‘I have a similar one’ she said rummaging through her brocade handbag, ‘and I am sure it is in here.’ The bumps in the track made the plume on her hat wiggle like the tail of an excited Cocker Spaniel. Ta-dum, ta-dum, ta-dum. The absence of any suspension made you feel the street. Distance was so much more palpable in those days.She lifted her head to look outside, leaving the search to her hands only. It was not obvious what caught her attention, but it made her smile. One of these warm, satisfied smiles that old people show when they think of past deeds.‘I think I have found it’ she rejoiced while pulling it out of her bag.‘It looks exactly like mine’ I said.‘I know!’ she replied and gave me the wink of a teenager.
