's here again." "'I knew all about war." "'My ears from birth had been full of the talk of it." "'This man did not look like a soldier." "'He was not Brassoed, leather-belted 'and wax-whiskered, like my father.'" "You tell me all about it." "Shh!" "Don't really know where to start." "Um..." "Well, the mud's a foot deep at the bottom of the trenches." "Shells crashing down on you from above." "And you can hear the bullets snap and crack past your ears like a whip." "You oughtn't to be in the woods." "You ought to be at home." "That wouldn't do." "They'd jump on you before you could say "knife"." "Pow!" "Pow!" "Hey, Jack." "You got me." "He's all right." "Are you a sodger?" "I'm a "sodger", aye." "And you'd make a better "sodger" than me any day." "Would you like some more tea?" "Erm, I've still got half a mug." "All right." "How's the war in the wood?" "Have you lost it?" "I'm doing my best not to." "You seen my dad?" "He's a sodger, fighting the war." "Not much fighting goin' on in London." "He's doin' his bit for the country." "For all of us." "I'll tell you what, if I see your old man," "I'll tell him you said hello." "I'd er..." "I'd best be off." "You can stay a bit longer." "That's kind of you to offer." "Why are you staring?" "Erm, I-I..." "I'd best be going." "Don't want to get you in no trouble." "You mind yourself." "Thank you." "Take care." "Marj?" "Poor lad." "Goodbye." "No good'll come of it." "Come on, let's go." "Is that all right?" "Arms out." "There we go." "What's going on?" "You're starting school today." "No, I ain't." "I'm stopping home." "No, you're going to school." "Come on." "You're a big boy now." "Don't want to be." "Don't be silly..." "Marj, Doth." "Bye!" "Gerroff!" "Don't want to go to school!" "Bye." "Bye." "Come on, Lol, we got work." "Go on, you'll be late." "Let's go." "'It was my first amazed vision of any world 'outside the womanly warmth of my family.'" "'I didn't expect to survive it for long.'" "Look in his pockets." "It's a tater." "Give it 'ere." "You ain't got a tater." "I got his cap!" "Get off me!" "Good morning, children." "Good morning, Miss Buckley." "Who we got here, then?" "Laurie Lee." "Well, Laurie, how about you sit over there for the present?" "'My desk companions were two girls, 'already puppyishly pretty.'" "'Jo Jenkins...'" "When do we get the present?" "'..and Rosie Burdock.'" "Jack Lee, don't be laughing at your brother." "Now, children, hands together..." "'They were to distract and haunt me for the next ten years.'" "Hands together, Spadge Hopkins." "Our Father who art in heaven," "Hallowed be thy name." "Thy Kingdom come." "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." "Give us this day our daily bread..." "'The first and last years of school 'reside most vividly in the memory.'" "'We entered the door marked "infants", 'moved gradually through the years, 'till we were ready to be handed back to the world.'" "Thy Kingdom come." "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever." "Amen." "Come on!" "Jones' pond's frozen!" "Come on, Lol, you snail." "Wait for me!" "Go on, Lol, quicker!" "Careful, Lol!" "Mind yourself!" "Timber!" "Shove off, Rosie Burdock!" "You be careful on this ice, it'll crack underneath." "Great big heifer!" "You come over here and say that - I'll box your ears." "Like to see you try." "Getting the hang of this skating lark." "Jo!" "Didn't know you could skate, Lol." "Jo, watch this!" "Look at him showing off!" "Lol, careful, you don't want to break nothin'." "Jo!" "Watch this, then." "Don't say I didn't warn you." "Argh!" "Man down!" "You all right there, Rosie?" "Great big heifer?" "Meant in a nice way, like." "'We were all afraid of the gobbling Miss B.'" "Four goes into two, how many times, class?" "'She was a terror." "'We christened her Crabby.'" "No times, it's nought." "Dullards." "Carry the two to the next column, making..." "Class?" "How many does it make, if you carry the two?" "Class?" "26." "Makes 26." "Nothin' but straw between their ears." "Two and six makes 26." "Waste of blooming' time." "Ow!" "Lee?" "What's that you got?" "Give it 'ere." "You'll only earn yourself more strokes." ""The old red trees threw arches above us," ""making tunnels of rusty darkness."" ""You, like a slip of a yew..."" ""You, like a slip of a yew"?" "!" "What is this grubbiness?" "Poem, Miss." "It's for his sweetheart." "Shut up!" "I will not have this kind of talk in my classroom." "What've you got to say for yourself?" "It's my aunt, Miss." "What about it, Jack?" "I er..." "I never got on with her." "Well, best get on, then." "Oh, but, Miss, she's my cousin." "Mine too." "What, where do you think you're going?" "Where do you think you're going?" "Come back here." "Come back here!" "'We would do anything to get out of lessons.'" "'Many a lone coffin was followed to its grave 'by a straggle of long-faced children.'" "'All strangers to the bereaved.'" "'Memories mark you.'" "'Moments in time to cast a shadow over your life 'and change you forever.'" "'Remembering is to relive." "'To be in the same moment all over again.'" "What you doin', Ma?" "Just my scrapbook, Lol." "How was school?" "All right." "Where you off to?" "I want to hear all about school." "Lol?" "What you up to?" "Aw, look at you!" "I'm a sodger." "Like Pa." "I can see that." "And a fine one you are, too." "But I think you're missing something." "Every soldier needs his rifle, see?" "In here somewhere." "Argh!" "Shh!" "It's all right." "I'm not going to hurt you." "That were close!" "It ain't got no doors." "Got no walls, neither." "Set yourself down next to the fire." "Get the heat back in your bones." "You mustn't tell no-one you saw this place." "The Hun's got spies everywhere, Do you understand?" "Good lad." "It's Laurie, ain't it?" "Lol." "James Harris." "Private, first class." "Why does your hand shake?" "It's just the cold." "Wind blowing it in my bones." "Looking for someone?" "Lol?" "What are you doin' out here?" "There was Hun sodgers." "We hid from them." "He ain't got no doors." "Can't get no privacy." "His name's James." "Is it?" "Well, you're in luck, James." "I happen to have some food, clothes here you can have." "Thank you." "We was playing - weren't we, Lol?" "Argh, you got me." "You got me." "We better be off." "Say goodbye to James." "Bye, James." "You take care, you hear?" "'We were green and innocent." "'Not fully understanding what we did, 'imitating the rituals and roles that were played out before us.'" "Was Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated, class?" "In which country?" "Class?" "Ow!" "What do you think you're doing?" "Spadge Hopkins, sit up straight!" "This is straight as I get." "And you can settle down, Miss Burdock!" "Hopkins, sit up!" "Now!" "I am, Miss." "Tell us which city" "Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated." "Sarajevo." "Dunno." "London?" "Hmph!" "Ah!" "Sarajevo." "And why was this act of aggression such an important moment?" "Well... he was dead." "That was important for him, I suppose." "And for the rest of us?" "Come on, puddin' head!" "You better watch it." "What can you tell us?" "Nothing." "Because you don't know nothin'." "You're a great slouching know-nothing!" "Sod it all!" "Where are you going, young man?" "If it's any business of yours." "No, get back in your chair, this instant!" "Ta-ta." "No!" "I won't have it!" "You're going nowhere." "Put me down!" "Put me down!" "Help me get down!" "Someone help get me down!" "Three cheers for Spadge Hopkins!" "Stop that, and get me down!" "Stop that, I won't have it!" "I won't have it!" "Oh, all the woods and the meadows," "Woods where we hid from the wet," "Stiles where we stayed to be kind," "Meadows in which we met!" "Light, so low in the vale" "You flash and lighten afar," "For this is the golden morning of love," "And you are his morning star." "Flash, I am coming, I come," "By meadow and stile and wood," "Oh, lighten into my eyes and my heart," "And into my heart and my blood!" "Heart, are you great enough" "For a love that never tires?" "O heart, are you great enough for love?" "I have heard of thorns and briers." "Over the thorns and briers," "Over the meadows and stiles," "Over the world to the end of it" "Flash of a million miles." "What was that all about?" "What do you think?" "Love an' that?" "The kind that goes on and on?" "Nothing lasts forever." "Well, it don't." "What about you an' Jo?" "Oh, shut up!" "Not Jo Jenkins?" "Look at his blushing'!" "She ain't nothin' or no-one." "He's been pining for her." "Hey, Jack, now leave him be." ""Jo, I love you." "Jo, I want to marry you."" "I told you to shut up!" "Pull 'em apart." "Before they break summat." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Pa might arrive any minute." "That's enough!" "Stand up, the pair of you." "What will your father think if he comes home and finds you like this?" "He'll think we've descended into anarchy!" "Now, go upstairs, the pair of you!" "'The war had ended long ago 'but our father still did not return to live with us.'" "Are you going to play that for your dad?" "If he likes." "Course he will." "Lovely, it is." "It is?" "!" "What time did he say?" "'There was the occasional promise of a visit, 'and each time we attended dutifully, 'lest we shake our mother's faith.'" "Oh, he says he's bringing home a whole leg of lamb!" "We'll have a time of it tonight." "It'll be lovely!" "Lol, I think..." "I think that's enough practising for now." "I ain't finished yet." "No, but I-I..." "I think that's enough." "Lol!" "Telegram, ma'am." "Thank you." "He's been kept back in London." "But he sends his best to you all." "'A serious drought hit the country.'" "'Springs dried up, 'wells filled with frogs." "'Trees shrivelled, 'crops burned in the fields." "'Small naked winds blew over our faces, 'dandelion seeds floated by, 'burnt sap and roast nettles tingled our nostrils 'together with the dull rust smell of dry ground.'" "There's none coming, Ma!" "Oh, Lol, darling, come here." "Doth, get some mugs, will you, love?" "Well, we ain't got much, have we?" "No." "Right, then." "Right, come on, then." "'Ere you are, missus!" "Try this on for size!" "Granny Wallon!" "It's the first of my last year's cowslip wine." "Oh, you don't be giving 'em too much though, Granny Wallon, cos they'll have a funny turn." "Conduct yourselves with some dignity else you shan't be getting nothing." "You'd think you'd learned your manners from 'Er-Up-Atop." "Ooh, did you hear him, missus?" "The screech bird?" "Last night it was, and the night before that." "No, I can't say I did, Granny Wallon." "You mark my words, 'Er-Up-Atop is going." "You mark my words!" "This heat will have her." "Is there something wrong with her?" "There's not a lot right, that's for certain." "Ha-ha!" "Here, don't look so sour, you." "If you're so worried..." "run this up to her." "That you again, varmint?" "I'm on a visit." "Well, just mind my pots or I'll cut you to pieces." "Brought you some wine." "From 'Er-Down-Under?" "Poison, it'll be!" "No, it ain't!" "Bleurgh!" "It's awful stuff!" "I'll take it back, then." "No, no, no." "I'll take it." "Might make use of it... scouring the pots." "You going bald?" "Bald?" "!" "Never!" "I got my bits!" "Look at the dead stuff dropping off your comb." "That's healthy, that is." "Just making room for more." "'Er-Down-Under," "I got more than 'er!" "'Er's as bald as a tater root!" "Wicked old lump!" "I'll see 'er gone." "'Er's failing." "You mark my words." "'Right, lads, up the hill!" "'" "There's sodgers!" "'Left, right, left." "Left, left." "Left, right, left...'" "'Soldiers with rifles marched to the top of the hills 'and began shooting at passing clouds...'" "Fire!" "'..hoping that bursting them 'might bring rain.'" "Take aim!" "Fire!" "Don't get too close, Lol!" "Has Marj gone to see the sodger in the woods?" "Shh." "Come on." "Fire!" "Reload!" "'Whether from prayers or shooting, 'or from a simple return of nature, 'the drought broke soon after..." "'..and it began to rain as it never rained before.'" "Sweet saints above!" "It's coming in!" "Bring brooms!" "It's coming in!" "Stop it, Doth, Marj, get the boys!" "Right, you got to sweep it, my darlin'!" "Sweep it away!" "Sweep it away!" "I've got you something." "It's my mum's." "Some of the lads, when we, erm..." "When THEY go over the top, they give something away to be remembered by." "But I got you to remember you by." "Lol?" "You little sneak, Laurie Lee!" "I never done nothin'!" "Oh, come 'ere, you!" "Gerroff!" "What you doin out here, anyway?" "Playing sodgers!" "Was he tryin' to hurt you?" "How do you mean?" "Bitin' you?" "That wasn't..." "That weren't no bite." "It was a kiss." "Like off Ma when I'm in bed?" "I suppose - a little bit." "When two people like each other a lot, they want to find a way to show it." "You could just tell him." "Sometimes you might want to do more than that." "Get close to someone." "Like Ma and Pa." "You understand?" "Is the sodger going away, then?" "Why do you say that?" "Pa went away." "James isn't going anywhere." "Can't catch me!" "Lol?" "Lol!" "Where you going?" "Can't catch me!" "Lol, get back here!" "Can't catch me!" "Come back here, Lol!" "So what shall we do now then, Jo?" "I don't mind." "Go on - you tell." "No." "YOU do it." "No." "Do it like before." "What seems to be the trouble then, Miss Jenkins?" "'The early exploration of Jo's body 'was a solitary studying of maps.'" "'The signs upon her 'showed me the way I should go, 'over flesh smoother than candleskin, 'like something thrown down from the moon.'" "That'll be all, Miss Jenkins." "6 goes into 12, twice." "One foot, 0.304." "One inch, 2.54." "Ow!" "What you doin', Lol?" "None of your business!" "I'll tell Miss you're on your way." "Don't want to miss the test." "Ow!" "There will be no talking, no cheating, no peeking " "Spadge Hopkins, I'll be watching you." "Mmm." "What's up with you?" "Please, Miss, I think I got the measles." "Strange it's only on your arms." "That's nettle rash!" "Shut up, Rosie." "I seen him in the field getting them so he could miss the test." "Miserable child." "Slow!" "And lazy!" "Right, class - begin test." "Write your names on top of the sheet." "Question one:" "x over 6 plus 7 equals 3½." "What is x?" "Get out the way!" "Move!" "Slow and lazy!" "Can't catch me!" "I'll 'ave you!" "Ah!" "Get off me!" "Get off me!" "Argh!" "You're a pain in the neck, Rosie Burdock!" "Ow!" "Gerroff!" "Argh!" "Ow, you're hurtin' me!" "Good!" "Teach you to go biting'." "Ugh!" "Get off!" "You got something in those shorts of yours." "I don't mind." "You got any wine gums?" "I'll show ya, if you want." "You got any wine gums?" "Not for you, I ain't!" "Oh!" "All right there, Lol?" "Want a lift home?" "Yeah." "Hop on, then." "I been practising." "All right there, Rosie?" "All right?" "How's your ma?" "She's all right, Mrs Lee, yeah." "Hold on tight, then!" "Not too fast, mind." "No, no, no, no, no." "Hee-hee-hee-hee!" "Whoo-hoo!" "# As I was a-walkin' for my recreation" "# Down by the green meadows... #" "That way a little bit." "A little bit more." "That's it, that's great." "Margaret?" "# There I met a fair maid" "# Making great lamentation" "# Oh, Jimmy will be slain in the wars, I'm afraid... #" "All right, ladies and gentlemen." "# The blackbirds and thrushes sing in the green bushes" "# The lark and the doves seem to mourn for this maid... #" "Whoa!" "Ha-ha!" "Only thing now is stopping the thing!" "Ha-ha!" "You 'ave mended the brakes right, Ma?" "No, no, no, no." "But we'll make do!" "How?" "!" "Help!" "Argh!" "Hey!" "Use the brakes!" "Help!" "HELP!" "Oh, no." "Oh, my gosh!" "Aargh!" "All right, Mrs Lee?" "Ta, Jerry." "Deary me!" "Where did you buy that?" "It's broken." "When I worked up at Gaviston Court" "I always dreamed of owning one of these." "Now I got one." "Bit of glue, it'll be fine." "We can't afford broken china, Ma." "So, have you been giving that Rosie Burdock the run-around, then?" "Ain't nothin' doing." "I remember when you two were little." "You know you pushed her in the fire?" "Weren't burning', of course." "Shame!" "The path of true love." "Can I ask you something?" "You just did." "Didn't you?" "How did you meet Dad?" "Well..." "I was working in your granddad's pub at the time and there was an advert in the newspaper:" ""Widower, four children, seeks housekeeper."" "That was it." "I got lucky with his four." "They took to me straightaway." "You know, which was hard, considering they'd just lost their mother." "Good as gold, they were." "Then I had Frances... ..Jack... then you came along." "Hey!" "The first four years of us together was just magic." "I do love him, you know." "'The year revolved around the village, 'the festivals round the year, 'the Squire round the festivals, 'and the village round the Squire.'" "Squire's been good to us this year." "'The Parochial Church Tea...'" "Lol!" "Don't pick!" "'..and Annual Entertainment was his winter treat.'" "You practised enough - it'll go all right." "You two on tonight, then?" "Should be good for a laugh." "Leave some for the rest of us!" "The Parochial Church Tea... ..is with us again, I suggest." "Another year." "Another year comes around... ..when I see you gathered here, once more." "When I see..." "When I think..." "And here you all are." "It comes to me... friends..." "He's lost it!" "Stop it!" "All of you, shh!" "Once again..." "Thank you, Squire, once again, for such a generous feast." "Now..." "Not yet!" "Rosie Burdock, that means you, too." "We must wait to say grace." "O, bountiful Father..." "O, bountiful Father..." "We thank Thee for our daily bread." "May it strengthen and refresh our bodies." "And we pray Thee, nourish our souls with Thy heavenly grace..." "Amen." "..through Jesus Christ, our Lord." "Amen." "What's up wi' you?" "Carry on." "Excuse me, Waiter." "Yes, ma'am?" "What is the meaning of this fly in my tea?" "I wouldn't know." "I'm not a fortune teller!" "And my soup tastes funny!" "Well, why aren't you laughing, then?" "!" "For the next item, ladies and gentlemen, we have an instrumental duet by Miss Jenkins and young Laurie Lee." "Get on with it!" "Shh!" "# ..the pipes are calling" "# From glen to glen" "# And down the mountainside" "# The summer's gone" "# And all the flowers are dying" "# 'Tis you, 'tis you" "# Must go and I must bide" "# But come ye back" "# When summer's in the meadow" "# Or when the valley's hushed" "# And white with snow" "# 'Tis I'll be here" "# In sunshine or in shadow" "# Oh, Danny boy" "# Oh, Danny boy" "# I love you so. #" "Brilliant!" "Didn't he do us proud?" "I'll take it." "That were great, Lol." "Yeah, good 'un, Lol." "Did all right, I suppose." "Ta." "Where's Jo?" "Probably with the other babies." "Right then, we going up there or not?" "I'm up for it." "Lol, how about it?" "Where you off to, then?" "Goin' by Bulls Cross." "Harry Lazbury seen the phantom coach two nights ago." "There ain't no phantom coach." "All right, if you're scared..." "I ain't." "And I got no wine gums, neither, if that's what you're after." "Your loss." "I said I'd wait for Jo." "Wasting your time with goody two-shoes." "Get a shift on." "Leave him behind, if he ain't coming." "Well, I had it with this." "Go home to your ma, if you're too scared." "Oh, all right then." "Wait up!" "I ain't waiting'." "Slow'n'lazy Lee!" "'Bulls Cross was an ancient staging post 'that cast up beasts and spirits.'" "Anyone else hear that?" "That weren't nothing." "Just an owl." "'We were afraid to go up there at night, 'which is probably why we did it so often.'" "You hear what they say about the phantom coach?" "Anyone who sets eyes upon it be cursed to die an 'orrible death." "Martin Fowler saw it." "Two weeks later?" "Dead." "Run over by a coach and horses." "Ain't no curse." "Martin Fowler was deaf and near blind." "I heard the phantom's an old coach driver." "One time, his horses got spooked." "They bolted, throwing the driver from his seat." "His head was dashed on the rocks." "That's not what I heard." "There was once a hangman, used to string up felons from that gibbet." "He worked nights, taking thieves and murderers up to them gallows, where they be hung, till they be dead, dead, dead." "One storm-black night, he's handed a shivering boy." "So he takes this boy up the gallows, pts the noose around his neck, pulls the knot tight." "A cloud moved from the moon and lit up the gallows." "The hangman looked up... ..to see the face of his own son looking back at him." "The hangman went home." "Drove a nail into the wall and did what he did best." "Now he haunts this place." "We should get out of here." "I think I can hear horses." "Lol?" "You see that?" "It's the phantom!" "Go." "Go." "Shh, shh!" "There's your phantom!" "Oh, come on." "Let's follow him." "Look at him." "He's cock of the walk, ain't he?" "We should go." "'Come on, lazy bones!" "'" "Give us a minute." "What're you playing at?" "You'll be late for school." "What?" "!" "What?" "!" "Mornin'." "Something attack you in the night?" "Just shaving'." "What for?" "You've got nothin' but fluff!" "Them's whiskers!" "Get on!" "Be hairs on his chest next." "And everywhere else." "Leave him be." "Ma?" "If I could unsee what I just saw..." "What d'you see?" "It's terrible." "What is?" "Come on, we're not bleedin' mind-readers." "Don't talk like that." "Right, are you telling us or not?" "I was..." "I was just passing the Woolpack, and he..." "He's just lying there." "Just lying there and his..." "His eyes are open." "I think he's dead." "'We all knew what had happened." "'We could taste the violence, 'even if we'd not seen it with our own eyes.'" "'It was bloody and raw 'and more terrifying than anything imagined.'" "Has anyone seen anything?" "'But the men that murdered him belonged to the village 'and the village looked after their own.'" "What about you, boy?" "You know anything?" "Right, lads, let's get him up." "'The culprits were never punished, 'but neither we, nor they...'" "'..ever forgot it.'" "Have you seen him?" "The deserter?" "A farmer seen him in the woods." "You sure you haven't see him?" "You get yourself home, lad." "Come on." "Why are you sad?" "Because I miss Frances." "What's a deserter?" "Where'd you hear that word?" "From a sodger with a red hat on." "Oh, Marj, it's too late." "There's nothing you can do now, darling." "I've got to warn him." "This'll only break your heart, it's too late." "Don't you understand?" "Of course I understand." "Well, then you know I have to go to him." "Oh, darlin'." "Can I go with her to the war?" "No, Lol." "Oh, sweetheart." "Is the war coming to our house?" "No, sweetheart." "We're safe here." "Thank you, Lol." "He's safe." "For now." "Come on, Lol!" "Hurry up!" "Jack, wait up!" "So slow!" "Jack!" "'That summer, mysterious senses clicked into play." "'Our thighs seemed to burn like dry grass, 'emotions swung wildly 'and our bodies seemed tilted out of all recognition." "'We knew what was happening to us, 'we just didn't know what to do with it.'" "She ain't comin'." "Oh, she's always through after church." "Won't she... mind?" "Mind?" "Lizzy's keen, let us do all we want." "All we want?" "Shurrup, Lol." "You shurrup." "Both of you, shurrup!" "She's coming." "Go on!" "All right there, Lizzy?" "Hello." "What're you doin'?" "Whatever you want us to be doin'?" "Yeah." "Go on, then." "What've you got in mind?" "Ow!" "What do we do now, then?" "I dunno." "Let's go." "You all right, Ma?" "What happened?" "It's Granny Trill." "'So many of my childhood days 'had been spent prowling slowly round Granny Trill's treasures.'" "'Now she was gone.'" "Lord have mercy." "'Not two weeks after Granny Trill died," "'Granny Wallon gave up in her sleep.'" "You comin' in, then?" "'It was as though I'd been dipped in hot oil...'" "Stone me." "'..baked, dried 'and hung throbbing on wires.'" "I know you're there, Laurie Lee." "'I was an unexploded bomb.'" "Where's Ma?" "Away with Dad." "You can smile, Lol." "The war's finished." "Everyone's in the Woolpack, Marj." "There's music." "Everyone's dancing." "Let's go, Jack." "Stop a minute longer." "Only a minute won't do no harm." "Will Pa die now the war's over?" "No." "Course he won't." "So he'll be coming home?" "You got all the people you need already." "Ma, Doth, Phyll an' me." "We look after you." "I told you, leave me be!" "The sodger!" "Maybe he's seen Pa." "Oh, no!" "I never told." "I never told anyone." "James!" "Stop it, you're hurting him!" "Stop it!" "Leave him alone!" "Marj!" "Marj!" "I love you!" "I love you too." "Step away, please." "'I knew something momentous was happening.'" "'The war was over 'and the end of the world was come.'" "'Mother had disappeared 'and I never expected to see another day.'" "You weren't there when the war ended, were you?" "You were in London with Pa." "You should've seen it." "Trafalgar Square." "The fountains." "Soldiers dancing with girls." "And there was Reg." "His uniform." "His uniform on." "His hair was just so." "That night... ..were magic." "Magic, it were." "Was that the night he told you?" "That he wasn't coming back to live with us no more?" "No, no." "He, he never said that, see." "Got a job in the civil service." "We've never wanted for nothing, have we?" "But we were his family." "All right, Lol." "Go on." "Get out of 'ere." "You must be thirsty." "I ain't." "You be." "C'mon, I'll show you." "C'mon!" "Unless you're scared." "'The day Rosie Burdock decided to take me in hand 'was a motionless day of summer, 'creamy, hazy, and amber-coloured, 'with beech trees standing in heavy sunlight 'as though clogged with wild wet honey.'" "What're you doin', Rosie?" "I ain't playin' no more games." "Get under 'ere before someone sees." "'I was terrified of her." "'In her eyes I saw unnatural wisdoms 'more threatening than anything I could imagine.'" "What you got there?" "Cider." "How does it taste?" "Like..." "Like fire." "Here, don't drink it all." "Ain't finished." "Give it 'ere!" "Rosie..." "I like you better than Walt, Ken and Boney Harris." "I..." "I think you're even prettier than Betty Carpenter." "Should hope so." "'We kissed, so dry and shy, 'it was like two leaves colliding in air.'" "'Lol!" "'" "'Lol!" "'" "Lol?" "You really like me more than Walt?" "Do I heck!" "You do like me more than Walt." "Look at this place." "What about it?" "The hills running together, the trees, the whole valley." "You ever feel like you're a part of it?" "That cider's gone to your head!" "It's magnificent!" "You got your boots on!" "Don't matter!" "Timber!" "You get home safe, Laurie Lee." "Rosie?" "Rosie!" "'Oh, Rosie." "'There's something about that evening 'that dilates the memory even now.'" "'I was bursting with power and pleasure.'" "'I felt valiant, fateful, 'and for the first time in my life, 'invulnerable to the perils of night.'" "'I was never the same again.'" "I think they're pretty." "What are you meant to be!" "?" "Night!" "'The year after the war ended we were celebrating peace.'" "Rosie!" "Don't you look a picture!" "Oh, my goodness." "You both do." "All of you." "I'm a fairy." "You can fly?" "You got wings?" "Then fly." "Fly!" "Rosie." "Rosie!" "Lol, what d'you do that for?" "'On that spring day of magical transformations, 'of tears and dusty sunlight, 'of brass bands and cakes by the cartload, 'we couldn't know what the future held for any of us." "'Pretty Jo grew fat with a Painswick baker.'" "'And Rosie, having baptised me with her ciderous kisses, 'married a soldier and I lost her forever.'" "Could you all move over to your right a little, keep very still." "'Suns rose and fell." "'Years passed almost without us knowing.'" "'Now the last days of my family drew near." "'The girls were grown and they wished to be gone.'" "You're not leaving!" "Doth, Phyll, she's not leaving." "Stay out of this, you two." "Put your case down!" "No!" "We're getting married." "You're not taking her!" "It's time, Ma." "You can't keep her here forever, Mrs Lee." "Who do you think you're talking to?" "Huh?" "Mother!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it." "I cannot be without him." "We're in love!" "Do you think I don't understand about love?" "'He had tried to carry off our willing sister 'and we had all of us very near killed him.'" "All right, come here." "Oh, me darlin'." "It's OK." "You're right, there we go." "You sit down, go on." "Come 'ere, me darlin'." "Oh, Marj." "Oh, Marj!" "That's me, then." "D'you remember Blackbirds And Thrushes?" "Yeah." "It was your dad's favourite." "He'd get me to sing it all the time." "# As I was a-walkin' for my recreation" "# Down by the green meadow... #" "'The three or four years my mother spent with my father, 'she fed on for the rest of her life.'" "# There I met a fair maiden... #" "'She raised his two families, faithfully and alone." "'And for 30 years, she clung to one fantasy - 'that he might one day return to her.'" "'But he never did.'" "# With his heart full of yearning" "# He found his dear Mary" "# All dead in her grave" "# He cried, "I'm forsaken" "# "My poor heart is breaking"... #" "# I wish that I never" "# Had left this fair maid. #" "You're my sodger." "Off you go, then." "Sit up straight." "Off you go." "Go on." "'My mother loved this world 'and saw it fresh with hopes that never clouded." "'She was an artist, 'a light-giver, and an original, 'and she never for a moment knew it.'" "'As for me, I was 19 years old, 'still soft at the edges, 'but with the confident belief in good fortune.'" "'I was vainglorious, 'full of raging excitement, 'knowing I had far to go.'" "'I left behind a village life 'that was soon to break, 'dissolve and scatter." "'The valley would change forever 'and so would I.'" "'I felt doomed, 'and of all things wonderful.'"