Clopwyck River (Book One)

Clopwyck River Part 11

Chapter Eleven

I could hear Ruby chattering away with Andrew at the front door, so I sloped down the stairs and mumbled a goodbye to him as I grabbed my coat and we headed out into the cold air.

As walked into town, the sky looking like someone had swirled a used paintbrush around it, residents of Clopwyck went about their weekend business, popping in and out of small shops and stopping to talk to friends and acquaintances.

I suppose it would be described as a 'quaint' market town, with the original red brick town hall standing authoritatively between much smaller buildings converted into butchers, hairdressers, sweet shops and all the other essential businesses needed to keep residents visiting the town centre. The facades of the shops have been kept traditional, with lines of coloured bunting strung from one side of the road to the other. If you drove through Clopwyck, you would never guess the secret each of its inhabitants keeps close to their chest.

Leo is waiting for us outside a two storey building, tall posters advertising the latest blockbusters and retro classics making it easy to recognise as the cinema. He stands in front of a line of glass doors with curved brass handles across them, underneath a canopy dotted with huge black letters spelling out the films on show.  Above the canopy are two massive arched windows staring down at us as we cross the road.

He spots us and smiles. I know Ruby has forgiven him for what he did all those years ago, but I'm not sure I have. It's hard to believe that he could have done something so cruel.

            "Shall we go in?"

He pulls the heavy door open for us, and we walk into the foyer and join the queue for tickets at an old fashioned glass booth. As Ruby and Leo talk, I take in the interior of the cinema. The marble floor echoes everyone's excited pre-cinema chattering and the smell of popcorn hangs in the air making my stomach growl in anticipation. A wide red carpeted stair case in the centre of the foyer sweeps up into two separate flights of stairs leading to the next floor. I crane my neck to see doors to different screens line the balcony above us.  It's incredible.

            "How old did you say this place was?"

            "Nearly a hundred years." Leo smiles at me as I stare up at the massive chandelier hanging high above us.

            "And they never wanted to replace it with a new cinema?"

            "They've tried, but it never happens. Everyone loves this place. Nobody in Clopwyck would ever let anything happen to it."

            I can see its appeal but surely it doesn't measure up to the huge multiplex cinemas available so close. It can't do very good business.

"Why not?"

            Leo and Ruby smile and say in unison, "You'll see,"

***

Having bought our tickets and popcorn, we make our way up the stairs and amble with the rest of the cinema goers through a green door to screen 1. I let Ruby and Leo lead the way as I'm guessing they know where the best seats are.

The screen is covered by red velvet curtains, and is small in comparison to modern screens. A section of seating forms a huge rectangle in front of the screen, and there's a balcony with more rows of seating at the back of the room. Looking around, we don't have much choice of where to sit as most of the seats are already occupied, so I follow Ruby and Leo near to the front and shuffle to the middle of a row five from the front. I'm going to have a seriously strained neck by the end of this film.