Free (20/20)A Peaceful Retirement by Miss Read Page A

the Trust and the families they sponsored. Fairacre school looked safe for years to come.
    It was such a mild afternoon for November that I decided to take the children for a nature walk, and Mrs Richards joined us with the infants' class.
    It was quite like old times tripping along the village street towards the downs. I was really indulging myself, for I had always enjoyed these excursions from the confines of the classroom, and it did one's heart good to see the boisterous spirits of the children as they relished their freedom in the bracing downland air.
    Of course, there was not the same natural bounty to be had as a nature walk in the summer. Then we would return with such treasures as brier roses, honeysuckle or cranesbill. We might even find an empty nest whose function was now past, and convey its miracle of woven grass, moss and feathers to the nature table at school.
    Nevertheless, there was still treasure to be found such as berries from the wayfaring-tree and hips and haws. Someone found a snail's shell, another found a flint broken in half so that a granular silicic deposit glittered in the light.
    We toiled up the grassy slopes until we were high above the village. It was too wet to sit on the grass, but we stood for a few minutes to get our breath back, and to admire the view spread out below us.
    There was not much activity to be seen in Fairacre. Washing was blowing in some gardens. Mr Roberts' Friesian cows made a moving pattern of black and white as they grazed, and a red tractor moved up and down a nearby field as bright as a ladybird.
    We returned to the village carrying our gleanings. John Todd had discovered a Coca-Cola tin among the natural beauties, and was prevailed upon to deposit it in the bin provided outside the Post Office, which he did under protest. The rest of the garnering was displayed on the nature table, and very attractive it looked.

    By common consent I read a story from The Heroes by Charles Kingsley, which Jane Summers, I was told, had just started with them, and all was delightfully peaceful.
    I was conscious of more attention being given to the newly decorated nature table than Theseus's exploits, but who could blame them?
    That afternoon I arrived home in much better shape. Downland air and exercise? Or simply getting back into my old groove? It was impossible to say.

    On Wednesday afternoon I arrived home in time to share a pot of tea with Mrs Pringle before running her home. As always, the place was immaculate. Mrs Pringle was a first-class worker, and it was worth putting up with her tales of woe.
    After getting up to date with the state of her ulcerated leg (no better, and the doctor worse than useless), we proceeded to the reaction of the inhabitants of Fairacre to my present duties at the school.
    'Great shame about Miss Summers everyone agrees. She was getting them children on a real treat. And they had to behave!'
    I agreed that all seemed to be going swimmingly.
    'Mr Lamb reckons that she's as good as a headmaster. Keeps them down to work. None of this skiving off for so-called nature walks.'
    I ignored this side-swipe by offering the plate of scones.
    'Not for me. I'm losing weight.'
    I looked at the clock, and Mrs Pringle took the hint, rising ■with much effort and going to fetch her coat.
    "Well, at least it's only for a week we all tell each other. Can't do much harm in that time.'
    On the way home, she changed the subject of my inadequacies to the troubles of her niece Minnie Pringle, who lived at nearby Springbourne with a most unsatisfactory husband, named Ern, and a gaggle of unkempt children.
    'She's looking for another cleaning job. Ern's keeping her short of money.'
    I was instantly on my guard. I have suffered from Minnie's domestic methods on several occasions.
    'Why is Ern keeping her short?'
    'Hard up, I suppose,' said Mrs Pringle. 'I told her flat that she's not to worry you. Lord knows there's enough to do in your place each week, but I can cope