The Skeleton Tree by Diane Janes (books for 7th graders .TXT) 📗

up at him, responding to his mischievous tone. ‘Ooh … good secret or bad secret?’

‘Very good secret.’

‘Come on then, tell me.’

His smile became a grin. ‘I’ve been promoted.’

‘How lovely! Congratulations!’

‘Effective from April. District Director for Leicestershire.’

‘Leicestershire? Won’t that involve an awful lot of travelling?’

‘Not once we’ve moved down there.’

‘But I don’t want to move to Leicestershire.’ The words were out before she could stop them.

Bruce’s smile faded. He adopted the patient tone which she recognized as the one he used for the children, when they didn’t understand the finer points of their maths homework.

‘Darling, you haven’t had time to think about it yet. It’s my fault for springing it on you like this. Once you get used to the idea you’ll love it. It’s a real step up the ladder. Quite a lot more money.’

‘But you don’t have to say “yes”? I mean, they can’t make you go, can they? You said it was a secret. It’s not official yet, is it?’

‘I had the official offer today. Naturally I wasn’t going to turn it down.’

‘You mean you’ve accepted the job? You’ve been negotiating for a job in Leicester behind my back and you’ve accepted it without even consulting me?’

‘I didn’t want you to get all stirred up for nothing. It’s a brilliant opportunity. We’ll be able to afford a lovely house down there, somewhere handy for my parents in Ashby.’

‘Any advantages of living somewhere handy for your mother completely escape me.’

‘As well as more money, I get a company car. That means we could easily afford a second car, so you could have a little runaround of your own.’

‘Great. I suppose you’ve forgotten that I’ve lost my licence.’

‘Driving bans don’t last forever. You’ll be back behind the wheel before the end of the year. We have to look to the future.’

‘And what about the children? They’ll have to change schools, leave all their friends behind.’

‘Good heavens, they’ll soon make new friends. Now is as good a time for a move as any, before Katie starts senior school. And Tara will be going to university in September, so it won’t make much difference to her. She’ll come home to Leicester in the holidays instead of Durham.’

‘But she’s in the middle of doing her A-levels.’

‘She’ll be sitting them well before we actually move down there. The move won’t be instantaneous. There’s this place to sell, and you know how long it takes for house sales to go through these days. We’re sure to become involved in some interminable chain.’

‘So it’s all decided then?’ Wendy asked angrily. ‘We’re definitely going. The master has spoken.’

‘Look, Wendy, I know this has taken you by surprise and maybe I should have mentioned before that I was going for it, but you have to understand that if I turn this down, it puts my career into a siding, possibly permanently. I can’t afford to pass up an opportunity like this at my age.’

‘But you’re only forty-one.’

‘Exactly. I’m still young enough to move up again, if I take my chances. If I don’t, I’m going to get stuck at the same level, bypassed by younger men. I know you don’t really understand things like this …’

‘But I thought you were happy doing what you do now. It’s not as if we actually need more money. Not really.’

‘People always need more money. You moaned last month when I said we couldn’t afford a microwave oven without dipping into savings.’

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Well, on the new salary, you can have as many microwave ovens as you need.’

‘But only if I go to Leicester.’

‘Come on, Wendy. You always knew we might have to move. We’d never have met at all if I hadn’t been transferred up here. You must try to see this from my point of view.’

‘Have you tried to see it from my point of view? All my roots are up here. We’ve just made The Ashes into a lovely home and now you’re asking me to leave it. I don’t even like it down south.’

Bruce was struggling to contain his growing annoyance. ‘Firstly, Leicester is not in the south, it’s in the Midlands. As for your so-called roots, your parents are dead and you’ve got one cousin who lives in London and one who lives in Peterborough, both of which are actually closer to Leicester than they are to here, and the others are all so distant that they’re no more than names on a Christmas card list. And the prospects for the children will be much, much better. It’s a far more prosperous part of the country, with far more jobs available.’

‘What about The Ashes? What about all the work we’ve put in?’

‘Look on it as an investment. It will fetch much more than you paid for it. Wait until you start house-hunting down there. We could have one of those big splooshy new builds, four or five bedrooms, an en-suite for us, somewhere fuel economical. You have to admit that this house isn’t exactly practical.’

‘In what way?’

‘The sheer size of the place. The layout. Huge gardens, back and front. These houses were designed for people who could afford to keep servants. You know it’s too much for you to keep up with. I went into the study for some Sellotape the other day and you could write your name in the dust. It’s not that I’m being critical …’

‘Well, I do let the study go a bit, because no one seems to go in there very much.’

‘My point entirely. It isn’t used. Absolutely surplus to requirements.’

‘But Bruce, I love this house.’

‘Who’s to say that you won’t find another house you like even better?’

‘I won’t.’

‘You might at least try,’ he snapped.

‘I’m sorry. I know I ought to be pleased for you and everything, but you don’t understand how I feel. I thought we were happy here. I thought we were here to stay.’

He had let his hands drop from her shoulders, but now he raised his right hand and gave her left shoulder a squeeze. ‘I shouldn’t have