ills sal&e，I bouncing againsl his fat bottom in time to his<br >sh ide， Benson walke， d home， from school lhrou:<h the<br >park. As he walke， d he kept a weather eye roll for the<br >rough boys from Sir William (;roul s， while at lhe same<br >lime making certain that his Clarks E" width shoes were<br >m~l louching any cracks in ihe paving stones.<br > In his green and gold striped blazer， Benson knew that<br >hi; pre， s(;nled an easy target for the Se(:ondarv M()(teI n<br >ho，)lignns in lheir dull navy and grey uniforms. They<br >c，uld t)e hiding behind any tree. And， if they we， re， an(t if<br >thin， emerged 1o rag him and push him and lhrow his<br >specla(:ular (:ap into Ihe branches of the winter trees.<br >there wouht t)e nothing else for him to do， bul， like a<br >t]~Hhdic budgie cornered and packed by Protestant<br >starlings， e， xpirc wilh ]esus! Mary! ]oseph! I give Yml<br >my henri and my soul! eiaculaling from his quivering<br >lips.<br > lie， pushed the possibility from his min(t and (:m><br >ct~nlrnle， d on avoiding lhe cracks in lhe pavi~*，g st{mc.s.<br >Wh ，H was at slake today we， re he 1(7 tread on one? ~ t)uht<br > v ~v sinners all over lhe world forgel to re， penl and be<br >I.sl? Would the whole future of the (]atholi(: Chur(:h bc<br >i~lm:ed in icopardy and people become Prolestanls?<br >~.V，mld ()ur l.ady of l，ourdes stop curing cripples?<br >V.uhl M.lher be (nzt and he d have Io wail on lhe cold<br >I，，~ %， m~xl Io the step unlil she came home?<br > I)，~(:i(ling Ihai the lasl horrific possibility would ()(:cur，<br > II，..:am Iril)pe， d warily towards lhe lrain station，<br > -k q~<br >