Jean Beraud A Game of Billiards

solemnly promise not to do any more meddling in the click,’ said Dibbler gravely. ‘I’m your uncle. I’m family. Is that good enough for you?’
‘Well. All ‘Well, that’s a relief,’ said the troll. He patted them on the heads, forcing their feet a little way into the sand. ‘Thanks very much. Much obliged. Have a nice night,’ he added mournfully.
He watched them walk off hand in hand, and then burst into tears.
In the handlemen’s shed, C.M.O.T. Dibbler stood watching thoughtfully as Gaffer right.’When the fire had died down they raked some of the ashes together for a barbecue at the end‑of‑shooting party, under the stars. The velvet sheet of the night drapes itself over the parrot cage that is Holy Wood, and on warm nights like this there are many people with private business to pursue.A young couple, strolling hand in hand across the dunes, were frightened to near insensibility when an enormous troll jumped out at them from behind a rock waving its arms and shouting ‘Aaaargh!’‘Scared you, did I?’ said Detritus, hopefully.They nodded, white‑faced.