Ahead of his Time by Adrian Cousins (children's books read aloud .txt) 📕

he rarely came up with solutions. I needed to bring Don into the group, but as Jenny and I’d agreed, that was a step too far for now. I gave Jenny a kiss and ordered her drink whilst she chatted to Dawn, who wanted the full lowdown on how the kids were getting on.

George arrived a moment later and joined Martin. After prising Jenny away from Dawn, we all convened in a tight huddle in the window seat. After Dawn’s reference to the famous five on Saturday, all we needed now was Timmy the Border Collie, and we could have neatly fitted into one of Enid Blyton’s books. Although I guess we were a little old for that, and I didn’t believe her books included a storyline regarding a serial rapist.

I brought George and Jenny fully up to speed on the day’s events. George shot Martin a worried look, and Jenny moved her chair a few inches away from him as I described the events with his sixteen-year-old mother. Perhaps I painted a picture that made Martin appear like a pervert. Martin stayed quiet as he smoked another one of my cigarettes whilst performing his Nookie Bear impression, which was quite off-putting.

“Lad, the only reason I can assume that Paul Colney wants to know who owns that car is because he’s interested in the driver. The good news is, as he asked you who it was, he clearly doesn’t know at this point.”

“Exactly. I had that car when living up at the Broxworth. But it’s a common car even in bright yellow, so I don’t think he ever connected it to me. The bit I don’t understand is where he’s seen the car, which has made him want to know who the driver is.”

“Yeah, and I’m the driver of it now! So what does that mean for me? I now have my rapist father, who is a complete psycho, hunting me down!” Martin stubbed out his cigarette. I swiped my packet off the table before he started chain-smoking, which made his earlier rant ridiculous.

“We don’t know he’s your father. It’s possible and likely, but we don’t know for sure.”

“Darling, the twin is in jail, so I think we should assume it’s him. That awful family have so much to answer for up at that estate. We know all about them at work, and Dad could write a book on that family’s exploits from his time in the Force.”

“Lad, Jenny is right about the family. I think you need to get rid of the car, and as soon as possible.”

“Why don’t we just put it in our garage, darling. At least it will be hidden.”

“Yes, we could do that. I still want to know why he’s looking for it, though.”

“Lad, the lass is right. Let’s just get it under wraps for the moment.”

Martin shifted forward, “Oh, that’s just fricking great! I get teleported to the dark ages, get stuck in a shit job, lose all my friends and my bloody wife, and now I don’t even have a car!”

We all turned and looked at him as he slumped back into his seat, gulping down his beer.

“Jen, sweetheart, will you let me buy that Hillman Hunter from Coreys Mill Motors? Martin could then have your old Viva?”

Jenny sighed, “Well, yes, we could do, but I love my Viva.”

“I know, but you need a car with rear seatbelts.”

“You fuss too much, darling. Chris likes standing on the seat and looking out the back window.”

A cold shudder ran through me as I pictured him standing there, Jenny breaking hard, and he suddenly being catapulted through the front windscreen. I know my old world had gone health and safety crazy, where kids weren’t even allowed to play conkers for fear of a potential eye injury. Still, I was right about seat belts, the evidence was there, and even that sicko Savile had been doing his clunk-click TV campaign for years. Jimmy Savile, there’s another one I needed to alert the world about, but as I knew from my Ripper letter experience, it was pointless.

“Jen, it will be the law soon that you have to wear seat belts. I can't remember when, but it will be the law for rear seat belts as well.”

“When I was a kid, my mum and dad always made me wear a seat belt in the back of our car. Dad had a brand-new Honda Accord; it was really posh at the time.”

“Honda, that’s one of those Jap-crap cars? Can’t believe that we have to import cars from that bloody place, not after what that lot did in the war!”

I huffed as this was going off track. “George, I know that’s raw for you, and you had brothers who suffered in the Far East. But in our old world, Japan is probably one of our closest allies. As for cars, well in the future they produce some of the most reliable vehicles and electronics in the world. I know that’s tough, but we have to draw the line somewhere and move on. Otherwise, we’ll have to talk about the British Empire’s atrocities which were on the same level.”

George nodded, “Alright, lad.” He plucked up his beer and fell back in his chair. This was going nowhere. Martin and George now had the hump, and Jenny was pining for her Viva that she didn’t want to let go of.

“Look, everyone, can we get back to what we are talking about. We have to hide the Cortina … agreed?” I looked at them in turn, they all nodded.

“Jenny, the Hillman Hunter, for the kid’s sake?”

She nodded and smiled. “Yes, darling, alright.” That smile melted me. I’d been so consumed with the events of the last two weeks I’d almost forgotten what a lucky bloke I was. Although Martin was stuck in a world he didn’t want to be in, I, on the other hand, was in heaven – Jenny was truly an angel.

‘Your job is to keep that lovely girl of yours happy,