Trafika Europe 9/10 - UK in Europe

Ritual, 1969 [two stories]

Amanda guessed that the woman hadn’t seen the small child in the shop, hidden as she was by the window ledge and the pots of flowers. The woman came forward quickly and seemed barely to register Amanda as she neared the counter. She concentrated intensely on Monsieur Arbot; her eyes, Amanda noticed, were darkly circled and the whites were stained pale yellow just like the snow outsidethe lit shopwindow at twilight. Amanda felt both fascination and pity for the woman. There was ugliness in the eyes and the pallid skin; her hands were red, dry and sore looking and the intricate mechanisms of the bones beneath the thin skin showed through yellow- white like chicken bones.

If the woman failed to notice Amanda, Monsieur Arbot now chose to ignore the child. Amanda stood near the counter holding her wrapped bouquet of pink and white satin flowers before her like a bridesmaid. The woman placed a new package of flowers on the counter for the florist’s inspection. He poured her a bowl of coffee. Amanda noticed how her hands trembled as she took it and lifted it to her mouth, clattering the lip of the bowl against her teeth at first, and then drinking noisily. Neither the woman nor Monsieur Arbot had yet spoken. He opened the package, but on seeing its contents clucked his tongue in disapproval. The woman continued to suck at

87