The Things I Know(22)
‘So, you hear the numbers? Like music?’ It was a difficult concept.
‘No, no, I can’t hear it.’ He laughed softly. ‘I can’t hear it,’ he repeated, ‘but I can feel it.’
‘And that’s why your boss wants you to come down to Bristol and tell other people how to do your magic trick.’
‘Yes, because what I can do is very valuable.’
‘Can you teach other people how to do it?’ She held his gaze.
‘No. No, I can’t. I did try to tell Mr Jenks that, but he wouldn’t listen. He wants to think it’s a formula or a knack, but it’s more than that for me. It’s how I am and how I’ve always been, and it’s all to do with my puzzle-solving.’
‘Who’s Mr Jenks?’
‘My boss.’
‘Right, and why is it so valuable?’
‘Because if you think that, with something like gold, which brokers like my firm buy and sell to make money, they buy when it’s cheap and sell when it’s expensive.’
‘Got it so far. Like us with grain and seasonal produce.’
‘Okay, yes. So if I can fill in the missing number, if I can see a pattern – which I can for everything – then I know when to buy and when to sell, or, more accurately, I can buy and sell the option to buy and sell. It’s complicated.’
Hitch stared at him. ‘D’you know, I think you might actually be the cleverest person I’ve ever met in my entire life, Mr Grayson Potts.’
Grayson looked at her with an expression of pure delight and she got the feeling that he only rarely got compliments. The thought filled her with warmth.
‘I think words like that are the greatest kindness. Thank you. And when you say I might be the cleverest person you’ve met, I was wondering, have you met a lot of people?’
‘Not really. But more than seven.’ She liked the honesty in their exchange.
‘I know that some people think the things I do are odd.’ Grayson looked at his feet. ‘Even my mum. But to me, they’re not – to me, they’re normal and so that makes them fine.’
She pictured holding her chickens, her friends, close to her chest and whispering confessions into their feathery heads. ‘I know what you mean.’ And she did. ‘You want to go for a walk along the river?’ It seemed bold to ask and yet, at the same time, almost free of risk. Hitch felt entirely confident that she could predict his answer.
Like magic.
‘Sure.’ Again the rather nonchalant response, but Grayson’s easy smile and the way he leapt up from the sofa in eager anticipation spoke volumes.
Hitch knew as they walked along the ridge of the riverbank with the wide River Severn stretching out in front of them and the low autumn sun glinting on the water that she would not forget this day.
Not ever.
It was unusual for her not to be alone, lost in her own thoughts, silently pondering and reflecting, and yet, far from finding this new situation fearful, nerve-racking, it felt surprisingly easy, ordinary, natural. And it was something she had wished for on so many occasions: to have someone here with her, someone to talk to. She found it calming being with him, as if she didn’t have to overthink things and could just be. As ever, there was a clear view of the land on the other side of the water, to Wales, where people walked with their dogs along the opposite riverbank, no doubt looking back at them. She hoped they could see her and this man strolling along together like a couple. The very idea made her tummy jump.
The day felt like an adventure, a holiday even, as they combed the stretch between the two grand bridges rising like curved highways sprung straight from the water, as if raised by the gods. She hadn’t felt this way since Jonathan was still at home, when the two of them had occasionally had a similar adventure.
‘This is very strange for me,’ Grayson began.
‘Strange how?’
Grayson stopped walking and looked out over the water. ‘I didn’t expect this, being here in the countryside – it’s as if my thoughts are freer, as if they’ve been lifted up in the air and can float on the breeze instead of being hemmed in, rebounding between the high walls and buildings like a ball looking for escape in a maze.’
She thought his words were like poetry and was captivated. He wasn’t finished.
‘I’m thinking bigger things, and everything is a little clearer, as if I can see further ahead than the next step, the next corner.’
She felt another tie of kinship, knowing that this was how she lived her life, one wobbly step at a time.
‘I like being here,’ he said with a sniff.
‘Well, I like you being here.’ She spoke to the horizon but still sensed the delight he took in her comment.
Buddy mirrored her happy state, scampering in and out of puddles and over stones, running and leaping like an adventurous pup, exuding joy, sniffing out scents, pawing at anything of interest and urinating more than she had ever seen any dog urinate before at one time.
‘It’s as though this is the first time he’s been here,’ Grayson observed.
‘That’s another lovely thing about dogs. They might walk the same route a thousand times, but to them it’s a brand-new adventure and never the same twice. I think life would be much better if we could all learn to be a bit more like Buddy.’