A walk round the shops
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Isabelle protested for the fourth time in as many minutes. She was worried that her husband, Arthur, was trying to do too much in his condition. He had, after all, only recently come out of hospital after an operation to repair his knee after hurting it in a fall. Friends had pretty well summed up the cause when they suggested, admittedly jokingly, that he wasn’t as steady on his feet now that he was in his sixties. He wouldn’t seem to accept the facts though, and despite needing a stick while his knee recovered, insisted on, amongst other things, this walk around the shops. It was difficult for a man who was usually so active, a keen footballer and runner during and after his army days, to accept that he might be getting less mobile.
He determinedly struggled up the high street, stick in one hand and his wife holding on to the opposite arm. She was probably more hindrance than help if the truth be told, but Arthur would rather she held him and be in the way, than walk off ahead with Tony, their son in law.
He felt that Tony was revelling in this. Arthur had never been sure if he really liked his daughter’s husband, and as the man kept stopping and looking back impatiently now, the feeling was only being re-enforced. At least he looked after Sophie, he remembered, and she was very happy; that was the important thing.
They finally reached the large department store that had been their main target since leaving the car an hour or so before. Isabelle helped him negotiate the revolving door. Tony followed in the next section.
‘Now let’s at least go to the café and sit down for a while.’ Insisted Isabelle, and Tony agreed with her once he had caught sight of the gestures she was making for him to back her up. Arthur had to admit that it was a welcome idea, and spotted a sign saying that the café was on the third floor. They all made their way towards the lifts, browsing and chatting as they went.
Next to the lifts were the stairs and, being a mischievous sort, Arthur made as if he intended to go up them. Isabelle didn’t twig immediately that he was joking and got quite cross with him. Tony joined in by telling him to, ’Slow down old man!’ The twinkle that had been in Arthur’s eyes while he played the stairs joke disappeared at this remark. He could accept his wife’s well meaning put downs, he knew they came out of her genuine love for him. She was worried for him. Tony’s remarks on the other hand, were often only just short of insulting. He wished that Sophie had been able to come along too, she had the effect of tempering Tony’s attitude towards him.
Walking from the lift on the third floor, they had to pass the sports department and Tony quipped that he intended to get Arthur’s Christmas present from here, ‘Which would you prefer,’ he continued, ‘a treadmill or an exercise cycle?’ Isabelle didn’t seem to hear the malice that Arthur was convinced was there, was it possible that he just imagined it?
The woman next to them suddenly stumbled against a display as a couple of young men in trendy casual clothing charged past. There was much tutting, and remarks about the rudeness of the youngsters by the people around, then Isabelle noticed that they had snatched her bag on the way past. Arthur was furious and immediately made to chase after them. Tony caught his arm and pulled him back, ‘Don’t be silly, even if you could catch them, what could you do? Beat them up?’
‘But….But they….Ohhhhh!’ Arthur huffed, and then shook free and made after them again. Tony went after him and stopped him once more.
‘O.K. I’ll go!’ He blurted out, and got to the lift just in time to see the door close on the two of them, they even gave him an arrogant wave, knowing that he was too late to hold the door. He looked back to Isabelle and Arthur with a hopeless shrug, and could see that they were both disappointed. Arthur was disappointed and disgusted, which he made no attempt to hide. Tony felt that he should be seen to do more, he was confident that the lift would beat him, but headed down the stairs to show willing.
~0~
Later that afternoon, at home, Isabelle was proudly telling Sophie how she had had her bag recovered by a real hero. She recounted how the youths ran into the lift after snatching the bag, the cheeky wave as the lift door shut and the desperate dash down the stairs to try and catch them at the bottom. Then she told how Arthur had walked calmly up to the security guard who had just arrived to check out the commotion, and got him to radio the control room and shut down the lifts.
The lifts were re-started a couple of minutes later when the police arrived. When the doors opened, the villains were caught with the stolen bag on them. After all, where could they have hidden it in a lift? An open and shut case!
With both Isabelle and Sophie now cooing and fussing over him, Arthur really felt like a genuine hero. In fact he felt he had proved that experience and wisdom could count for more than youth and vigour. When Tony began to praise his actions too, and sounded sincere about it, he was quite taken aback. Could it be that he had earned the man’s respect? This could be the beginning of a whole new chapter for the family.
All in all, he was extremely glad he had insisted on their walk around the shops.
THE END
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