The Time Bubble Box Set 2, стр. 23

“Thanks, Dad,” said Josh gratefully. Ten quid would almostcertainly come in handy, as he hardly ever had any money when he was ateenager. He turned and headed upstairs as Geoff turned back to the screenwhere Chris Kamara was giving an overexcited report from a goallessChampionship game.

Two hours later, dressed in his standard teenage attire ofVans T-shirt and Wrangler jeans, Josh approached the front door of the firstdestination on the itinerary. This was The White Swan, a dilapidated, oldestate pub on the edge of town which had seen better days. It was amazing in2020, when so many pubs had closed down, that this one was still going.

Two or three decades earlier this pub was packed every eveningwith workers from the old textile factory across the road, not to mention thelunchtime drinkers in the days before that practice was frowned upon. Now thefactory was long gone, and the new breed of upmarket London commuters who weremoving into the new, overpriced flats on the site had no interest in theold-fashioned boozer in their midst.

The white paint on the windowsills was peeling and wouldnever be renewed again. Within a year the windows would be boarded up for goodas the pub inevitably succumbed to the changing times.

It may have been a dump but that was what made it the idealplace to start. This pub was meant to be representing the cheap and cheerfulbrown properties on the Monopoly board and it fitted the bill perfectly.

As Josh entered it wasn’t hard to see why the pub wasstruggling so much. There was hardly anyone in there, even though it wasSaturday night and the big screen was showing a live Championship footballmatch.

The lads from school were already there and they accountedfor well over half of the total clientele. Josh counted seven in total,including many whom Josh hadn’t seen for years. There was one in particular hehad hoped he would never see again.

“You took your time, mate,” said the obnoxious, overweightlad who now greeted him condescendingly. “Trying to get out of the first pint,were you?”

“Daniel Fisher,” said Josh. “What an unpleasant surprise. Ihad forgotten you were coming.”

He tried to sidestep Dan and make a beeline for Charlie, buthe was deep in conversation with a couple of the other lads and he couldn’t getto him. Dan’s bulky frame was blocking the narrow aisle between the long bar onthe left and the cheap, wooden furniture beneath the grimy windows opposite.

“I can’t think why,” said Dan. “I was there when we allarranged it all at the end of term. Have you got your kitty money? Give it toRyan here: he’s in charge of it.”

“Good to see you again, Ryan,” said Josh, and he meant it.Although Ryan was Dan’s best friend, he was a pretty decent guy underneath itall. It was pity that he was practically joined at the hip to Dan who generallytreated him as his own personal dogsbody.

“I only saw you on Thursday,” said the lanky, ginger-hairedlad nervously.

“How much is it?”

“Thirty quid, can’t you remember?” snapped Dan. “What’swrong with you?”

Josh ignored him and handed his thirty quid over to Ryan,prompting Dan to call over to the landlord.

“Oi, Jim! Get this man a Stella.”

Big Jim, the old-school and politically incorrect landlord,came over and eyed Josh up, before saying, “Stella? I don’t normally let peoplehave that until their balls have dropped. Are you eighteen?”

“Of course I am. And you’ve already served the rest of thislot Stella. They’re all the same age as me.”

“They ordered Foster’s, sport,” replied Jim in an appallingattempt at an Australian accent, causing Josh to round angrily on Dan.

“What are you trying to pull here, Dan?”

He didn’t remember any of this happening before. Had Dansecretly been plying him with stronger brews all night to scupper his attemptto make it to the finish? It would certainly explain a lot.

“A mere slip of the tongue,” said Dan. “I meant Foster’s ofcourse,” but he said it in a sarcastic tone that left Josh in no doubt that hewas going to have to watch Dan.

He might not have been wise to these tricks first timeround, but never was the phrase ‘a wise head on young shoulders’ more apt thanin his current situation. He knew just how much trouble Dan was going to causein the future and it wouldn’t do to underestimate him.

He would have to keep his eyes peeled for any more dirtytricks, and if that was how Dan was going to play it, perhaps he ought toemploy a few of his own. Even on Foster’s, Josh wasn’t confident he couldmanage eight pints, especially in his new skinny, inexperienced body.

Clutching his newly acquired pint, he sidestepped Dan andRyan and made his way to the back of the group where Charlie was talking to ashort, dark-haired lad with a severe acne problem. Josh couldn’t for the lifeof him remember the unfortunate boy’s name, even though they had been in thesame class for several years. Fortunately, Charlie came to his rescue andjogged his memory.

“Evening, Josh,” he said. “Ben here was just telling me thatthe PS5’s meant to be coming out this autumn.”

“Wow, that sounds awesome,” said Josh, trying to soundexcited about a console that was as much a museum piece as his iPhone by histime. If these lads could see the virtual reality holographic gaming he wasused to it, would blow their minds.

“Certainly is,” said Ben, and promptly launched into aboring summary of all the amazing new features that the new console was goingto have. As he listened, Josh quickly demolished his first pint which was goingdown quite well. So far, so good.

“Get in!” shouted Dan loudly, and Josh looked up to see thatMillwall had scored the opening goal against Luton. Of course, Dan was aMillwall supporter. If Josh recalled correctly, Dan’s rather dubious reason forchoosing them was that they supposedly had the hardest fans, an outdated way ofthinking that had no place in the twenty-first century.

It wasn’t long before the lads were heading on to the nextpub, which was another spit-and-sawdust, long-defunct establishment.

The Crown