brush and got ready to do a bit of cleaning before the long journey.
It was pretty exciting sitting in the Green Line bus â we werenât usually allowed to do this on account of germs and things. But Lally said that in the very cold weather, like December, and with a sharp frost, it would not be so dangerous, the germs would be killed off. So we felt quite safe as we left Victoria Coach Station and went across the river heading to Sussex.
I had to sit beside Flora, which was all right because she didnât seem to mind about the Weekend on my knees, and Lally and my sister sat together behind us with the attaché case and a little wicker basket in which we knew were the sandwiches, Thermos flask and some fruit which we would have when we got to Felbridge in an hourâs time. About.
It was quite a decent omnibus. It had an orange and brown ziggy-zaggy carpet, so as not to show the dirt,Lally said, and curtains at the windows to keep out the sun if you had to. The people travelling with us seemed to me to be quite all right. I mean, what you could see of them, because they were all wrapped up with woollen scarves, travelling-rugs and tweedy coats. Some of the men wore caps which they didnât take off even when the omnibus had started on the journey. Quite rude really. But when I looked round at them all, sitting in their seats like brown paper parcels, they all smiled back and nodded at me, which made it all feel rather comfortable. After all, we were all going on a journey, and itâs better to have pleasant people with you on that sort of a thing than grumpy ones. What was especially good was that no one seemed to be interested in the Weekend. I mean, I didnât show anyone, but no one even looked curious, like most grown-up people do. They were quite busy unwrapping their mufflers and looking for the return half of their tickets, and unbuttoning coats, and that sort of thing. So I just said nothing, only smiled, in case they might decide that there was a funny smell. Or something. You canât ever be sure. Anyway, there wasnât. Just the jeyes Fluid.
The conductor was very nice indeed too. I mean, he didnât say anything, hardly looked at me really, so he couldnât have seen the cage on my knees, and just asked Lally for the tickets and told her weâd have to change at Lewes.
So that was all right, and when she said that she hoped very much indeed that we could catch our connection from there to Seaford, he said that he hoped weâd get there himself. He hadnât actually got a connection to catch there but he did have a âconnectionâ, if we knew what hemeant (which we didnât), because his sister would be waiting at the bus station for the package he was bringing her on account of not trusting the Royal Mail at Christmas.
âOh my word!â said Lally kindly. âYou would be vexed should we be late, just as we shall be vexed if we donât get to Seaford. I only hope you are not conveying anything perishable, like fish or something, that would be very alarming.â
And he just laughed and said, âFish to Seaford is as coals to Newcastle, upon my word!â and then he said no, he was taking her some special wool for a rug she was hooking to go beside her bed. Sheâd run out of orange and could only get the true colour she needed in Selfridgeâs.
âFancy!â said Lally, not much caring really.
âMaking a sunset effect,â said the conductor and went away whistling. So that was quite all right, and he never so much as glanced at the Weekend on my knees.
In a while we started off. A terrific swerving, clouds of black smoke, and rows of pale faces staring up as we set off on the journey.
Outside the bus everything was frosty and grey-coloured with wispy drifts of misty-fog floating over the hedges and through the branches of the trees. It looked quite as if someone was cooking a huge cabbage in a steamer, or else
It was pretty exciting sitting in the Green Line bus â we werenât usually allowed to do this on account of germs and things. But Lally said that in the very cold weather, like December, and with a sharp frost, it would not be so dangerous, the germs would be killed off. So we felt quite safe as we left Victoria Coach Station and went across the river heading to Sussex.
I had to sit beside Flora, which was all right because she didnât seem to mind about the Weekend on my knees, and Lally and my sister sat together behind us with the attaché case and a little wicker basket in which we knew were the sandwiches, Thermos flask and some fruit which we would have when we got to Felbridge in an hourâs time. About.
It was quite a decent omnibus. It had an orange and brown ziggy-zaggy carpet, so as not to show the dirt,Lally said, and curtains at the windows to keep out the sun if you had to. The people travelling with us seemed to me to be quite all right. I mean, what you could see of them, because they were all wrapped up with woollen scarves, travelling-rugs and tweedy coats. Some of the men wore caps which they didnât take off even when the omnibus had started on the journey. Quite rude really. But when I looked round at them all, sitting in their seats like brown paper parcels, they all smiled back and nodded at me, which made it all feel rather comfortable. After all, we were all going on a journey, and itâs better to have pleasant people with you on that sort of a thing than grumpy ones. What was especially good was that no one seemed to be interested in the Weekend. I mean, I didnât show anyone, but no one even looked curious, like most grown-up people do. They were quite busy unwrapping their mufflers and looking for the return half of their tickets, and unbuttoning coats, and that sort of thing. So I just said nothing, only smiled, in case they might decide that there was a funny smell. Or something. You canât ever be sure. Anyway, there wasnât. Just the jeyes Fluid.
The conductor was very nice indeed too. I mean, he didnât say anything, hardly looked at me really, so he couldnât have seen the cage on my knees, and just asked Lally for the tickets and told her weâd have to change at Lewes.
So that was all right, and when she said that she hoped very much indeed that we could catch our connection from there to Seaford, he said that he hoped weâd get there himself. He hadnât actually got a connection to catch there but he did have a âconnectionâ, if we knew what hemeant (which we didnât), because his sister would be waiting at the bus station for the package he was bringing her on account of not trusting the Royal Mail at Christmas.
âOh my word!â said Lally kindly. âYou would be vexed should we be late, just as we shall be vexed if we donât get to Seaford. I only hope you are not conveying anything perishable, like fish or something, that would be very alarming.â
And he just laughed and said, âFish to Seaford is as coals to Newcastle, upon my word!â and then he said no, he was taking her some special wool for a rug she was hooking to go beside her bed. Sheâd run out of orange and could only get the true colour she needed in Selfridgeâs.
âFancy!â said Lally, not much caring really.
âMaking a sunset effect,â said the conductor and went away whistling. So that was quite all right, and he never so much as glanced at the Weekend on my knees.
In a while we started off. A terrific swerving, clouds of black smoke, and rows of pale faces staring up as we set off on the journey.
Outside the bus everything was frosty and grey-coloured with wispy drifts of misty-fog floating over the hedges and through the branches of the trees. It looked quite as if someone was cooking a huge cabbage in a steamer, or else
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