‘Now sit down and be
quiet,’ their mother said. She was a small woman with a tired face and a tired
voice. ‘I don’t want to sit down,’ the little boy said. ‘I’m
thirsty.’ ‘Here. Have an orange,’ his mother said. She took an orange out
of her bag and gave it to him. ‘I want an orange too,’ the little girl said
loudly. ‘All right. Here you are,’ said her mother. ‘Eat it nicely,
now.’ The children ate their oranges and were quiet for a minute. Then the
little boy said: ‘I want a drink. I’m thirsty.’ The tall dark man took out
his newspaper and began to read. Julie opened her eyes and looked at the back
page of his newspaper. She read about the weather in Budapest and about the
football in Liverpool. She wasn’t interested in Budapest and she didn’t like
football, but she didn’t want to listen to Bill and the man in the brown hat.
‘Talk, talk, talk,’ she thought. ‘Bill never stops talking.’ Then
suddenly she saw the tall man’s eyes over the top of his newspaper. She could
not see his mouth, but there was a smile in his eyes. Quickly, she looked down
at the newspaper and read about the weather in Budapest again. The train stopped
at Dawlish station and people got on and got off. There was a lot of noise.
