he said.
Gaffer had the decency to look shifty. 'Well, OK, at the moment we're more sort of handing it round,' he admitted. 'But give us a few years and we'll soon be handing it down don't touch that!'
Victor jerked his hand back guiltily from the pile of cans on the bench.
'That's actual film in there,' said Gaffer, pushing them gently to one side. 'You got to be very careful with it. You mustn't get it too hot because it's made of octo-cellulose, and it don't like sharp knocks either.'
'What happens to it, then?' said Victor, staring at the cans.
'Who knows? No-one's ever lived long enough to tell us.' Gaffer looked at Victor's expression and grinned.
'Don't worry about that,' he said. 'You'll be in front of the moving-picture box.'
'Except that I don't know how to act,' said Victor.
'Do you know how to do what you're told?' said Gaffer.
'What? Well. Yes. I suppose so.'
'That's all you need, lad. That's all you need. That and big muscles.'
.
They stepped out into the searing sunlight and headed for Silverfish's shed.
Which was occupied.
Cut-me-own-Throat Dibbler was meeting the movies.
'What I thought', said Dibbler, 'is that, well, look.
Something like this.' He held up a card.
On it was written, in shaky handwriting:
'What's 'hawt cuisyne'?' said Victor.
'It's foreign,' said Dibbler. He scowled at Victor. Someone like Victor under the same roof wasn't part of the plan. He'd been hoping to get Silverfish alone. 'Means food,' he added.
Silverfish stared at the card.
'What about it?' he said.
'Why don't you', said Dibbler, speaking very carefully, 'hold this card up at the end of the performance?'
'Why should we do that?'
'Because someone like Sham Harp will pay you a lo- quite a lot of money,' said Dibbler.
They stared at the card.
'I've eaten at Harga's House of Ribs,' said Victor. 'I wouldn't say it's the best. Not the best. A long way from being the best.' He thought for a bit. 'About as far away from being the best as you can get, in fact.'
Вы читаете Moving pictures
