"Yes, it would be most delightful to open the sandwiches and sip this wine now", mused the old lady, "but really we must leave this airport and get to Moor End." So the old lady got up and managed to hire a taxi at the desk in the far corner of building. The old lady and the fat lady then dragged their luggage out of a door and into a waiting cab. "Jeepers, this bag seems to get heavier the further we go," complained the fat lady.
Foda-se! cursed the Portuguese taxi driver silently while smiling graciously as he took their bags. It's just my cursed luck! Two old dears with only a 3 mile fare! There will be no money in this one, damn it! Can't wait to see the look on that dispatcher's face when she sees how quickly I'm back!
The two women, still clutching their treasures (the old lady with her wine, the fat lady with her Jelly Babies), stepped into the cab and had barely hit the seats when the cab suddenly sped off, whizzed to the roundabout and almost paused before attacking the next unavailable space on the road! In just moments they had streaked through the small and previously serene village of Molehill Green! The old lady sputtered, trying to point out the sights. " Look, here's the pu...there's the smith...that must have been.. " The old lady gave up talking and just held on for dear life! All the fat lady could see anyway was a blur of green and the backsides of cats and people as they leaped out of the way of the careening taxicab.
The two women glanced at each other in wide-eyed horror, memories of that wild ride in Lisbon returning unbidden again. To have come so far and to die so close, muttered the fat lady as she made the sign of the cross (not Catholic, but it can't hurt). At least I shall die in the land of the Beatles.
Meanwhile the old lady silently predicted, Mom was born here and I shall die here. As if in answer to their prayers, the cab suddenly slammed to a complete stop! The women and the wine were safely strapped in, but the bag ofJelly Babies was hurled to the floor. With some trepidation, the passengers opened their eyes to see what the taxi had hit. Such relief! It was just that school was letting out and children were legally crossing. The old lady, with a quickness belying her age, sore throat, and lack of sleep, saw her chance and quickly reached down and snatched up the bag of Jelly Babies. "No!" protested the fat lady, struggling to wrench the bag of candy from her mother's surprisingly tight grasp, "No no no no! You don't understand. Those were supposedly the favorite candy of the Beatles. Fans pelted with them with jelly babies onstage. I HAVE to have them!" To be continued.....