Free Law and Peace by Tim Kevan Page A

yourself, Arthur, won’t you? You’ll embarrass the young man.’
    â€˜Never mind that, Ethel. Doesn’t do any harm passing on a thing or two now and again.’
    But above all else, what came over was their zest for life. Arthur had survived the Normandy landings and as well as her more recent troubles, Ethel had lived through the Blitz. Both had an enthusiasm you rarely come across even in children. What’s more, they seemed genuinely excited to be involved in this forthcoming litigation. As Arthur said, ‘It’s about time us oldies had a voice and demanded a little respect.’
    Then at one point in the conversation, Ethel asked me quite directly and out of context, ‘What do you do in your spare time, BabyBarista?’
    â€˜Er . . .’ I didn’t quite know how to answer that.
    â€˜You know,’ said Arthur. ‘What do you do for fun? When you’re not working.’
    â€˜Er, well . . .’ I still felt a little awkward. ‘Well it’s pretty busy at the moment actually. I spend time with friends, I guess.’
    They didn’t press it further and we then went back to discussing the case. After my visit I had to finish going through the paperwork for the big day tomorrow, which unfortunately meant I had to once again cancel on Claire, this time for drinks, though as she’d indicated before, I knew she’d understand.
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    Wednesday 19 December 2007
    Year 2 (week 12): Freudian slip
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    It was zimmer-frame city outside the High Court today. With the help of ScandalMonger, TheMoldies have set up a Facebook group in the last two days, publicising the event, and when I arrived with Slippery, who was issuing the claim form, there were at least four hundred Moldies and their supporters standing around cheering. It was, to say the least, a little surreal.
    ScandalMonger had also tipped off the press and I’m happy to say that I think we’re in business. Though where there’s press, there is also BigMouth and sure enough he was there puffing out his chest and soaking up any reflected glory from the storm that had been created. ClichéClanger also came along for the sport and it didn’t come as a great surprise to see him get rather over-excited at all the attention. At one point he held some papers in the air and shouted, ‘We will wield aloft the mighty sword of Damacles and justice will be ours.’
    A Freudian slip, I fear, when it comes not only to taking on a big corporation but also to courting the press so vigorously.
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    Thursday 20 December 2007
    Year 2 (week 12): Making plans
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    Well, we certainly scored on the publicity front and Slippery has been inundated with more cases from people claiming to be affected by the particular telecom company that we’re targeting. As I sat in a strategy meeting with Slippery and ScandalMondger, Slippery explained, ‘The plan is to have these first cases paving the way and in the next two or three months we’ll pick a few more as test cases. If we win on any one of those, I mean it guys, we’ll all be shopping. Big settlement.’
    He looked at us as if we should both be very impressed with his big words. Then he added, ‘But to be fair, the main part of our plan at this stage is to embarrass the telecom company into settling by raising the fear of blanket and damaging press coverage.’
    Then, as I was about to leave, Slippery looked at me and said dramatically, ‘Do you feel plucky, BabyB? Well, do ya?’
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    Friday 21 December 2007
    Year 2 (week 12): BusyBaby
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    BusyBody was at chambers tea this afternoon showing off her new-born girl. She seemed as full of energy as ever, which prompted TheBusker to ask, ‘How are you finding the sleepless nights with the baby?’
    â€˜Oh, that’s not a problem. I’m following a new online motivational course for babies and I’ve been specifically training her