Page 37 of A Christmas Celebration
Even though I was sailing close to the wind timewise, I also took my time over my final stop, when I eventually found it. An emergency food parcel and sanitary products and a bundle of picture books for a young mum with three pre-schoolers took me to an out of the way cottage and into the orbit of the woman who hadn’t seen another adult for days.
‘I’m sorry I’m a bit later than expected,’ I apologized,when she answered the door. ‘I had a job finding you. I’m Paige, by the way. I’ve got your delivery from Kathleen in town. You are Alice, aren’t you?’
‘Yes,’ she said, opening the door wider to let me in. ‘I’m not surprised you couldn’t find me,’ she added, ushering the children back into the room which was cramped in spite of the fact there wasn’t much in it. ‘It’s like the back of beyond out here, isn’t it?’
‘Just a bit,’ I agreed, handing over a carrier bag and following her into the kitchen with a box of packets and tins. ‘And I still don’t know the area all that well, so I’m prone to getting lost.’
‘I moved in a rush,’ she told me, once she’d put a few of the things away, ‘and this was the only place I could find at such short notice, so I’m not really familiar with the place either. I know it’s not ideal, especially as I don’t drive, but it’s better than where I was. At least here no one’s going to…’ Her words trailed off and I didn’t ask what she had been going to unguardedly say. ‘I can make you a coffee, if you like?’
‘Thank you,’ I said, ‘but I better not. I’ve had a drink at every stop I’ve made so far and I’ll never make it home if I have another.’
She made one for herself and shared some of the biscuits between the children who had been eyeing up the packets since she unpacked them.
‘The council have promised to find me something in town,’ she further explained, once the little brood were settled at the table. ‘Or closer, anyway, but I’m not holdingout much hope. People have made me promises before and not pulled through, so we’ll see. Whatever happens, I’m still proud I found the courage to leave.’ She stopped abruptly and looked at me over the rim of her mug. ‘Sorry,’ she said, her face flushing. ‘I have no idea why I’m telling you any of this. I’m not usually prone to oversharing.’
‘You should be proud,’ I told her, imagining at least some of her journey. ‘Walking away from something, no matter how horrid it is, is never easy and with three little ones to bring with you it must have been nigh on impossible. You’re amazing, Alice.’
Her face was transformed by a sudden smile.
‘I’ve recently left something behind too,’ I was surprised to hear myself telling her. ‘Nothing like what I’m guessing you’ve been through, but it’s going to result in a total life change. I’m not sure how I’m going to cope in the long-term, to be honest and I’ve got nothing like your responsibilities.’
‘Hey,’ she said, sounding wise beyond her years. ‘It’s all relative, remember? Just because your baggage is nothing like mine and mine resembles nothing like yours, it doesn’t make it any less valid.’
It was exactly the sort of thing I had heard myself say many times before when working on projects across the world, especially the women’s empowerment ones.
‘You’ll cope,’ Alice determinedly said. ‘We both will.’
Before I left, we exchanged mobile phone numbers and I gave her the hall number too.
‘I’ll get Kathleen to call the council and make sure they’regiving your situation their full attention,’ I promised after Alice had said that sometimes she got jittery at night, especially if she heard a car going slowly by.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’d certainly sleep better with a few other people living nearby and it would be great to be able to walk to the library and get these three to a playgroup.’
‘Fingers crossed for a move soon then,’ I told her. ‘And you can call me at any time,’ I insisted. ‘If the call doesn’t connect because I haven’t got enough signal, then ring the hall. No one will mind.’
She promised she would and waved me off. I pulled off the road a little further along and gratefully snacked on the sandwiches Dorothy had packed and Mr Wilson and I arrived at Albert’s cottage at exactly the same time. If he was at all surprised by the state of the cottage, he kept his reaction well-hidden and greeted Albert in a professional manner. I was delighted to find he was set up to perform the test in no time.
Albert looked nervous as he handed over the glasses he was currently wearing and I went off to the kitchen, ostensibly to make tea, but really to give him some privacy while they got the test underway.
‘But these are a decade out of date, Mr Price,’ I heard Mr Wilson say in surprise.
‘I’m sure they’re not as old as all that,’ came Albert’s defensive response.
‘I’m afraid they are,’ said Mr Wilson. ‘According to my records, we fitted you with these frames in twenty twelve and it’s now…’
‘I can do the maths,’ sniffed Albert.
‘You have had new ones since then,’ Mr Wilson pointed out. ‘Two new prescriptions, in fact.’
‘I know,’ Albert shot bluntly back. ‘But I can’t find them, can I?’ And that was the end of that.
‘Tea,’ I said, carrying in the tray and pouring everyone a cup.
The test progressed swiftly, but Albert didn’t look happy after his out-of-date frames had been flagged up. He’d whizzed through the glaucoma test, had no double vision or refractive errors and was soon reading from a chart to help Mr Wilson fine-tune his results.
‘There’s some slight deterioration,’ he said, sitting back, once Albert had recited what he could, ‘but nothing worse than I’d expect to see in a man of your years, Mr Price.’
He sounded very happy with the result, but Albert was still fed up.
