Hanson overbought on the item a couple of years ago and hasnât been able to unload them since. But if you need anything else in the hardware line, he has a good stock at reasonable prices.
âA bottle of California white wine and a large cream soda from Cut-Price Liquorsââ She plonked them at my feet. âA pound of frozen pork chops from the MiniMarket; three frozen TV dinners from the Supermarket; a quart of chocolate chip ice cream from Dalyâs Drugstore. The vegetable assortmentâzucchini squash, tomatoes, string beans and scallionsâis from the Roadside Vegetable Shop; the boxes of blueberries, raspberries and loganberries are fromââ
âStop!â I cried, as the cornucopia emptied at my feet, threatening to engulf me. âWhat is all this?â
âItâs your Welcome Wagon welcomeââ Pixie straightened up and beamed at me. âDonât you have it in England?â
âNo,â I said faintly. Whatever it was, I certainly had seen nothing like it before. âWhatâs it all about?â
âItâs the welcome from your friendly local merchants to newcomers moving into the area,â Pixie explained.
âThey allâwell, most of themâprovide samples of their wares free of charge as an introduction, in the hope that youâll patronize them when you go shopping.
âOh, it pays offââ she assured me. âThey wouldnât do it, otherwise. Itâs all marked down to goodwill and it works. You may not have it over there, but itâs big business here. This time of the year, itâs practically a full-time job for me, driving around to all the summer cottages and welcoming visitors. You see, there are a lot of summer lets up in the hills that are just for two or three weeks at a time. Youâre one of the very few who are going to be here for the whole summer.â
âI hadnât thought of it that way,â I equivocated. I hadnât thought of it at all. I looked down at the pile at my feet. âShouldnât we get this stuff into the freezer before it defrosts?â
âNo hurry,â Pixie said casually. âThe insulated bags will keep it for another couple of hours yet. Let me foist upon you the rest of the bountyââ She produced a sheaf of envelopes from the bottom of the basket and began pushing them into my unresisting hands.
âFree tickets to the Edgemarsh Movie Palaceâtheyâre running a special Disney Season starting in July. Thenââ another envelopeââa free dinner at Ginoâs Place. Itâs usually for two, but since thereâs only one of you and two children whoâll order from the childrensâ menu, youâll all get a free dinnerââ
âBut weâve already been to Ginoâs Place,â I protested. âCelia and Patrick took us yesterday.â
âThat has nothing to do with it. Youâre entitled to a
free dinner in your own right. Just give them this voucher as you order.â
âPrr-yee-ow â¦â Errol staggered out of the shrubbery at the edge of the lawn, wove his way across it, and lurched up the steps to collapse at my feet. His eyes closed and he lay there unmoving.
âMummy!â Tessa shrieked. âMummyâheâs dead! He went away where we couldnât see himâand he came back dead!â She burst into tears.
âMumââ Timothy was shaken, fighting back tears himself. âMum, he isnât really deadâis he?â
âDead tired,â Pixie said practically. She prodded Errol with the toe of her sandal. He twitched and, after a long moment, sent out a rough perfunctory purr. âThe old reprobate!â
âDead tiredâbut happy,â I agreed. How very different from the home life of our own dear Esmond. At some point I was going to have to do some explaining to the childrenâbut I didnât feel up to it
Payge Galvin, Meg Chance
T. Michael Martin
Stephanie Laurens, Victoria Alexander, Rachel Gibson
Terry Deary
Patricia Wentworth
John Julius Norwich
Greg Gutfeld
Kimberly Claire
Sophia Johnson
Richard Newsome