Entwined Read Online Free PDF Page B

clouded and moistened with memories. “But I won’t bore you with my ramblings.”
    “No, not at all. Quite the contrary. I’d love to hear your stories.”
    She shuffled weakly across the shop to the counter.
    “Would you like to sit down?” I asked, offering her the only sturdy looking chair in the room.
    “Don’t mind if I do,” she said, cautiously lowering herself on to the worn cushion.
    I dragged the box of records to the side of the chair.
    “What’s your name?” she asked softly.
    “Corran. What’s your name?”
    “Maggie.”
    “How about this one?” I asked, pulling a black disk in a brown paper sleeve from the box.
    “I’ve not got my specs,” the old lady said, squinting at the sleeve. “Would you mind telling me what it says?”
    “It says ‘The Music Shop, Hugh Robertson, 23 Pavement, York,’ ” I said, reading a rectangular stamp on the brown paper cover.
    “Oh my,” she sighed nostalgically, “that place has been gone for years. They used to service my Fred’s gramophone when we were first married. Tell me what the record is?” she asked.
    “Well it says ‘Decca’, I said, reading the big letters printed in the centre of the disk.”
    “No, duck, not the record company, who’s the vocalist?” she said patiently.
    “Well it says ‘Come Back to Sorrento’ and underneath that it says ‘Gracie Fields, Vocal, with Orchestral Accompaniment conducted by Phil Green’,” I said, hoping I had answered her question.
    “That will be the B side. What’s on the A side?” she asked.
    I stared at her not understanding the question. She reached out and gently turned the disk in my hand over.
    “The other side, duck. There was always an A side and B side. I suppose you youngsters know only your CDs and iThings.”
    “Oh, sorry,” I said, feeling my face flush with embarrassment, “It says, ‘Now Is The Hour, Gracie Fields, Vocals, with Orchestral Accompaniment Conducted by Phil Green’.”
    “How much do you want for it?” she said softly.
    “You know, Maggie, I don’t have the faintest idea. How about we call it a gift from me to you?” I said, pushing the disk into the old lady’s trembling hands.
    I looked up as Simon and Duncan both emerged from the storeroom, covered in dust and carrying a large cardboard box.
    “I didn’t realize we had a customer,” Simon said. “I hope my wife has taken good care of you.”
    “Yes, thank you,” Maggie said, moving to stand.
    Simon dropped the box and took the old lady’s hand, helping her gently out of the chair.
    “You are both very kind,” she said, making her way to the door.
    With a tinkle of the bell Simon held the door open for the old lady. She shuffled out onto the pavement clutching the record as she went.
    “What a lovely lady,” I said, when my husband closed the door.
    “Aye, she seemed nice enough. What did she buy?” Simon asked.
    “Well… Nothing, really. I gave her one of those records that Rose was telling us about.”
    “What made you do that, woman? This is supposed to be a business!”
    “I didn’t know how much to charge her.”
    Simon nodded. “I’ll arrange a stock list with guide prices,” he finished resolutely.
    “Ma, we’ve got something to show you,” Duncan said, shifting excitedly from one foot to the other.
    Simon lifted the box and deposited it carefully on the counter top.
    They both stood grinning at me, their faces flushed with exertion and excitement.
    “Simon, I’m not in the mood for games. What is it?”
    “Go on, Ma, just take a look,” Duncan pleaded.
    Sighing impatiently, I stretched onto the tip of my toes. Reaching to lift the flaps of the box I tilted it slightly towards me.
    “Where on earth did you find it?”
    “It was just in there, Ma,” Duncan said, nodding in the direction of the store. “No key, no safety box to guard it, just thousands of pounds crammed into this flimsy box.”
    “Don’t tell me this is where the fool stored his money?” I