Her hands were clammy, she felt slightly sick as she looked down at the bird. It twitched and fluttered as if it still had the life she had taken from it. Then taking it to the shed she hung it on a hook in the ceiling. Later that evening she brought it indoors to pluck and dress it, feeling better as it took on the shape of ‘Christmas dinner’. Another Westways tradition was to play a gramophone record she and Dennis had bought the first year after they were married. Custom had it that the first hearing was at teatime on the 24th, following the Kings College Choir from Cambridge on the wireless. Kathie wound up the old gramophone, fitted a new needle and the cottage was filled with the sound of carols; the tone was poor, the recording old and scratchy, but the festival had started! Beth listened in wonder; the spirit of Christmas was all around her. It was the first time she had heard a carol, so Jess was able to show off her superior knowledge and ‘la-la’ the tune even if she’d forgotten the words.
