The Children of Green Knowes

Sitting in a doctor's office
this morning I read the beginning:

" A little boy was sitting in the corner
of a railway carriage looking out at
the rain, which was splashing against
the windows and blotching downward
in an ugly , dirty way. He was not the
only person in the carriage, but the
others were strangers to him. ...
There were two women opposite him,
a fat one and a thin one, and they
talked without stopping, smacking
their lips in between sentences and
seeming to enjoy what they said as
much as if it were something to eat.
They were KNITTING all the time,
and whenever the train stopped
the CLICK-CLACK of their needles
was loud and clear like two clocks."

...."I wish it were THE Flood," thought
the boy, and that I was going in the
ark.............What must it have sounded
like , coming along the tide? And
did Mrs. Noah just knit , knit and
take no notice."

Can't put this one down either!