Mrs. Pringle of Fairacre Read Online Free Page B

'We must get this seen to.'
    Mrs Pringle gave something between a snort and a sarcastic laugh.
    'That there skylight
has been seen to
more times than I can remember,' she told me, with considerable satisfaction, 'and nothing don't make no difference.'
    'Do you mean it has leaked for years?'
    'Every winter. Every drop of rain. Every storm. Every snow shower..."
    'But it can't be beyond the wit of man to put it to
rights,' I broke in before Mrs Pringle called upon all the armoury of the heavens to prove her point.
    'It's beyond the wit of Bob Willet,' she said, 'and if he can't fathom it, there's none else can. Why, we've even had people out from Caxley,
sent by The Office
what's more, and they've been beat.'
    'Well, we shall have to try again,' I said. 'It was sheer luck that it didn't drip all over my desk.'
    'Most head teachers have shifted this 'ere desk along a bit when it starts raining. Only needs a bit of forethought,' she said rudely.
    I ignored the thrust, and gave one of my own.
    'I came over early to say we'd better have the stoves alight now.'
    'The stoves?
Alight
?' gasped the lady. 'What, in this weather?'
    'Particularly in this weather.'
    'But it's still October!'
    'I really don't care if it is June, Mrs Pringle. The children can't work in this temperature, and I don't intend to let them try.'
    'But what will The Office say?"
    'What the Office says I can well answer,' I said, beginning to lose patience. 'All I am asking is that you will be good enough to put a match to each of the stoves. I know you have set them already, and Mr Willet has brought in coke.'
    Mrs Pringle's face began to be suffused with an unpleasant shade of red, and her bosom heaved as busily as a Regency heroine's. I began to wonder, with some alarm, how one dealt with an apoplectic fit, and wished, not for the first time, that I had undertaken that course in first-aid which I kept postponing.

    But her voice came out steadily and with such malevolence that Miss Clare's talk of evil rushed into my mind.
    'You knows what you are starting, I suppose? It's not just
a match
as is needed, it's cleaning out, setting again, clearing up the mess, heaving in the coke, day in and day out for months to come. And all when there's
no need.'
    'But there is need,' I said as bravely as I could under this onslaught. I was ashamed to feel my legs beginning to shake, and my inside becoming decidedly queasy. There was no doubt about it, Mrs Pringle was a formidable enemy. I could see how she barged her way, like a tank, through village affairs.
    'And what about my poor leg?' she thundered, thrusting her furious face close to mine.
    I retreated hastily, stepping into the puddle. 'What about it?' I countered.
    'Doctor Martin says I'm to respect my leg. It flares up if I overdoes it, and seeing to these stoves isn't going to help.'
    I summoned all my failing strength. 'In that case, should you be doing this job? I've no wish to impose on an invalid, but these stoves must be lit this morning.'
    Mrs Pringle drew in an outraged breath, ready for a renewed attack, but I made a swift exit with as much dignity as I could muster, and was thankful to return to my kitchen, and a cup of coffee which did little to calm my shattered nerves.
    But the stoves were lit.
    I was conscious that Mrs Pringle's leg was being dragged along heavily for the rest of the day, and an ominous silence hung over any chance meeting we had, but I refused to offer an olive branch. If she wanted to sulk then that suited me; as long as she did her work that was really
all that mattered. I was not going to pander to Mrs Pringle's feelings, or her leg.
    Mr Willet came up that evening bearing two large marrows which would have been enough for a family of twelve, let alone one spinster. I thanked him effusively and invited him in.
    'Well, just for half a minute,' he said, wiping his boots vigorously on the kitchen mat. 'I see you've managed to get the stoves goin'.'
    I had suspected that this visit was