MRS JENKINS’ LOVER
“Mrs Jenkins refuses to go
to bed!”
The Care Home manager
soothed Hyacinth. “I should have told you – she always sits up on Christmas Eve
– let her be.”
After tucking a blanket
round Mrs Jenkins’ slight body, Hyacinth shut the door.
Alone at last! Hyacinth was a kind soul, but Edna had feared she would never go. She sank into her store of cherished memories – of a youth spent roaming the moors, heedless of her father’s predictions of a ruined reputation. With gnarled fingers she twisted her wedding band. She’d had to settle down with a suitable man eventually, but she had always yearned for her lost freedom.
On Christmas Eve sixty years ago she had found her door locked, and from her window had seen her father going out with his shotgun. Each year since then she had been visited by her gypsy lover, his face remaining young while she aged. Often she had been tempted to leave with him, but the children had held her back.
The soft sound of jingling harness alerted her and she threw off the blanket, leaping to her feet like the girl she once was. He was here! This year she would take his hand and go with him.
.......................................................................................
DAY FOUR of my Advent Week Calendar takes us into the dreams of an old lady, a touch of magic, and the world of old-style gypsies. My novels HELTER-SKELTER and CAROUSEL inhabit a similar world - two stories about a gypsy-born boy's growth to manhood in the 1920-30s, his service in WW2, and through to romance in his later years. They would be just the books to read over the holidays, and can be found on Amazon by following these links.
Helter-Skelter: Amazon.co.uk: Elizabeth Young: 9781717344755: Books
Oh! Lizy, that's another beautiful story. I'm really enjoying this seasonal series.
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen - I hope they're not too soppy for adult reading!
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