after as well.’
‘Won’t Jeff lend a hand?’
She groans. ‘I need him to, but I wish I didn’t. He’ll be busy getting cosy with his new woman.’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘I suppose not.’ She sniffs. ‘Anyway, what will be, will be…hey, you’ve no idea the number of people who’ve been in the store this morning already, panicking because we’re snowed in and they won’t get to the supermarket for days.’
I grin. ‘I just saw your last two customers. They were weighed down with enough food to sink a ship.’
She groans. ‘I know. I mean, it’s not as if we live on the Canadian bloody Prairies. You’d think people could be a bit more sensible.’
‘Survival instinct, I suppose.’
She nods, her hand hovering over the remaining loaf. She changes her mind. ‘All that roughage will get stuck in Mrs Richards’ teeth. I’ll have to bake some more.’
‘You make the bread yourself?’
She nods. ‘I’m a big fan of sour dough bread at the moment, and it seems to be going down well with everyone.’
‘It’s gorgeous,’ I agree, having bought one and loved it myself.
Anita smiles. ‘Glad you like it. Now, powdered milk?’ She reaches for a tub and pops it into the basket.
‘Loo roll?’
She grimaces. ‘All gone.’
‘Where does Mrs Richards live? Is it far?’
‘No. Her cottage is at the end of the row, next door to the village hall? Not exactly far but it will seem like a mile to her in this snow.’
‘You need comfort food in that basket, not cracker biscuits,’ I murmur, as an idea pops into my head. ‘Listen, I’ve been baking up a storm recently and even my house-mate can’t keep up with the cake supply, so…why don’t I pack them up and you can give them out to people like Mrs Richards? People stuck inside – especially the older folk – might appreciate a little treat with their afternoon cuppa?’
She puts the basket down and looks at me. ‘What a fantastic idea!’ She frowns, thinking. ‘I could close early, and we could go round and visit everyone to make sure they’re okay. Have a chat…offer them some of your glorious baking, which I have, of course, tasted for myself and can highly recommend.’
‘Great. Shall I go back and pack everything up now?’
She frowns. ‘Look, how about I shut up shop and we both go over and collect your goodies, then we can call back here to collect Mrs Richards’ basket? You haven’t baked any chocolate brownies, have you? I happen to know Mrs Richards adores chocolate brownies. Actually, so does Maud. We could call in there as well. And we could pay Stella Bridges a visit, just to make sure she’s okay. And Pam Hastings. They’re all in their seventies or eighties and I doubt any family will be able to get through to them.’
I nod, thinking of Sylvia and Mick, back home in Sunnybrook. Krystle texted earlier to say they were snowed-in there, too, so there was no point in me trying to get home. But I’m not really worried about Sylvia. She has her granddaughter, Primrose, to look out for them.
‘Hasn’t Maud been in the store, then?’ I ask. ‘With Wilfred?’
‘No. She must be staying inside, out of the weather.’
I grin. ‘I guess poor Wilfred must be stuck with the back garden, then,’ I say, as Anita locks up and we start the snowy trek along the high street and over the bridge, back to Snowdrop Cottage.
Anita breathes in a big draft of icy air. ‘You know, the last time we were snowed in, we were cut off for nearly a week, and the village hall committee set up a sort of meeting centre, where people could go and drink coffee and chat. It was a lifeline for a lot of people who’d otherwise have been stuck in their house.’ She turns and gazes back at the village hall. ‘We lost a lot when that place closed. I’m not exaggerating when I say the village hasn’t really been the same since.’
‘It’s a proper shame about the Christmas Revue. I’d have loved to see that.’
She sighs. ‘We have a brilliant male voice choir – not professionals, just a group of locals – and they would normally have started rehearsals by now. They sing all the old Christmas songs which gets everyone in a festive mood. Then we have a couple of clever magicians. And last year, a group of local kids put on a break-dancing routine. It was so good. They practised at the hall every night after