Page 162 - My Home on the Earth

corner and sat once more on the pavement against the wall. When he looked about him he noticed a surge of people coming towards him so he pretended to fiddle with his trainers. Then he realised they had come from the railway station and he was sitting in a busy thoroughfare. The coins fell into his lap and this time he glanced up to say thank you. One lady returned with a sealed cup of hot soup, another, two jam doughnuts, a man offered him a blanket to sit on. Moments later, a police car drove past but before they had a chance to stop, Jake grabbed the gifts and legged it into the centre to mingle with shoppers. He turned into Clary Lane, walked across the road to the Waitrose car park, placed the blanket on a wall and sat down to eat the soup and doughnuts. He felt guilty counting the money, but he thought it was far better than spending his rail ticket money to Scotland. With eight pounds and thirty-two pence jangling in his coat pocket, he decided to go to a burger stall next to the market. Then he’d visit the cheap store on his way home to buy bread rolls, milk and crisps.
Mondays were usually quiet but with additional holiday traffic, the main road was busy. He remembered looking both ways before stepping out to cross. Then he sailed through the air before hitting the road.
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PC Steve Bates arrived at the accident ahead of the paramedics and ambulance. A member of the public was
directing traffic, and stationary cars switched on their hazard lights to warn other vehicles. Two more police cars pulled up to clear the road for the emergency vehicles as
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