In Thunder's Pocket: Part 4

By JOAN AIKEN

There was a rumble of thunder overhead and flicker of lightning over to the right where, now, I could just catch a glimpse of the sea, white waves breaking on a rocky bit of coast under a dark sky.

The carriage lights blinked, went out, came on again.'See,' said Eden, 'we're getting into the thunder zone. People who live in Thunder's Pocket have to manage without TV mostly. They get too much interference. And only a few have phones. Same reason.

'Good grief, I thought, what sort of a place am I coming to? And my heart sank another couple of notches. I'd been planning to ask if I could watch my favourite programme, Buccaneers' Quay, which was due that night at half-past seven. I wondered if Uncle Adam and Aunt Lal even had a TV set.

They had a phone, I knew. I had never met them this visit had been arranged in a hurry after Mum's accident.

'You watch much TV?' I asked Eden.

Publisher: Random House

Price: $14.95

Age group: 8 + years