the girl with green eyes of course the man in the brown hat said
there are good policemen and there are bad policemen you know you're right the young man said
yes that's very true isn't it julie he looked at the young woman next to him
julie didn't answer and looked bored she closed her eyes julie's my wife the young man told the
man in the brown hat she doesn't like trains she always feels ill on trains oh yes the man in the
brown hat said now my wife she doesn't like buses she nearly had an accident on a bus once
it was last year no no it wasn't it was two years ago i remember now it was in manchester
he told a long boring story about his wife and a bus in manchester
it was a hot day and the train was slow there were seven people in the carriage there was
the man in the brown hat the young man and his wife julie a mother and two children and a tall
dark man in an expensive suit the young man's name was bill he had short brown hair and a happy smile
his wife julie had long red hair and very green eyes the color of sea water
they were very beautiful eyes the man in the brown hat talked and
talked he had a big red face and a loud voice he talked to bill because bill liked to talk too
the man in the brown hat laughed a lot and when he laughed bill laughed too
bill liked talking and laughing with people the two children were hot and bored
they didn't want to sit down they wanted to be noisy and run up and down the train now
sit down and be quiet their mother said she was a small woman with a tired face and a tired voice
i don't want to sit down the little boy said i'm thirsty here have an orange his mother said she
took an orange out of her bag and gave it to him i want an orange too the little girl said loudly
all right here you are said her mother eat it nicely now
the children ate their oranges and were quiet for a minute
then the little boy said i want to drink i'm thirsty the tall dark man took out his newspaper
and began to read julie opened her eyes and looked at the back page of his newspaper
she read about the weather in budapest and about the football in liverpool
she wasn't interested in budapest and she didn't like football but she didn't want to
listen to bill and the man in the brown hat talk talk talk she thought bill never stops talking
then suddenly she saw the tall man's eyes over the top of his newspaper
she could not see his mouth but there was a smile in his eyes quickly
she looked down at the newspaper and read about the weather in budapest again
the train stopped at dawlish station and people got on and got off there was a lot of noise
is this our station the little girl asked she went to the window and looked out
no it isn't now sit down her mother said
we're going to penzance the little girl told bill for our holidays
yes her mother said my sister's got a little hotel by the sea we're staying there it's cheap you see
yes the man in the brown hat said it's a nice town i know a man there he's got a restaurant
in king street a lot of holiday people go there he makes a lot of money in the summer
he laughed loudly yes he said again you can have a nice holiday in penzance
we're going to centosto bill said me and julie it's our first holiday
julie wanted to go to spain but i like centos
i always go there for my holidays it's nice in august you can have a good time there too
julie looked out of the window where is budapest she thought i want to go there
i want to go to vienna to paris to rome to athens her green eyes were bored and angry
through the window she watched the little villages and hills of england
the man in the brown hat looked at julie you're right he said to bill
you can have a good time on holiday in england we always go to brighton me and the wife
but the weather we went one year and it rained every day morning afternoon and night
it's true it never stopped raining he laughed loudly we nearly went home after the first week
bill laughed too what did you do all day then he asked
julie read about the weather in budapest for the third time
then she looked at the tall man's hands they were long brown hands very clean nice hands she thought
he wore a very expensive japanese watch japan she thought i'd like to go to japan
she looked up and saw the man's eyes again over the top of his newspaper this time
she did not look away green eyes looked into dark brown eyes for a long slow minute
after newton abbott station the guard came into the carriage to look at their tickets
now then he said where are we all going
this train's late the man in the brown hat said 20 minutes late by my watch 10 minutes
the guard said that's all he smiled at julie the tall dark man put his newspaper down
found his ticket and gave it to the guard the guard looked at it you're all right sir he said
the boat doesn't leave plymouth before six o'clock you got lots of time
the tall man smiled put his ticket back in his pocket and opened his newspaper again
julie didn't look at him a boat she thought he's taking a boat from plymouth
where's he going she looked at him again with her long green eyes
he read his newspaper and didn't look at her but his eyes smiled
the train stopped at tottenham station and more people got on and off
everybody's going on holiday bill said he laughed it's going to be wonderful no work for two weeks
it's a nice quiet town saint hostel we can stay in bed in the mornings and sit
and talk in the afternoons and have a drink or two in the evenings hey julie he looked at his wife
are you all right julie yes bill she said quietly i'm okay she looked out of the window again
the train went more quickly now and it began to rain bill and the man in the brown hat
talked and talked bill told a long story about two men and a dog and the man in the
brown hat laughed very loudly a good story he said i like that you tell it very well
do you know the story about and he told bill a story about a frenchman and a bicycle
why do people laugh at these stories julie thought they're so boring but bill liked it
then he told a story about an old woman and a cat and the man in the brown hat laughed again
that's good too i don't know how do you remember them all
because julie thought he tells them every day
i don't understand the little girl said suddenly she looked at bill why did the cat die shh
be quiet her mother said come and eat your sandwiches now
that's all right bill said i like children the man in the brown hat looked at the children's
sandwiches mmm i'm hungry too he said you can get sandwiches in the restaurant on
this train he looked at bill let's go down to the restaurant eh i need a drink too
bill laughed you're right it's thirsty work telling stories
the two men stood up and left the carriage the little girl ate her sandwich and looked at julie
but why did the cat die she asked i don't know julie said perhaps it wanted to die
the little girl came and sat next to julie i like your hair she said
it's beautiful julie looked down at her and smiled for some minutes it was quiet in the carriage
then the tall dark man opened his bag and took out a book he put it on the seat next
to him and looked at julie with a smile julie looked back at him and then down at the book
famous towns of italy she read venice florence rome naples she looked away again
out of the window at the rain two weeks instant hostile she thought with bill in the rail
after half an hour the two men came back to the carriage
there are a lot of people on this train bill said do you want a sandwich julie
no she said i'm not hungry you eat them the train was nearly at plymouth
doors opened and people began to move a lot of people get on here the man in the brown hat said
the tall dark man stood up and put his book and his newspaper in his bag
then he picked up his bag and left the carriage the train stopped at the station a lot of people
got on the train and two women and an old man came into the carriage they had a lot of bags with them
bill and the man in the brown hat stood up and helped them one of the women
had a big bag of apples the bag broke and the apples went all over the carriage oh damn she said
everybody laughed and helped her to find the apples the train moved away from plymouth station
after a minute or two everybody sat down and the woman gave some apples to the children
where's julie bill said suddenly she's not here perhaps she went to the restaurant
the man in the brown hat said but she wasn't hungry bill said she told me the little girl
looked at bill she got off the train at plymouth she said with the tall dark man
i saw them of course she didn't bill said she's on this train she didn't get off yes she did
the children's mother said suddenly i saw her too the tall man waited for her on the platform
he waited for her bill's mouth was open but but he read his newspaper all the time
he didn't talk to julie and she never talked to him they didn't say a word
people don't always need words young man the children's mother said
but she's my wife bill's face was red and angry she can't do that he said loudly he stood up
i'm going to stop the train everybody looked at him and the two children laughed no
the man in the brown hat said no you don't want to do that sit down and eat your sandwiches my friend
but i don't understand why did she go what am i going to do
bill's face was very unhappy after a second or two he sat down again
what am i going to do he said again
nothing the man in the brown hat said he ate his sandwich slowly go and have your holiday in centos
you can have a good time there forget about julie those green eyes now
he took out a second sandwich and began to eat it
i knew a woman once with green eyes she gave me a very bad time no you want to forget about julie um