Whisperer and Other Voices

SNARKER'S SON 'All right, all right!' Sergeant Scott noisily submitted. 'So you're lost. You're staying with your dad here in the city at a hotelyou went sightseeing and you got separatedI accept all that. But look, son, we've had lost kids in here before, often, and they didn't try on all this silly stuff about names and spellings and all!' Sergeant Scott had knownhad been instinctively 'aware' all daythat this was going to be one ofthoseshifts. Right up until ten minutes ago his intuition had seemed for once to have let him down. But now... 'It's true,' the pallid, red-eyed nine-year-old insisted, hysteria in his voice. 'It's all true, everything I've said. This townlookslike Mondon but it's not! And...and before I came in here I passed a store called Woolworthsbut it should have been "Wolwords"!' 'All right, let's not start that again.' The policeman put up quieting hands. 'Now: you say you came down with your father from...from Sunderpool? That's in England?' 'No, I've told you,' the kid started to cry again. 'It's "Eenland!" We came down on holiday from Sunderpool by longcar, and' 'Longcar?' Sergeant Scott cut in, frowning. 'Is that some place on the north-east coast?' 'No, it's not a place! A longcar is...well, alongcar! Like a buzz but longer, and it goes on the longcar lanes. You know...?' The boy looked as puzzled as Sergeant Scott, to say nothing of accusing. 'No, I don't know!' The policeman shook his head, trying to control his frown. 'A "buzz"?' Scott could feel the first twinges of one of his bilious headaches coming on, and so decided to change the subject. 'What does your father do, son? He's a science-fiction writer, eh? And you're next in a long line?' 'Dad's a snarker,' the answer came quite spontaneously, without any visible attempt at deceit or even flippancy. In any case, the boy was obviously far too worried to be flippant. A 'nut,' Scott decidedbut nevertheless a nut in trouble. Now the kid had an inquisitive look on his face. 'What's science fiction?' he asked. 'Science fiction,' the big sergeant answered with feeling, 'is that part of a policeman's lot called "desk-duty"when crazy lost kids walk into the station in tears to mess up said policeman's life!' His answer set the youngster off worse than before. Sighing, Scott passed his handkerchief across the desk and stood up. He called out to a constable in an adjacent room: 'Hey, Bob, come and look after the desk until Sergeant Healey gets in, will you? He's due on duty in the next ten minutes or so. I'll take the kid and see if I can find his father. If I can'twell, I'll bring the boy back here and the job can go through the usual channels.' 'All right, Sergeant, I'll watch the shop,' the constable agreed as he came into the duty-room and took his place at the desk. 'I've been listening to your conversation! Right rum 'un that,' he grinned, nodding towards the tearful boy. 'WLumley, Brian is the author of 'Whisperer and Other Voices', published 2003 under ISBN 9780312878023 and ISBN 0312878028.