Extract Two

 

Anne

I put my plan into action and decided that the best way to infiltrate Cardiff Central Market was to pretend that I was one of them. The obvious thing would be to dress as though I could fit in anywhere and then, when I shifted from stall to stall, they wouldn’t notice my comings and goings so much. As the market was big and fairly open, despite there being a roof, I thought warm clothes would be best so I dug out an old tweed coat that used to belong to my Aunt and I gathered together every scarf that we possessed in the house. As I thought that I might have to get involved in some dirty work, on top of my knitted gloves I put some yellow rubber ones that I had found in the outside toilet.

As I sat on the bus to Cardiff I remember feeling rather excited in anticipation of it all. It was like the old days of going into the Welsh capital every day for work. Well, I was working there again now.

Mary

I had a rather disturbing letter from my mother as to Anne’s latest escapades. Apparently she had taken to travelling into the city every day on the number four bus, muffled up completely in winter woollies and big yellow Marigold gloves and she would come back smelling, rather incongruously, of old fish, fresh flowers and gone off vegetables. Mum had tried asking her where she went but all she said was; “Oh you’ll see soon enough, when the results are published.” Mum was rather bemused and thought maybe she was writing a novel or researching one – although she wasn’t sure where the Marigolds came into it!

Oh and she had a new boyfriend

June

Every day when Anne came back from Cardiff, she would bring us a gift. It was rather like Sammy the cat who would regularly deposit a rat from the river next door. From Anne we would get a large fish, or a leg of lamb, or maybe some chutney, sometimes some Welsh cakes and on one particular day we got some rather ratty chrysanthemums that had obviously seen better days – I presumed that the journey home hadn’t done them much good either. Well it was supposed to be the thought that counted.

I did wonder if they were stolen…