Chapter 7 summary - Ash Layer

Jim waits for three day for his parents to arrive. He passes the hours plane spotting and pretending to be one of Japanese marines who attacked the Wake. He soon finds that his games in the ever-growing garden had lost their magic, and he spends most of his time in his mother's bedroom, where he can still see his mother's footprints in the talcum powder. He tries to tell himself that his mother was teaching a Japanese soldier how to tango, but when he tries to follow the footprints, he believes they are too violent for a tango, and eventually cuts his hand on the broken mirror when attempting the tango.

The food in the fridge has gone off, so instead Jim eats from the pantry cupboard. On the fourth morning, Jim awoke to find that he had forgotten to turn off one of the kitchen taps, and had run out of water from the storage tank. Although there was plenty of soda water in the pantry cupboard, he knows that his parents are not retuning. So he decides to leave and visit his friends houses. On the way out, he notices that the swimming pool had completely drained. He wanders towards the deep end, where he finds an English half-crown which he puts in his pocket. He rides his bicycle through the house, before leaving for his friends houses.

When he arrives at the Raymond's house, he asks their Amahs where Clifford or Dereck are. The Amahs do not answer him, and when Jim tries to walk past one of them, he is slapped in the face. He rides off hurriedly, his face still smarting from the Amahs blow. He heads towards the Maxted's apartment, but arrives to find that it had been treated in the same way his house had, with clothes and suitcases strewn across the floor. His friends room was also a tip, and as Jim lay on Patrick's mattress, he knew that he had to find his parents, or failing that, any other Briton.

Jim cycled his way to the Shell company compound, but found that it too had been overtaken by the Japanese. However, he sees Mr Guerevitch, the shell company caretaker, staring at the Japanese. Jim asks the old Russian whether he has seen his parents, but Mr Guerevitch only tells him to follow a convoy of trucks full of British prisoners. Jim does not follow his advice, and cycles back to Amherst Avenue. Jim reluctantly gives himself up to the Japanese, but the soldiers simply wave him away and ignore him. When he arrives back home, he finds two Japanese officers surveying the house. He was about to pedal up to them and surrender, but a Japanese soldier stepped out and grabs the front wheel of Jim's bike, propelling him into a heap on the dusty road.