The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

You're late, number three.

Sorry.

Sorry's not good enough.

Where's number five?

I think his dad's on to him.

On to him or not,

his responsibility is to us.

Ready?

All right then, over here.

Get round that end.

God!

Look at that.

I thought it was locked up with the other medical books.

It was.

Father keeps the key

in a little secret drawer in his desk.

There are keys to all sorts of things in that drawer.

Oh.

Yuck.

Wow.

Whoal

is that how it's done then?

Wait, wait, wait.

Wow.

God, god, just look at that.

On.

Doesn't look as if they're enjoying it much.

Hold on, hold on.

Not so...

Hey.

You bloody twits!

Is that all you can do?

Well, what do you expect?

Come on, let's see the rest.

I expect a little intellect.

I'm ashamed of you, all of you.

I hope your boyish curiosity about such trivia is satisfied.

I can see there's a long way to go before you're ready.

Any of you.

Idiots!

Bloody idiots!

Jonathan.

Just stay right there, young man.

Mrs. Osborne.

He's been out again.

Oh, Jon-0, Jon-o0, Jon-o.

That's twice in the last week.

Where do you go?

Just to the beach, mother.

With whom?

Who do you meet there?

No one.

You're lying.

No one, honest.

Go to your room this instant.

Quick march.

I have lost all Patience with you, Jonathan.

Give me the key.

This door will be locked tonight

and every night for a month.

I will not have this lying!

Do you hear me, I won't have it.

Good night, Elisabeth.

Good night, Mrs. Osborne.

The chief is right.

The behavior of adults is awful at times.

Subjected to cruel questioning.

The chief's identity

must remain secret at all costs.

I've been locked in my room.

The chief brought a book tonight.

It had,

it was...

Good morning.

Good morning, Jonathan.

Here's your porridge, there's rolls in the oven.

Good morning, Jon-o.

There's some chicken in the fridge.

We'll be away most of the day.

The boys are going over to blackpool sands.

I thought...

Jon-0, you will spend today inside this house,

doing your homework and putting your room in order.

Woe betide you if you step one foot outside the door.

Do you understand me?

May I have my kiss?

Wonder if I am being too hard?

If you'll excuse me, Mrs. Osborne,

I sometimes think you're not being hard enough on the lad.

He has a mind of his own, that one.

You'll have to hold a tight rein,

tight rein for his own good.

Damn, damn, damn.

Good morning, Richard.

Good morning.

Good morning, Mary.

Good morning, Mrs. Osborne.

Who forgot the alarm?

Sorry, it's my fault.

Bad night, moppet?

Oh, dear.

Does it show that much?

The vicissitudes of puberty.

Yours?

Jonathan's and mine.

So this is the lot?

Yes.

This looks interesting.

I like that very much.

Have a look at the regency.

Rosewood, and all the brass inlay is intact.

Mmm!

How much did we have to pay for this?

Lot 278.

Oh, clever, Richard, aren't you?

Astute would be more accurate.

Well now, we'll just have to see

how outrageous we can be with the London buyers.

I must say, Jon-o,

I have never seen your room in such good order.

Homework easy?

What else did you do today?

Got into my book on flag signals.

Pick a color.

Red.

Right.

A red burgee means

I'm taking in or discharging explosives.

Red and white quartered, you're standing into danger.

Red-yellow, man overboard.

That's very good, Jon.

Black or white?

Oh, uh, black.

Black too.

You'll have chocolate.

Uh,

you cheat just like your father did.

Do you still miss him?

Yes.

Very much.

You?

I dream about him sometimes.

Good dreams or bad?

Good.

We're in the dinghy fishing, walking along the beach.

Whose go is it?

Mine.

Jonathan, have you got

nothing to tell me about last night?

Nothing at all?

It, it would be telling.

On whom, Jon-0?

I'm sorry, mother.

Please.

Amoeba proteus, belonging to the sub-kingdom protozoa.

It feeds by phagocytosis ingesting minute plants

such as desmids or small organic fragments.

It multiplies by the simplest form

of asexual reproduction called fission.

When conditions are good, amoeba enlarges rapidly,

ceases activity and forms itself into a round shape.

The process is as follows,

the pseudopodia come together

drawing food down into a food vacuole

formed by the enclosure of environmental water.

Once trapped and enclosed,

digestion of food begins.

Amoeba live and move with the tips of several

pseudopodia in contact with the substrate.

Who did it?

Answer Me!

stop it!

You look like a bloody easter egg.

You do now, you really do.

It's not funny.

When I call a meeting, it means everyone.

I expect you to remember that next time, number five.

I tried to get out, I got caught.

I'm not interested in your excuses.

I'll never get this off!

Punishment completed.

We meet Friday after school at my house.

I advise you to be there, number five.

I advise all of you.

The chief says

we must have strong, hard hearts.

He's right.

I sometimes think of my heart

as an anchor of stainless steel

that sinks into the mud of the estuary,

into the broken glass and tins and bottle cans.

Pure, shiny, never rusting.

Last night, mother stood for the longest moment

looking out to sea.

Then something happened.

I can't explain.

It was strange,

sad.

What's about Mr. wickstead?

Gone for the day.