Novel+drafting

"Bye Percy, come again," Eric mumbled, closing the door behind his friend. He turned to face his dad, who was glaring at him with vicious eyes. "What were you thinking, letting your friend use my razor? In fact, why did you even let him in my room?" Dad growled. Eric felt the bald patch on his head where his eyebrow should have been. His Dad's mouth was fixed into a scowl. The veins on the back of his hands bulged and his face turned a darker shade of pink. "It's not my fault, Dad! Percy wanted to test it and I can't say no. Not to Percy. He wouldn't be my friend anymore!" Eric said fiddling with his dark wavy hair. "Did you think about that before inviting him over?" Dad's forehead was creased. Eric stared at the floor: "Sorry Dad." Mr Crogan sighed: "It's OK. I did the same thing when I was kid. And apparently so did your ancestor (....) Crogan! Eric smiled: "Really?" "Yes, I'll tell you about it..."

The Crogan adventure begins...

The life of a poor shop keeper is a bad one. You get about seven customers a week and only three of them will buy anything. Food is hard to get your hands on and at the end of a hard boring day you come home and lie down on a flea bitten mattress with springs sticking out of it. This is the life of Joseph Crogan. Joseph Crogan owned a shop selling diamonds from other countries. It was tucked away round an alleyway with dusty, cracked windows. No wonder nobody walked in. Joseph was just sixteen when he left his family in Africa and came to England. As you would have guessed by now, he was not very successful. The last thing he wanted was to have to join the local mine crew but even that would be a better life than this. Joseph decided he’d move and spent two years hunting for rare African diamonds to bring over. Unfortunately, they were taken off him before he even got on the plane but by then it was to late to cancel his flight. He ended up making fake, plastic diamonds which nobody seemed to like. Six years later, Aged twenty one Joseph is fed up. The day is Wednesday 4th July ….. Joseph has had two customers walk in and out and he is about to close the shop. Through the dusty windows, he sees a shadow. A Tall, pompous looking man walks into the shop. He has a top hat and I brand new looking suit. He coughs after smelling the thick, musty air. He looks around the shop and walks up to Joseph. “I see you specialise in African diamonds…” He says in a snobby way. “H-h-hello s-sir,” Joseph stammers. He is amazed too see such a rich man in HIS shop. The man introduces himself as William Meritman, Duke of Buckinghamshire. He looks around the shop examining the dust coated diamonds.