S4 Tim Vicary - The Hitch-hiker | Текст песни

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1
The Hitch-hiker
By Tim Vicary
Level 4 Streamline Connections
Units 41-80 (1250 headwords)
1 The stranger
I don't usually pick up hitch-hikers, but this one was different. He wasn't young, like the others, and he didn't have
a bag, or a girlfriend, or a sign with 'London' or 'Lancaster' on it. He just stood there, beside the road, with his hand
out, waiting. He was a man about forty years old, in a grey suit and red tie. He was just watching the cars and waiting.
He was watching me while I slowed down. I remember his eyes. Very pale blue eyes, staring at me through thin
gold glasses. They looked surprised. Perhaps I was something strange, something not quite real to him. Or perhaps he
just had bad eyes. Perhaps he couldn't see very well.
I stopped the car and opened the window. 'Where are you going?' I asked.
'I'm going into town,' he said. 'Into Lancaster. Could you give me a lift, please?'
'Yes, OK,' I said. 'I'm going that way. Jump in.'
He got in and sat down beside me. Thank you very much,' he said. 'It's very kind of you.'
That's all right,' I said. 'It's my pleasure.'
I started the car and thought about the words he had used. There was something strange about them. Hitch-hikers don't
usually speak like that. They usually say something like 'Are you going to Lancaster? Oh good, thanks a lot'. He spoke
politely, like an older man. But this man wasn't very old. 'Perhaps he's foreign,' I thought.
I looked at him, and noticed something else.
'Could you put your seat-belt on, please?' I said.
He looked at me. 'I'm all right,' he said. 'I don't like seat-belts very much. I feel like a prisoner in the car.'
'It's the law, you know. And I'm a police sergeant, so I think you should wear one in my car.'
'Oh, yes. I'm so sorry. The law. Yes ... yes, I forgot.' He looked around him, but for a moment he couldn't find the
seat-belt.
'It's there, behind you,' I said. Yоu do it like this.' I helped him to put on the seat-belt.
'Yes, thank you,' he said. 'I'm terribly sorry. I never remember these things.'
'Oh, really,' I said. 'Why? Don't you have a car?'
'No. Not now. I don't like them. I did have one once, but that was a long time ago ...' For a moment I thought he
would continue, but then he stopped talking and stared quietly out of the window.
I looked at him again. I'm a police officer, so it's my job to look at people and to think carefully about them. I was
sure there was something strange about this man. His hair - nobody has their hair cut quite like that now.
And that suit - it was quite clean, quite new, but the trousers and lapels were wider than they usually are ... Where had
I seen a suit like that before?
'Do you live near here?' I asked. I was still wondering about him. Was he a foreigner?
He smiled at me. 'I live in Lancaster. In the centre of the town, in fact.'
I was listening carefully. 'He speaks very good English,' I thought. 'He speaks in the local way. I don't think he is a
foreigner. But that face! It's the middle of summer now, and we've had a lot of sun this year. Why is he so pale?'
'What sort of job do you do?' I asked.
He smiled at me again. 'Oh, I don't have a job at the moment,' he said. That's why I don't have a car now, you see.'
'You haven't driven for a long time, then?' I said.
He looked at me again. That same quiet, surprised look. 'No, I haven't,' he said. 'Not for a long time.'
I smiled at him. 'I thought you hadn't,' I said. You've had to wear seat-belts in a car for many years. Sorry,' I
continued. 'It's my job. Police officers always play at detectives!'
'Yes, I see,' he said. He smiled. A quiet, polite smile was on his mouth, but those pale eyes were still and empty.
Then for a moment I stopped thinking about him because there was a lot of traffic on the road. Cars were moving very
slowly, and I saw a policeman in front, with several police cars and flashing blue lights.
I knew the policeman, so I stopped the car beside him. 'What's the matter, John?' I asked.
'It's an accident, Sue,' he said. 'One car stopped suddenly, and another car went into the back of it.'
'Anyone hurt?'
Three people, I think, but they don't look too bad. The ambulance will be here soon.'
2
'Do you need any help?' I wasn't in uniform, but I had to ask.
He thought for a moment, and I heard the sound of the ambulance. It was coming towards us. Well, it looks quite
nasty, but we'll be OK when the ambulance comes, Sue. There are two police cars here already. But you can ask the
sergeant over there, if you like. He'll know.'
'All right, John, thanks.' I drove on slowly to the accident. There was glass all over the road, and the two damaged
cars were by the side of the road on the left. It seemed that one car had hit the back of the other, and pushed it off the
road.
A young girl was sitting at the side of the road with a policeman. Her face was covered in blood. A man was lying
on the ground beside the second car, and another policeman was kneeling beside him. The sergeant was talking to the
driver of the first car, who was still in his seat.
2 An accident
I parked the car, got out, and went over to the man on the ground.
'Is there anything I can do?' I asked the policeman. He looked up, surprised, and then he recognized me. 'Oh, it's
you, Sue. I think he's OK. He's breathing, and his heart's fine. But I don't like the look of that leg.'
One of the man's legs was broken in two places. It looked like there were two knees. He was breathing, but his eyes
were closed, and his face was very white.
'Can you go and help Chris with the little girl?' he said. 'I think this man is her father.'
I looked at the little girl. She was trying to walk, but she seemed confused. The policeman was holding her arm. I
went over and knelt in front of her. There was blood all over her face. I couldn't see her eyes very well.
'Hello,' I said. 'My name's Sue. I'm a police officer. Can you see me?'
She wiped her face with her hand, and nodded.
'Good,' I said. 'What's your name?'
'Kate.'
'Kate. OK. Kate, you heard that sound just now, didn't you? That was the ambulance. This policeman, Chris, and I
are going to take you over to the ambulance, and then the ambulance men will take you to the hospital and look after
you. You're going to be all right.'
'But what about my daddy?'
'He'll come with you in the ambulance. He's going to be all right, too.'
I held one of the girl's arms, and Chris held the other. We took the little girl over to the ambulance and sat talking
with her while the ambulance men lifted her father and the other driver into the ambulance. When the ambulance had
gone, I spoke to the sergeant for a few minutes.
'What happened?' I asked.
'I don't know yet,' he said. 'I think the first car stopped suddenly, but I can't think why. Still, that's something that
we'll have to find out It's a funny place for an accident. I can only remember one here before -about twenty years ago, I
think it was. That was a nasty one, too. A young man was killed - run over by a car. I remember that a little child was
hurt then, too.'
'What happened then?'
He shook his head. 'I can't remember now. Anyway, this one'll be your job in the morning - I'm on holiday next
week, remember? Thanks for your help.'
On the way back to the car, I could see one of the policemen. He was picking up the little girl's doll from the side of
the road. He walked over and put it in the police car.
3 A frightened passenger
When I got back into the car, the hitch-hiker was still there. He did look very strange - for a moment, I thought he
was crying.
'I'm sorry,' he said, 'but I hate accidents. Were ... were they badly hurt?'
I looked at him quickly. His face was very pale. And ... were his hands shaking?
'Quite badly,' I said. 'One had a broken leg, and the young girl had a lot of glass in her face. But I think they'll live.'
'Oh, good. I ... I'm sorry I didn't get out, but you see ... I hate seeing blood.'
I smiled. 'That's all right. I don't like it either, but I'm a police officer - it's my job.'
'Yes. I suppose you see a lot of accidents?'
3
'Quite a lot, yes. But it's funny, I've never seen one here before. The road's very straight and it was clear of traffic,
and it's not dark or anything. A car stopped suddenly, and another car hit it. It's very strange.'
For a moment my passenger didn't answer. He just looked straight in front of him, the grey eyes in the pale face
staring at the road and the traffic. Then he said, very quietly:
'Cars do terrible things, don't they? I hate cars. I hate them!'
I didn't say anything for a minute. Then I asked him if he had a family in Lancaster.
Yes, I have one son. He's at the University, you know. I'd been there just now, before you picked me up.'
'Oh, really? Does he like it there?'
'Yes, I think so. Yes, he likes it very much.' He smiled at me - the same grey, pale smile. 'But I still have to look
after him, you know. He does silly things, and gets into lots of trouble. He needs me, you know - I'm sure he'd have an
accident if I didn't keep an e

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