Page 23 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
‘Come on,’ said Bertie. ‘It’s too cold to be hanging around.’ He indicated the road ahead. ‘If we go this way we can cut through the park, and it’s only a couple of minutes’ walk from there.’
She fell into step beside him. ‘So, this Winter Wonderland, it’s on every year, is it?’
Bertie nodded. ‘I’m not sure how long it’s been running, but I’ve been coming for the last five or six years. My friend who owns the house back there is involved in organising it, so it’s a good excuse to meet up. There’s a bunch of us here most years.’
She looked at him in horror. ‘Are they going to be here today?’
‘No, don’t worry, it’s just us. I’ll come back a bit nearer Christmas to meet my mates. But I’ve managed to pull a few strings and lined up a little VIP treatment. I hope that’s okay? I wasn’t sure what kind of a day out this should be, and I know my way around this place. It seemed sensible.’
‘Bertie, I’m sure it will be great. It’s very kind of you to go to so much trouble.’
‘Well, I hope so. There has to be some bonus to this game we’re all playing, doesn’t there?’ He paused for a moment indicating that they should cross the road. ‘So, if you could choose, what would be your ideal day out?’
‘I don’t know…’ She pulled a face. ‘Something else I haven’t really thought of. I don’t go on many days out.’ Make that none, she thought, but didn’t say.
‘But you must know what you like, or where you like to be?’
She nodded. ‘Well, that’s easy… somewhere outside, like the canal for example.’
‘The canal? What, full of floating beer bottles and old supermarket shopping trolleys?’
She shook her head, laughing. ‘No, it’s really not like that. I live quite close to the canal and in summer I like to sit and just watch people go by. You can’t hurry when you’re on a boat and people are more relaxed, they have more time for others. They notice things they wouldn’t otherwise do and they seem, I don’t know, just happier to be alive than they do elsewhere. I like that. It makes me think that the world is not such a bad place after all.’
She didn’t mention that one of the reasons she liked it was because she knew that she could chat to folks quite happily and probably never see them again.
‘Put like that, I guess it sounds lovely, in some ways… but not all that much fun?’
‘I didn’t say it was fun, but then it depends what you mean by fun. I have a feeling that your idea of it and mine would be very different. But the canal is lovely. There’s a spot where I can sit and dangle my feet in the water, feeling the eddies lapping against my legs as the boats go by. And there are kingfishers too, if you’re lucky. It’s very beautiful.’
‘Okay… maybe that’s fine in summer, but where would you go in wintertime then, at Christmas? Not the canal, surely?’
Daisy’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh, it’s even better in the winter. The water can freeze over, like glass, and the frost lies on its surface, turning it into a glittery mirror. There are rushes and grasses that grow by the water’s edge and on a frosty morning like today every single leaf stands out in sharp relief.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I love all of that, but most of all I love the stillness. The way everything seems frozen in a moment of time. You can breathe it in on a winter’s day, until it claims every part of you…’ She stopped. ‘Sorry. That probably sounds… well, weird.’
Bertie was searching her face. ‘It doesn’t actually. When you say it… I think it sounds wonderful.’ He grimaced. ‘I’d never think of going anywhere like that and I’ve got a horrible feeling you’re going to hate today.’
Daisy cocked her head to one side. ‘Perhaps,’ she said. ‘But only because it’s very different to what I’m used to. I’m interested to see it through your eyes though.’
They had reached the end of another road and, as Bertie turned left, Daisy could see the gates ahead to a rather elegant-looking park. The trees that hung over its edge were barren of leaf but strung with coloured lanterns instead; red, blue, green and yellow in repeating patterns, right along the edge of the road. The street had been quiet but as soon as they turned onto the path that led into the park, Daisy could see lines of people up ahead, all following the same route, and undoubtedly all heading for the same destination. She felt rather like a sheep.
‘Are you hungry?’ asked Bertie, suddenly.
She shook her head. ‘Not really…’ She glanced at her watch; it wasn’t quite yet ten o’clock. ‘I’ve not long had breakfast, but if you want something don’t let me stop you.’
‘A drink then?’
She wasn’t really that thirsty either and was about to say so when she realised that the expression on Bertie’s face held more than just casual enquiry.
‘Possibly,’ she replied instead. ‘What did you have in mind?’
‘It’s just that there’s this great place I always go to first. It’s called the Altitude Bar and is made of glass. Sitting way up above everything else you can look down on all the festivities below. It’s a great way of getting your bearings and if you like people-watching… Well, actually, I have a VIP table booked.’
‘Then that’s where we’ll go.’
‘Only if you’re sure, I don’t want to—’
‘Bertie, you’ve gone to all this trouble. Of course we’ll go.’
She smiled at him confidently, ignoring the little voice in her head that was screaminghave you gone mad?A bar at ten o’clock in the morning. What on earth was she letting herself in for?
