Sixpence by Raymond Hopkins - HTML preview

EPILOGUE

The afternoon sun dipped lower, casting mottled shadows from the churchyard yew trees. The widow shifted on the bench, leaning back for a little extra support.

‘He would have loved all this,’ she said. ‘Truth to tell, he always did. That’s one reason he wanted to be buried here.’

There was a silence as her face puckered up, tears very close to bursting out. Then she recovered with a deep sigh.

‘It’s not much of a story, is it? A bit unusual, perhaps, but nothing much out of the ordinary otherwise. Sorry. That doesn’t make much sense.’

‘It makes sense to me,’ I said. ‘I think you’ve been very fortunate, very fortunate indeed.’

‘I know,’ she said simply. ‘Well, that’s all. Thank you for your time and patience, but I won’t keep you any longer. You must have other things to do.’

‘There is always something,’ I said. ‘But this has been most interesting. I hope I’ve been of help.’

‘You have, believe me. Now I really must go.’

‘You shouldn’t be on your own, you know. Is there someone you can stay with for a while?’

She pale face bent in a nod. ‘I will never be on my own. I have my sixpence.’  Tears came to her eyes at the thought. ‘Still, I know what you mean. There’s my son. He’s waiting in the car. I asked him to wait there. I wanted to sit and remember. I’m going to stay with him for a while. His wife insisted, even though they’ve only been married a few weeks. She’s a lovely girl. Henry liked her, and so do I.’

She rose, and walked away, turning to give a little wave at me together with a brave smile that promised well for the future as she climbed into a two tone blue Bentley waiting at the roadside, and left to catch up on her memories.

I watched the car disappear into the distance, pondering on what I had just heard. It was a simple enough story, yet one that heartened me enormously. Faith, Hope and Love, I mused to myself, and the greatest of these is represented by two otherwise rather ordinary people. I trust that I had been of help to her. I do know that she helped me.