TT -36 Good News

Alison wipes her boots on the scraper and opens the back door. Toffee pushes his fat body ahead of her into the kitchen and bustles about aimlessly, his claws clicking on the floor-boards, his tail thumping against the cupboard doors. Alison takes off her knitted hat and scarf and lays down a large bunch of holly and assorted greenery on the table. She feels brisk and festive after her woodland walk and is looking forward to wiring the foliage into an wreath like the one in Country Life.
"Oh, you're back." Douglas wanders into the kitchen and opens the fridge door.
"It's a lovely day." Alison says, sniffing through her cold red nose. "Quite frosty still but bright and sunny. I do love these crisp winter days, don't you?"
"Mmmm." Douglas notices that there is some mucus glistening in her left nostril.
"I'd sooner have cold and sunny," Alison continues, "than warm and overcast." She takes a tissue out of her cardigan pocket and blows her nose.
"Are we out of yoghurts?"
"No, I just bought a pack. Bottom shelf."
"Oh yes." Douglas snaps off a French Vanilla.

I just saw Eleanor at the Post-office."
"Mmmm, did you."
"Eric's a bit upset with Glandice."
"Really?" Douglas looks up from his yoghurt.
"Mmmm, apparently." Alison has started foraging in the cutlery drawer for a pair of scissors.
"In what way?"
"Oh Toffee, get out of the way!"
"In what way?"
"It's no use looking up at me like that, you've been fed you old greedy guts. Yes you are. Yes you are. You're an old greedy guts." She rubs Toffee's ears.
"In what way is Eric upset with Glandice?"

"Hmmm? Oh, she suggested that TADS might dress up in Tudor costumes and hand out programmes for the Festival. I gather Eric feels it's a little beneath our dignity."
"Well, it is isn't it?"
"Oh, I don't know. I think it sounds rather fun. And it's nice of Glandice to include local people."
"Well..." Douglas stretches out his legs, "I think local people in Tendringhoe have a little bit more to offer than that." He explodes a little puff of incredulous air. "I mean, we're not your average village. We already have a thriving local arts scene and I think Eric was hoping to be more directly involved, on the literary side, certainly."
"Well, I think Glandice is being quite fair really. After all, the Festival's not just some local amateur thing, she's roped in some big names, and Geoffrey Lamb is organising the literary side of things. We're lucky to have something like that in the village. It'll put us on the map. Be good for local business. And, well, actually, I think it all sounds lovely."
"Yes. Yes. You're quite right." Douglas says. "You're quite right."
Alison straightens her back slightly and smiles. "Well, I think so."
"Absolutely, my dear. Leave the professionals to it." He opens the pedal bin with his foot and drops in the empty yoghurt pot. Good. Let the Morgan's drift away from the heart of village life. Let them establish their own exclusive London clique that doesn't include any of his parishioners. Excellent in fact!