Star Over Bethlehem: Christmas Stories and Poems

‘Oh no,’ said Mrs Hargreaves’ champion with heavy irony.‘Oh no, of course not! We all know that, don’t we?’

She looked round and immediately obtained a chorus of assent.The thruster seemed to be well known.

‘We know her and her ways,’ said one woman darkly.

‘Pound and a half of rump,’ said the butcher thrusting forth a parcel. ‘Now then, come along, who’s next, please?’

Mrs Hargreaves made her purchases and escaped to the street, thinking how really awful people were!

She went into the greengrocer next, to buy lemons and a lettuce. The woman at the greengrocer’s was, as usual, affectionate.

‘Well, ducks, what can we do for you today?’ She rang up the cash register; said ‘Ta’ and ‘Here you are, dearie,’ as she pressed a bulging bag into the arms of an elderly gentleman who looked at her in disgust and alarm.

‘She always calls me that,’ the old gentleman confided gloomily when the woman had gone in search of lemons.

‘ “Dear”, and “Dearie” and “Love”. I don’t even know the woman’s name!’

Mrs Hargreaves said she thought it was just a fashion. The old gentleman looked dubious and moved off, leaving Mrs Hargreaves feeling faintly cheered by the discovery of a fellow sufferer.

Her shopping bag was quite heavy by now, so she thought she would take a bus home.There were three or four people waiting at the bus stop, and an ill-tempered conductress shouted at the passengers.

‘Come along now, hurry along, please – we can’t wait here all day.’ She scooped up an elderly arthritic lady and thrust her staggering into the bus where someone caught her and steered her to a seat, and seized Mrs Hargreaves by the arm above the elbow with iron fingers, causing her acute pain.

‘Inside, only. Full up now.’ She tugged violently at a bell, the bus shot forward and Mrs Hargreaves collapsed on top of a large woman occupying, through no fault of her own, a good three-quarters of a seat for two.

‘I’m so sorry,’ gasped Mrs Hargreaves.