The Walking Dead

She said, and didn't shift the hand, 'Our aim is to defend the realm, and that is by the maintenance of civilized standards, and civilized standards involve the gathering of evidence to set before a court. We don't go down into a gutter.'

Naylor said, 'I believe the points you've made, Joe, are understood.'

He thought that age seemed then to catch him, not as the waft of a breeze on his face but as the surge of a gale into his midriff, as if it could have felled him…and he seemed to hear the call of those gulls from far away, and the rumble of the Atlantic's waves on rocks and the whine of wind in overhead wires…and she'd moved the hand, had dumped it back in Hegner's lap. On a grey London morning, with the rain spitting on the road, Naylor appreciated his dependence on the American, and where it would take him — and he had three more working days of service. And the words clamoured in his mind: Look where ordinary people go about their daily business, where your citizens think they're safe.

The group trailed after him. The town's self-appointed historian, Steve Vickers, had one inalienable rule: he never cancelled for inclement weather. He was in good voice as he led the Townswomen's Guild party through High Town; a little forest of dripping umbrellas followed him.

'More than anywhere else in Britain, indeed in the empire, Luton was the greatest centre of hat- and bonnet-making. In the 1851 census, eighty-eight per cent of High Town's females were involved in making headwear to be worn by women in Great Britain and exported — even girls as young as six were described in the returns as "sewers". Any woman in London's Mayfair or Edinburgh's Princes Street or in Dublin, Sydney, New Delhi or Toronto, when dressed at her best would most likely be wearing a hat or bonnet made in these humble streets.'

On a better day, he might have held the attention of the ladies from the Townswomen's Guild.

'Obviously, the annual boom in the trade was-from December to May. The customers wanted new models for the summer, and then thousands more women came to High Town from the surrounding villages to boost the numbers of sewers and stitchers, and most popular of all were the straw hats — not that they would have been in great demand on a day such as this.'

He laughed, smiled, and was rewarded with a sullen response. He knew that a coach where they would be warm was parked by the station and would take them on to Woburn Abbey, the next leg of their outing. The ladies were drenched and only ingrained politeness kept them from abandoning him. He had done the prehistory bit, and the Roman bit. It irked him that his tour of what he called 'The Hat Trail' could be so poorly received.

'The manufacturing lasted through the thirties up to the outbreak of the Second World War. Then habits changed. Women no longer regarded it as essential to wear headgear when they were out and—'

A voice piped up, 'Fascinating, Mr Vickers, and we're very grateful to you. But, as the Guild secretary and speaking for all of us, I really think we've had enough. Please would you be so kind as to lead us back to our coach before we drown?'

He did. If he had ignored the plea and continued with the Trail, his audience would have gone. But Steve Vickers was seldom deflated. His next booking was for Saturday morning, again an early start, and the tour of the town centre — the clock that chimed like Parliament's, the story of the Peace Riot, and he'd heard on the radio that the forecast for the weekend was good. He would not show disappointment at the curtailment: to have done so would reduce the volume of tips as they scrambled on to the coach.

'Yes, I think we have to acknowledge defeat, but you have been wonderful and it has been my privilege to share a little of the town's rich heritage with you. Thank you so much for your interest.'

There was a desultory clapping from under the umbrellas. He led them away. He took some comfort from Saturday's forecast, when he would be in St George's Square, under the town hall's clock, across the open space from the shopping centre; he hoped then for a good attendance and a better purse of tips.

* * *

He realized he hated the man.