The Caxley Chronicles Read Online Free PDF Page A

what was afoot. Hilda assumed an air of indifference. Really, local tittle-tattle did not interest her! She blew some dust from a box of screws with an expression of distaste.
    'The King!' said Edna. 'They say he's been took bad, and the Coronation's off.'
    Hilda was shaken from her lofty attitude. Her mouth fell open into a round pink O.
    'You don't say! The poor dear! What's the matter?'
    'The King!' echoed Bender, thunderstruck. 'You sure this is true?'
    'Gospel! Had it from Lord Turley's coachman. He told him himself. Lord Turley's just got back from London on the train.'
    This was news indeed.
    'But what about all this 'ere?' spluttered Bender, waving a large, dirty hand at the bedecked market place.
    'And the parties? And the concerts and all that?' echoed Hilda, all dignity forgotten in the face of this calamity.
    'And what about poor Sep's baking?' retorted Edna. 'He's got a bakehouse chock full of iced cakes, and sausage rolls, and a great batch of dough ready for the buns. I tell you, it's ruination for us, as well as bad luck for the King!'
    Bender's face grew grave. He knew, only too well, the narrow margin between Sep's solvency and his business downfall. He spoke with forced cheerfulness.
    'Don't you fret about that, Edna. It won't be as bad as you think. But do the Council know? Has the Mayor been told? And what about the vicar? Ought to be summat done about a service pretty sharp.'
    Edna did not know. Her cares were all for the Kong's condition and her husband's set-backs.
    'I'll be getting back,' she said, putting the paper pattern on the counter. There was a hint of sadness now in her downcast countenance which stirred Hilda's conscience.
    'Now, Edna, don't you worry,' she said, with unaccustomed gentleness. 'It's a sore blow for everyone, but the one who's suffering most is poor Queen Alexandra, and the Family too. There'll be another Coronation as soon as the King's fit, you'll see, my dear, and then all Our troubles will be over.'
    She walked with Edna to the door and let her out, watching her walk back across the square beneath the fluttering flags. Hardly had she closed the door when one of the Corporation's carts, drawn by two great carthorses, clattered to the centre of the market square. Two men jumped down and began to remove the ribbons which bedizened the statue of the old Queen. At the same moment the bell of St Peter's began to ring out, calling all parishioners to prayer.
    'Let's go, Bender,' said Hilda suddenly.
    Without a word, Bender removed his overall, and accompanied his wife aloft to fetch jacket, hat and gloves.
    Within three minutes, the Norths with other bewildered Caxley folk, crossed the market square, fast being denuded of its finery, and, with heavy hearts, entered the sombre porch of the parish church.
    ***
    From a top floor window, high above the ironmonger's shop, young Bertie North looked down upon the scene, unknown to his parents.
    It is difficult to go to sleep on summer evenings when you are eight years old and put to bed firmly at seven o'clock. Bertie resented this early bed-time. Just because Winnie, two years his junior, had to go then, it seemed mighty unfair to expect a man of his advanced age to retire simply because it saved trouble for Vera, the girl. He did not make a fuss about the matter. Bertie North was a peace-loving child, and did not want to upset Vera, the fourteen-year-old country girl from Beech Green, who worked hard from seven in the morning until the North children were in bed at night.
    But the injustice rankled. And tonight, as he stood at the high window in his cotton night-shirt, he felt even more resentful, for there, far below, he could see the two Howard boys. They were hopping gaily about the statue, watching all the activity of taking down the ribbons and fairy lights. Bertie had seen them bob down behind the stone plinth to hide from their mother as she made her way home from visiting his own parents.
    They weren't made to go to bed so