(11/20) Farther Afield by Miss Read Read Free Book Online Page A

a fat thrush in the road,'"I sit in my little sandy burrow and shell corn and seeds".'
    '"And when the sun comes out again," ' I finished for her, '"You should see my garden and the flowers – roses and pinks and pansies." '
    'I'm sorry for children who aren't brought up on Beatrix Potter,' said Amy. 'Look! There's St Patrick's spire ahead. You'll be back in your burrow in two shakes.'
    The lane to the school was empty, and we arrived unseen by the neighbours. It was very quiet, the village sunk in the somnolence of early afternoon.
    Inside the school house everything was unusually tidy. A few fallen petals from the geranium on the window sill made it look more like home, however, counteracting the symmetrically draped tea-cloths on the airer, and the 'Vim', washing up liquid and so on, which were arrayed with military precision in order of height on the draining board. Every polished surface winked with cleanliness. Never had the stove flashed so magnificently. Never had the windows been so clear. Even the doormat looked as if it had been brushed and combed.
    'Well,' said Amy, gazing round. 'Mrs Pringle's had a field day here.'
    Awe-struck, we went into the sitting room. Here, the same unnatural tidiness was apparent.
    'I feel as though I ought to take off my shoes,' I said. 'It's positively holy with cleanliness.'
    The coffee pot on the dresser, behind which I stuff all the letters needing an answer, now stood at the extreme side of the board. There was nothing – not even a single sheet of paper – behind it.
    'Save us!' I cried. 'Where on earth is all my correspondence?'
    'Gone to heaven on a bonfire,' Amy replied.
    'But I must have it,' I began in bewilderment.
    'Calm down,' said Amy, 'or you'll break your arm again.'
    This idiotic remark had the effect of calming us both. We sat down, somewhat nervously, on the newly washed chair covers.
    'She's washed every blessed tiling in sight,' I said wonderingly, 'and I declare she's oiled the beams too. Look at the fire-irons! And the candlesticks! And the lamp shades! It's positively uncanny. I shall never be able to live up to this standard.'
    'Don't worry,' said Amy comfortingly. 'By the time you've had twenty-four hours here, it will look as though a tornado has hit it, and it will be just like home again.'
    It was one of those remarks which could have been more delicately expressed, or, better still, been left unsaid. In normal circumstances I might have made some sharp retort, but Amy's kindness over the past week or so enabled me to hold my tongue.
    We sat for a few minutes, resting and marvelling at Mrs Pringle's handiwork before embarking on a tour of the whole house. It was a relief to find that I could negotiate the stairs if I attacked them like a toddler, bringing both feet to one stair before essaying the next. I could have wished the banister had been placed on the left hand side instead of the right, but by assuming a crab-like motion I could get up and down very well and was suitably smug about it.
    'And what about getting in and out of the bath?' asked Amy, deflating me.
    'I'm going to get one of those rubber mats, so that I don't slip,' I told her. 'And I shall kneel down to bath, so that I can get up again easily.'
    Amy laughed.
    'You win, my love. If the worst comes to the worst, you can always ring me, and I'll nip over and scrub your back.'
    We checked the goods in the larder, and made out a shopping list, and then went to inspect the garden. As well as Timmy Willie's roses and pinks and pansies, the purple clematis had come out, the velvety flowers glorious against the old bricks of the house.
    We sat together on the rustic seat warmed by the sun, and tilted up our faces to the blaze as thankfully as the daisies on the grass.
    Tomorrow, I thought, I shall be back for good. As if reading my thoughts, Amy spoke.
    'No place like home, eh?'
    She sounded relaxed and slightly amused at my happiness.
    'None,' I said fervently.

6 Amy Needs Help

    I WOKE next