CHAPTER 23
Ever afterwards, Lynn could recall every detail of that first day, etched on her memory with intense satisfaction. She felt that she had never been so happy before in her life. Henry had been like a small boy, looking at everything, trying out lego models of his own, just like many others in the place, as though trying to capture a childhood he had never really experienced. There had been a doll museum in the grounds, full of exquisite models. Henry had pressed a reproduction of one on her, and she had walked back to the car clutching it in her arms, scarcely able to believe what was happening. Dolls she had had as a youngster, but never one like this. The act of giving had pleased Henry so much that she hadn’t had the heart to even think of refusing. Besides, it was lovely. Once again, she was reminded of her own childhood, filled with bitterness and trouble, robbing her of part of that innocence that should have been hers by right.
The days following became a blur over the course of time, one running into another. High points there were, to be recalled at will. The ship museum at Roskilde with a display of rope making machinery stretched over the grassy lawn outside, the semi erotic statues of Vigeland Park in Oslo which had brought a blush to her cheeks lasting for days whenever she thought about it, running across their first runestone standing solitary in a field as though on guard against foreign invaders, the burial mounds in Uppsala. These, and many others, were causes of delight. It had been in Roskilde that Henry had bought an old Viking board game, somewhat akin to chess, but otherwise unlike any other board game she had ever seen. The rules were simple enough, but the game had a complexity all its own, and was more difficult than it first appeared. At least, Henry never won more than a handful of the innumerable games they played during their time travelling and for many months afterwards.
It was difficult to know just where they were at times, but today was Sweden. Of that she was certain, as she had been trying to learn a little of the language over the few days previous. It was then that the deepest experience of all reached down into her, never to be forgotten.
The big Bentley drew up outside the small countryside hotel. Two people got out and entered the building. One, a young woman, approached the enquiry desk with a slightly flushed face while her companion, a noticeably older man, looked on. The girl, for she was little more than that, being barely older than nineteen years in age, stumbled through her limited Swedish, getting the point of her enquiry through at the third attempt. The answer, when it came, left her confused and bewildered. She laughed.
’I’m sorry,’ she said. ’Do you speak English?’
Her question was met with a shake of the head and a pair of outspread hands. The smile was friendly enough, but the knowledge of English remained nil. The girl looked at the man for support. He stepped forward and addressed himself to the counter clerk in accented, but reasonably fluent Swedish. There were explanations, clearly not satisfactory. The man translated.
’I’m sorry, Lynn, the hotel has rooms, but there’s only the one free for the night. It’s a family room, which means four beds, but just the one room anyway. We could try somewhere else, or if you’re too tired to move on, you can take this room, and I’ll sleep in the car.’
’You’ll do nothing of the sort,’ she said. ’After all the driving you’ve done, you must be as tired as I am, if not more so.’ She yawned. ’I don’t really think I want to go any further today, and your driving is getting a bit erratic. Four beds, did you say? Well then, why not take the room and we’ll share. Or do they object to unmarried couples sharing?’
He laughed. ’Not in this country. Actually, it would be seen as rather odd if we didn’t, especially not if we are classified as family members. It’s quite common here, even for a man and his adult daughter to share a room. Nobody thinks anything of it.’
’Well, in that case, take the room.’
’You don’t think you’re taking a risk?’ he smiled at her. ‘You’ve only got my word for it after all.’
She wrinkled her nose at him. ’I don’t see you as a liar, Henry. If you were, you would hardly be offering to sleep in the car. No, I don’t think there’s any great risk. Just go ahead and book it. Two nights as well. At least. You need a rest. It would be a pity to bend your Bentley, not to mention the fact that I’m too young to die just because you fall asleep at the wheel.’
‘You mean presumably that I’m just the right age,’ said Henry.
Lynn stuck her tongue out at him but made no reply.
After eating a meal in the hotel restaurant, they went to their room and unpacked the small travel cases, placing the toilet items carefully in the shower room. Although after ten in the evening, it was still light outside, being near midsummer, but there were blinds and heavy curtains across the windows. Henry closed the blinds and drew the curtains.
’There,’ he said. ’There’s enough light to see where you’re going, but dark enough to be moral when you undress. I may be old, but I’m still man enough to enjoy the sight of a scantily dressed pretty girl when I get the chance of looking at one, but I suppose you would prefer I kept my eyes to myself.’
There came a slight chuckle from the other side of the room. ’You are thoughtful,’ she said. ’I don’t think I really mind, not under the circumstances, but I do appreciate the thought. Thank you.’
He undressed quickly and slid between the sheets, listening to the rustle of clothing as she divested herself of her own.
They lay awake for a long time. She could hear him shifting position in his bed, moving uncomfortably. At last she called out.
’Can’t you sleep, either?’
’I’m a bit stiff after all that driving,’ he said. ’My shoulders are aching. The Bentley’s an easy car to drive, but we did come quite a long way today. It’ll pass, when I get tired enough.’
A dull sound came to his ears, as of a quilt being thrown back, followed by the pad of footsteps on the bare floor. She lowered herself to sit on the edge of his bed, pulling down the quilt slightly and grasping his shoulders in her hands, kneading the stiff muscles with her strong young fingers. He tensed at the feel, then relaxed, enjoying the sensation of close contact.
’That’s very pleasant indeed,’ he said. ’Thank you Lynn.’
’One moment,’ she said. ’This is a bit of an awkward position for me. I’m working sideways.’
To his astonishment, she dragged the quilt further down, exposing his entire back, then lifted herself across him, straddling him, knees pressing firmly through the quilt and into his sides. There may not be many sense organs in the back, he thought, but I could swear she is wearing nothing under her nightgown, or whatever it is she has on. Nice. Very nice indeed. But get a grip on yourself man. She’s not for you. Not in that way. Don’t do anything to spoil a good relationship.
Slowly, the tensions of the day eased away. The massaging stopped as the girl flexed her fingers. ’That’s hard work,’ she said. ’It makes me sweat.’
’Perspire,’ he said lazily. ’Ladies don’t sweat, they only perspire. Or glow, if you want to be really posh.’
’All right, I’m glowing,’ she said. ’Although I’m not sure a real lady would find herself in this position.’ She gave a little shiver. ’Sweating, or glowing, now I’ve stopped, it makes me chilly. I feel cold all of a sudden.’
She slid down beside him, but on top of the sheet and drew the quilt to cover them both.
’Now this is being really unladylike,’ she said. ’But it’s warm. No, don’t edge away. You are allowed to put your arm around me.’
’I’m a little lightly dressed for this sort of thing,’ he said.
’So I gather. So am I. I don’t care. I’m warm.’ She hesitated, then pulled his arm so as to enclose her, holding his hand tightly.
’Will you tell me something, Henry?’
’If I can. What do you want to know?’
’Well, when you were talking to gran, that time she came to visit, I could hear something of what you were saying. I was listening, of course, but I couldn’t catch everything. I know you offered a share of your wealth to her, but would you really have given her anything?’
’Yes,’ he said. ’I promised you see. A long time ago, of course, but I still promised. Everything I had. She didn’t take it. She didn’t want it. If she had, I would have still supported you, and left you enough to make you comfortable, but she would have had the rest.’
’You promised,’ she said thoughtfully. ’But it was a long time ago. Would you have given her your money just because of that promise, or because you really wanted to, still wanted to?’
’A bit of both, I guess. There’s a moral obligation, you see. But I did love her once, and that alone is enough. Foolish of me, I know, but that’s the way I am.’
’I couldn’t hear what she replied. How did she take it?’
’Not very well. She said that since I had nothing to offer her so many years ago, except floor scrubbing, I certainly couldn’t have anything to offer her now.’
’That’s not very logical,’ said Lynn. ’You’ve had time to build up a career since you first knew her.’
He smiled faintly. ’That’s right. I don’t think she was really listening. The funny thing is that one of my interests was a floor scrubbing machine. It cleaned carpets and curtains as well. Even walls, except for the most delicate wallpaper. It made a small fortune in its day, enough to keep your gran in comfort for the rest of her life, I would have thought.’
Henry drifted off to sleep, conscious of a warm, slim body beside him. When he awoke, it was morning, and he was alone. There was a sense of slight disappointment about the fact, yet at the same time a sense of indefinable relief. He looked over the room, and saw that Lynn was back in her own bed, regular breathing sounds indicating that she was still asleep. Just as well, he thought. Carefully, he aroused himself, showered and dressed, then opened the blinds slightly, letting a measure of strong sunlight flood in. Lynn moved and awoke.
‘Morning, Lynn,’ said Henry. ‘Sleep well?’
‘Morning, Henry,’ she replied a little sleepily. ‘Yes, thank you, I did. What time is it?’
Henry consulted his watch. ‘Eight o’clock,’ he said, thinking that they seemed to have had this conversation before. ‘If you want breakfast, you’ll need to be up and about quite soon. In this country, people start early.’
‘So I realise,’ she said with a groan. ‘All right, I’ll get up, although I’m not sure this isn’t still the middle of the night.’
‘Can’t be,’ he said cheerfully. ‘The sun’s shining like gold in Fort Knox. It’s been up for hours. Literally, this far north. Come on lazybones, I’ll wait for you in the breakfast room.’
Lynn entered the breakfast room looking slightly dazed. Without a word, Henry poured her a large mug of coffee, and waited until she had drunk quite half of it. In silence again, he went to the food counter and brought back two plates of mixed cold meats, cheese slices and two different types of bread.
‘All right,’ said Lynn a few minutes later. ‘I’ve woken up. Well, almost. Treat me with delicacy, please.’ She looked at Henry with disgust. ‘I don’t know how you manage to look so fresh after all that driving. I’m worn to a shadow.’
‘I’m ancient,’ said Henry comfortably. ‘Like all the archaeological remains we’ve been looking at. Ancient things don’t need as much sleep. Well known fact.’
‘I don’t believe you, Henry Forsyth. ‘I think you are just pretending. Anyway, can we please make an easier day of it today? Your car is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever been in, but I don’t think I want to drive any further until tomorrow at least.’
‘Thing?’ said Henry. ‘Thing? You go around calling a Bentley a thing, and you’ll have the ghosts of both Rolls and Royce playing havoc with your dreams.’
‘Silver Ghosts at that, I suppose,’ said Lynn. ‘One of them was a Henry as well, but I can’t remember which one. You don’t think you are that ghost, do you?’
Henry laughed. ‘Since he was an Honourable, I doubt it,’ he said. ‘Not unless you find me haunting your sleep, and I shouldn’t think that’s very likely.’
‘You might be surprised, my dear man. I certainly dreamed about you last night, and you were honourable enough then,’ she said, dimples appearing in her cheeks as she smiled across the table at him. ‘Anyway, what have you got planned for today?’
‘Not a great deal,’ he said. ‘To be honest, absolutely nothing. I did think we might hire a boat and go out to one of the islands on the lake. I’m told there are some fine runestones there. If you can stand looking at another runestone, that is.’
Lynn looked out of the window. The scene was a peaceful one. Some sort of birds wheeled over the dead calm water, reflected on its surface, as though it was a mirror. Only the occasional passing vehicle broke the silence.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘I’d like that. You’d think that one runestone looks pretty much like another, but they are all different. I find it fascinating to study them, and to think that they have been here for centuries, undisturbed, as though they were waiting for us to come along and admire them. We must have seen dozens, yet they haven’t lost their attraction. Besides, a boat ride sounds nice. I hope it doesn’t have a noisy engine. It seems a pity to spoil the peace and quiet.’
Henry’s face creased in a broad grin. ‘I’ll guarantee the engine is quiet,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t have one. Only oars, and I’m pretty good with those. At least, I used to be. Maybe I haven’t lost the knack. If so, I’ll let you try your hand.’
‘No thank you,’ said Lynn with a shudder. ‘I tried rowing once on the river at home. It’s harder than it looks. Very easy to fall in though.’
‘You fell in?’
‘I fell in. Luckily, it was a warm day, so I could dry out before going through the streets without looking like the prize idiot I felt.’
‘All right,’ said Henry, trying not to laugh, then glancing at Lynn’s attire. That hemline, he thought, is fashionable, which means high in the extreme. And it’s a close fit. It makes a man wonder if she is wearing anything at all underneath. ‘I’ll do the rowing. Er, you might find trousers more practical than a skirt. It’s only a small boat. I was looking at them earlier.’
‘Can’t be bothered,’ said Lynn lazily. ‘I’ll risk it. Besides, I didn’t bring trousers with me, and England is a long way to go just to fetch a pair.’
‘You could buy some here.’
‘No thank you, Henry. It’s all your money, and you’ve spent quite a lot on me already. I know you won’t let me use my own. I do appreciate it, but you really mustn’t spend any more.’
‘Well, in that case, if you’ve finished your breakfast,’ said Henry, ‘we could be going.’
‘Slave driver,’ commented Lynn. ‘This is supposed to be a holiday.’ She looked at the glint in Henry’s eyes, and got up with a sigh of resignation. ‘All right, let’s go. I’ll be ready as soon as I’ve cleaned my teeth. Less than five minutes.’
She came down from the room in not much more time than she had promised, to see Henry studying a notice on the wall beside the reception. Joining him, she read the wording carefully, picking out about one word in three.
‘Is it a dance?’ she asked.
Henry nodded. ‘That’s right. A dance evening, to be held tonight in the hotel lounge.’
‘I’ve never been dancing,’ said Lynn. ‘At least, not since I was at school, and that was only a disco. I didn’t like it very much. Too noisy for my taste. I got enough of excess noise at home, whenever there was a family fight.’
‘This one is a little more old fashioned,’ said Henry. ‘Oh, there are modern dances, to be sure, but part of the evening will be taken up with traditional ballroom dancing. I guess you never learned that style.’
‘No. No I didn’t. Did you?’
‘Certainly I did. Remind me to tell you about it sometime.’
‘Good, were you?’
‘I’ll say, but then I would, wouldn’t I? Well enough to be able to give you a few lessons at any rate. Not that I’ve done it for quite a long time now, but I don’t suppose I’ve forgotten so much, if I’m not too stiff to make the moves at all, that is.’
‘I might take you up on that one day,’ said Lynn. ‘But first, you promised me a boat ride.’
Landing on the island, they clambered out of the boat, Henry offering a hand to the young woman as the boat slipped backwards, causing her to lose her balance and to sit down abruptly in the bottom of the boat. Not even pretending to avert his eyes from the sight of her long, tanned limbs, he hauled her to her feet and helped her out on to dry land. The incident answered his earlier question. It still looked as though she wore nothing underneath the skirt, but as his eyes told him, she clearly was. Just. He sighed silently. If only... But no, he was getting old and that simply had to be accepted. The arrow of time pointed only one way. It didn’t go backwards. Nor did it stand still, not even on demand.
It didn’t take long to explore the island. It was only some hundred paces or so in length, and only a little less in width, having a small clump of trees in the middle, together with a ring of screening bushes around the perimeter. They stood side by side, looking out over the surface of the lake, rippling from the passage of their coming, and watching the dragonflies hovering busily over the yellow water lilies. Several large fish flicked their tails to move almost majestically through the water. A quick gust of wind fluttered around them as the sun disappeared briefly behind a large cloud. Lynn gave a little shiver as a sudden chill struck her, and she leaned on Henry for warmth, slipping her arms through his, to his intense pleasure. Then the sun reappeared and the air heated up again as though by magic.
The runestones were not difficult to find, but were disappointingly small and uncared for, although nothing would match the grandeur and majesty of the magnificent specimens they had seen earlier at Uppsala. Even so, they were runestones, and runestones were what they had come to see. Better still from their viewpoint were the painted rock carvings, as good as anything seen elsewhere.
‘Why do you think they put the stones just here?’ asked Lynn. ‘It’s not as though anyone would see them, after all.’
‘I don’t really know,’ said Henry. ‘Why do cathedral builders put marvellous carvings at the top of the building, where they can’t ever be seen? Perhaps the water level has risen. Or maybe the land has dropped. There’s a lot of ground movement here, I do know. It’s still coming out of the last ice age.’
They pondered the question for a while, but came to no satisfactory answer. With a sigh of contentment, Lynn slipped from the stone she had been sitting on and stretched out full length on the dry, warm grass, face shielded from the direct sunshine by the overhanging branches of a nearby tree.
‘It’s nice here,’ she murmured. ‘Thank you for bringing me, Henry. To Scandinavia generally, and this island in particular. I think this is one of the best days in my entire life.’
‘Not everyone would agree with you there,’ said Henry. ‘Looking at rocks isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Most people would prefer a bit of life, a bit of action on their holiday.’
‘No thank you,’ said Lynn. ‘I prefer this sort of action. You know, peace and quiet. Not every young woman is on the lookout for excitement and adventure. I like my surprises to come on me slowly. Anyway, I’m a bit tired today, and all I really want to do is nothing more than what I’m doing now. Do join me, Henry, it’s lovely and warm down here.’
Henry bent his knees and slid down to lay flat alongside her. Lynn moved so as to rest her head on his shoulder. ‘That’s better,’ she said. ‘A pillow is just what I needed. You don’t mind?’ she asked anxiously.
‘Not at all,’ he assured her.
There was a long pause. Lynn cleared her throat. ‘Would you tell me something, Henry?’
‘Depends what it is.’
‘Well, at the risk of spoiling your day, did you ever do this sort of thing with gran?’
‘Acting as a pillow? Not that I remember. Rowing on a lake? Hardly. Not too many lakes where I come from, you know. There’s only the sea, and that’s a bit rough and cold for boating.’ He forestalled her. ‘All right, I know what you mean,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘It’s a long time ago, Lynn. I’m not sure I recall every detail. I’m not sure I want to. Some things are clear, of course, but others have disappeared in the mists of time. Being in a recumbent posture like this? Well, I don’t think so. Life was a bit more formal then, and a girl might have been seen as no better than she ought to be, whatever that may have meant. Oh, we used to sit on the grass now and then, but it was sitting, nothing more horizontal.’
’How did you meet gran?’ asked Lynn.
Henry thought for a while. ’Actually, it was while cycling one day. We just happened to run into each other. Not literally, that is. Just on a casual basis. The number of young women I’ve met who make a habit of falling off their bikes is strictly limited,’ he said, teasing her. ‘We rode back home together when finding out we lived in the same town. She actually recognised me, from seeing me earlier in the Palais.’
‘The Palais?’ asked Lynn, not certain just what it might be.
‘That’s right. The Palais. The local dance hall,’ Henry explained on seeing the look of incomprehension on Lynn’s face.
‘Ah, now I see. You said you used to go dancing.’
‘That’s right.’
‘You also said you would tell me about it if I reminded you. Well, I’m reminding you now. It’s a lovely peaceful day, just right for reminiscences.’
‘All right,’ said Henry. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you think this is boring, wait until you’ve heard this tale. I haven’t been to a ballroom in many years, but there was a time, in my younger days, you understand, when I was very fond of dancing. I think most people were at that time. It was a sort of social event, a place you could meet other people on common ground, and where young men could talk to young women without getting their faces slapped, or worse, being suspected of Vile Thoughts.’
‘Vile Thoughts,’ giggled Lynn. ‘I can hear the capital letters. Is that really true?’
‘Oh yes. Truer than you might think. Times have changed.’
‘For the worse, I suppose,’ said Lynn.
‘No, I think it’s for the better. Only nostalgia is not what it used to be. Honestly, whatever the drawbacks, and they do exist, the easier modern social contacts are a lot healthier. Anyway, I used to go to the local dance hall on a Saturday night, more for the company than anything else. I was rather lonely in those days, and didn’t know how to make contact with other people. When you are brought up in an institution, there’s always that sense of withdrawal as a result of trying to gain a little extra privacy. I see things differently now, of course, but then I was lonely quite often. However, I got fed up with not being able to dance properly, so I found a dancing school. To my surprise, I found Catriona there. She had started a couple of weeks earlier, and already knew some of the basic steps. It seemed only natural for us to dance together, as the ice had been broken only the weekend before when we met cycling.’
‘And one thing led to another, I suppose?’ asked Lynn.
‘That’s right, although when I did learn to dance, I had other partners than your gran. She didn’t go to the Palais every week, you see, whereas I rarely missed. I had a regular partner in fact, someone whose name I can’t even remember now. Maybe that’s a sign of old age.’
‘Or maybe a sign that she didn’t mean much to you emotionally,’ suggested Lynn.
Henry smiled. ‘I think that’s probably true. Not many people got through my skin. Be that as it may, we used to meet most weeks in the Palais. Not that it exists any more, like so much else in the town, but in its day it was the place to go to for a Saturday evening’s entertainment. You may not believe it, but the town used to have sixteen cinemas at one time, and not one is left now. Anyway, back to the Palais. It had been an ice rink at one time, then it was converted into a ballroom. There were other places, but the Palais was always the favourite. It had a lovely floor, and a large, mirrored globe in the middle of the room that turned to reflect multi coloured lights when the band was playing. Real bands, too, none of your records, except in the interval when everyone went up to the balcony for refreshments.’
‘Real bands? Like who? Or should that be whom?’
‘Don’t ask me,’ said Henry. ‘I’m not the one with an education. But I was telling you about the bands. Joe Loss, Eric Delaney, we got some of the best in the entire country. It all helped the ambience. Believe it or not, I was the terror of the ballroom. I had lots of partners, beautiful young girls who scratched each others’ eyes out to have the privilege of dancing with the handsomest man in the town. Anyone who got me was the envy of the others.’
‘Is that true?’ said Lynn, turning a suspicious eye on him, the while wondering who, or whom, Joe Loss was.
‘Of course not, but I like to think it might have been. Well, a man can dream. One thing was true though, and that is I was the envy of all the young men there.’
’Were you? Why?’
’Why? I’ll tell you why. I didn’t have so much money in those days, but I did take my dancing seriously. I considered that if I was to do the job, I should do it properly, so I had certain things to help out.’
’What sort of things?’
He lowered his voice. ’Patent leather shoes, for one,’ he whispered.
’Patent leather shoes? Surprise me. I’ve heard the term,’ said Lynn. ‘In fact, you mentioned them to gran that time she visited. What are they?’
’You don’t know about patent leather shoes? What do they teach them in university nowadays?’
’A surprising number of things,’ Lynn said. ’But nothing about shoes, patent leather or any other type. It doesn’t seem relevant to the academic world. It’s mainly trainers anyway.’
’Well, let me explain. The first thing you have to understand is that girls were dressed in a different fashion then. Of course, fashions change all the time, but not always as much as we are led to believe. Just the same, there was a big difference in my dancing days. Now that’s a very pretty dress you were wearing yesterday. I like the colour, it matches your eyes, if you will allow an old man to offer a compliment. May I?’
’Of course you may, but get to the point, Henry.’
’Modern fashions are more revealing,’ he commented. ’Not much left to the imagination. For example, yesterday’s dress shows off your knees to perfection. Today’s even more so.’
Henry could feel Lynn getting warmer at the expression, and guessed she was blushing even though he couldn’t see her face.
He continued. ‘It was a bit different when I was young, I can tell you. Women wore much longer skirts then, and never trousers. Until I was fifteen or so, I didn’t know that women had legs at all. Well, not quite. Actually, the dresses were not so long. They reached to just below the knees, and that is where they stayed at all times, not so much through the laws of gravity, as through the laws of England. Men were driven frantic by the thought of what might lay underneath, and did their best to find out.’ He smiled happily. ‘Not everything was better in the old days.’
’Amazing,’ Lynn said sarcastically, thinking of the less gentlemanly boys in her class at school. Even the more gentlemanly ones for that matter, not to mention several she had met at university. ’Not that I’m sure I want to hear, but tell me, how did they do that?’
’Well, all sorts of methods were employed. Cycling was popular for one. Women wore skirts for that exercise as well. No decent girl ever wore trousers. You could often see a young man riding slightly ahead of his girl friend, always slightly ahead, and always looking back apparently to check that she was all right, but in reality trying to get a glimpse of her knees, if nothing more exciting.’
’Did it work?’
’Not that I know of,’ Henry said sadly, and Lynn guessed with some amusement that he had been among the number trying the system out. ’There were petticoats to cope with as well as a number of other mysterious frilly things which none of us seemed to understand, though many were the theories. Still, there were other methods. A walk on the beach on a windy day. That didn’t work either. Nor did going upstairs on a bus. Women always insisted on following behind the man. It was supposed to display good manners, but we all knew the real reason behind it, even though it was never stated directly.’
His eyes twinkled and his lips curved upwards. ‘A windy crossing on a North Sea ferry would have met the need, of course, but I doubt if anyone could have afforded that. Dancing was one of the favourites, though. There was always the possibility of a girl getting energetic and doing a rapid twirl so that the skirts flew high. The trouble was, most people couldn’t dance that well, and simply trudged around the floor somehow. In any case, I think women sewed pennies into the hemline to hold the fabric down so that it couldn’t move up, and they were old pennies which had a bit of weight in them