Kate put the slipper back on her foot and, leaving the comparative safety of the launderette, she ventured out onto the street; pushing her shopping trolley in front of her. A thin figure, wearing baggy clothes which, in the wind, flattened against her body. She gingerly touched the icy cold handle of the trolley which bit into her hands as she had no gloves. She did have a hat which she wore winter and summer. It hung round her face helping to keep out the wind but obscuring her peripheral vision when crossing the road. She re-arranged the pieces at the top of the trolley. They weren’t her most precious pieces. Her clothes, handbag and books were at the bottom. The top layer was covered by a bin bag as they were very light things; yoghurt pots and plastic containers which could easily blow away. It didn’t stop youngsters taking the items from the top and running off with them shouting “meow, meow, silly old cow” because she once had a cat in her trolley but the R.S.P.C.A had taken it The yobs usually threw the things away almost immediately but Kate had to go round picking them up. Occasionally they would turn the trolley over and Kate couldn’t stand it up without help.
As she left the launderette she was careful to note who was outside. She was reluctant to leave the place as it was nice and warm but she knew when Ada came back Ada would turf her out. Kate’s foot was aching; she had trodden on a sharp stone which had gone through her thin- soled slipper. She thought about going to the charity shop for a new pair. They didn’t make her pay but with her hammer toes and bunions it took ages for the new slippers to adapt to her feet. She was now paying the price for dancing the night away in high heeled, strappy shoes years ago when dancing was real dancing; where you needed a partner even if it was another girl. Many of her friends had met their husband at the dances but she never had.
Yvonne, a social worker, had tried to get her to go to hospital to have special shoes made, “You don’t have to pay for them,” she told Kate, but Kate preferred to just wear big soft slippers. If it was wet she had to put plastic bags over her feet.
The trolley bumped down the kerb and the cover fell off along with some empty yoghurt pots. The pots were for when she got back to her garden. They were useful for bringing on seedlings. She bumped up the opposite kerb, holding down her treasures with one hand. Not far now to the library. She always made the library her second visit while it was still fairly early in the morning. As the library got more crowded, people objected to sitting near her, but by ten o’clock she had usually read the daily paper and with luck the local paper as well. Hopefully today she could stay a bit longer because the local weekly paper came out and gave a lot more information on the daily stories. She wanted to know the outcome of an objection to the demolition of a row of houses. This was to make way for a motorway. Her council house had already been earmarked for demolition so they had offered her a high rise flat which she had refused as there was no garden. She turned the pages of the paper hoping to find good news but there was nothing more; it was an ongoing case. Moving slowly she collected her trolley from the vestibule; it was never interfered with there, everyone knew who it belonged to.
Her next visit was the local hospital. It was a bit of a walk but she could stay there the longest. It took a while for her to be noticed there as everyone was so busy and visitors didn’t stay long in the canteen. She took the trolley in with her although she was often told to leave it outside. Once when she had left it outside the bin men had emptied it. It was lucky that at the time she had the bag that held her most precious things in the canteen with her. It was heart-breaking to have to start the collection again. The yoghurt pots were fairly easy to come by and also the lolly sticks, which would name the seedlings in the pots. Kate still envisaged a garden the same as the one she had to leave. What she collected would fit in with that. One of her most precious things was her watering can which wouldn’t fit into the big bag so she tied it to the side of the trolley which the bin men hadn’t bothered to untie. She had several gardening magazines in a plastic bag. These she gleaned from the various waiting rooms that she visited and was always careful to make sure they were spread throughout the gardening year. Amongst her things, (just to remind her of what she was aiming at), she had a bunch of artificial flowers; daisies, rhododendrons, roses and large marigolds. She knew where each flower would be going. All she needed was some bulbs but apart from digging them up in the park she could see no way of getting them at the moment. She had lots of seed packets obtained by dubious methods, so she had to be satisfied with them.
She had enough money for a cup of tea but not enough for a sandwich. Ray, the fellow who sat playing his guitar with his dog beside him, often gave her a few coins. She gave him some of her pots and told him how to use them. He didn’t want to take them but finally did. After Kate had drunk her tea and finished up a plate of chips that someone had left on a nearby table, she decided to go down to the arcade. She wouldn’t normally do that but it was too cold to sit in the park. The Arcade was, at times, a dangerous place with all the youngsters, who should really be in school, playing on the machines but it was nice and warm and Arnie the caretaker made sure no-one took her things. She talked to Arnie. She knew him from before as he had to move like Kate but he had children and was given a house.
She considered putting on the big, knitted poncho that someone had given her but she usually saved that for when it was really cold and windy. Rain did not bother her too much as she could go back to the underpass where there were other people…until they were moved on. She didn’t talk to the people there; they were a nosy lot.
When she reached the Arcade she was dismayed to find it closed. For years it had been for sale but apparently it was difficult to change the use and nobody wanted to buy an amusement arcade. According to the notice on the window it was now going to be a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. She would not be able to use the arcade again.
This upset Kate. She pushed the door but it was locked. She had her regular haunts and having one taken away was worrying—she would have to find somewhere else. Clutching the handle of the trolley she looked up and down the street unsure of where to go. While she stood there, she noticed some tools that had been unloaded from a truck. The man was busy talking and laughing with the driver. There was a broom, a spade, a big concrete mixer and what looked like a garden trowel except it had a pointed end. Kate moved quickly and was walking away with the trowel in her trolley while the man was still talking. She was so pleased with her find she gave a little giggle to herself as she hurried away. In her haste to disappear she had rounded a corner into a street not familiar to her. She came to a bowling alley but realised there was no sanctuary there. Next was a Vet’s surgery and then a hall that was attached to a church. The door was open and she could smell bacon cooking. She pushed her trolley into the lobby and peered through a window in the door. Suddenly it opened, nearly knocking her over. Mike smiled at her Have you come to join us?” he asked.
Kate backed away holding fast to her trolley.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” he continued without moving.
Kate stopped backing away. A hot cup of tea sounded very appealing but she had met people like him before and they always wanted to interfere with her trolley.
“Leave your things here” Mike said, “no-one will touch them.”
He pushed the trolley into a corner. If she went in she would not be able to keep an eye on her goods but she would like a drink and it looked warm inside. She allowed herself to be guided into the room. A woman came over and asked her name and told Kate that she was Pat. Pat gave her a cup of tea and came back later with a sausage sandwich. As she sat contentedly eating, Kate looked out of the window and realised there was a garden beside the hall; a rather neglected garden. She got up and went closer. She could see chrysanthemums almost swallowed by weeds. The garden was small but it had similar shapes to the garden she had to leave. When looking after her elderly parents her garden had been her escape and her pleasure. This one was rather overgrown; as her own would be by now. There was a Laburnum tree near the hedge. At home she had a Sycamore near her hedge. She opened the side door and went out into the garden. Yes. It had a flower bed with curly edges just like hers and the round rose bed was very similar to the one she left. Bending down she moved some weeds to see some flowers trying to reach the misty sun. As Mike and Pat watched she went back into the hall to get her new trowel from her trolley. She could do something with this garden.
Kate was oblivious to everything but the garden. She would have it looking good in no time. She came every day that the hall was open, weeding, digging and planting seeds and bulbs that were given to her. In those few hours she had a warm place to go with tea and a sandwich and the pleasure of seeing the garden begin to look better.
Just before Christmas it began to snow which made it difficult for Kate. In places it was slushy and wet so she put plastic bags on her feet to keep them dry. This made it difficult to walk where children had turned the snow into an ice patch to slide on. One morning, just as she was about to go into the hall she slipped over and fell down heavily. Mike came to help her up while Pat sent for an ambulance as she was sure that Kate had a broken arm. Although she was in a lot of pain Kate asked if she could take her trolley with her but the ambulance man said there was no room for it.
Kate spent a few days in hospital where they plastered her arm from the wrist to the elbow. It was Christmas Eve when she came out of the hospital. Usually on Christmas Day she went along to the Salvation Army where they gave homeless people a Christmas dinner. She wondered whether to go there or see if Pat and Mike did the same. She wondered what had happened to her trolley and the things in it. No doubt some busybody had emptied it and taken it back to Asda where it came from. She walked very carefully to the hall. Somehow the people at the hospital had found her a pair of boots which were much too large for her but accommodated her misshapen feet. When she got to the hall it was open. It had a nativity scene in the front where she used to leave her things and there were decorations everywhere. Kate opened the door and went in. A smiling Pat and Mike came towards her. “It’s so lovely to see you,” Pat said and took her by the arm and guided her into another room. There was her trolley: still full of her things but decorated like a Christmas tree. Her face broke out in a big smile. She felt a contentment envelope her. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve; it was as though she had come home, and as she looked out into the garden she could see the snowdrops were just beginning to push through as though to say, ‘Welcome back’.
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