Duplicity Read Free Page B

gift, and you don’t know how much it means to me.’
    ‘It wasn’t for you,’ he objected. ‘It was for Angel Gabriel.’
    His mother patted his cheek. ‘I’m afraid we can’t call her Angel Gabriel, darling, because that was a man, but it was a really good idea, just the same.’
    He swallowed to get rid of the lump in his throat, but couldn’t trust himself to speak. His mind was a jumble of confused thoughts. They didn’t like the name he had so carefully chosen. There couldn’t be a man angel, he’d never heard of that before. All angels were beautiful girls, he had always believed. But his mum knew everything, and she was always right. That meant that his gift to the baby was useless.
    Mary saw the bitter disappointment in his face and wished she could comfort him. He had gone to a lot of trouble to try to make the family happy. ‘I know, William!’ she cried suddenly, as an idea occurred to her. ‘We’ll call her Gabrielle for short. But we’ll always know she was named after an angel, and that it was your idea.’ She watched him anxiously as a teardrop spilled over and trickled down his cheek.
    After a moment or two, however, his face cleared. ‘Gabrielle?’ he whispered.
    Oh, yes, he thought, it sounded nearly as good as the name he had chosen. ‘Gabrielle,’ he repeated. It sounded better the more he said it. His gift was a success after all.
    ***
    Word count 2506
    Published in Woman’s Way, December 1973
    This magazine stopped being published not long after this story was printed, and I sincerely hope that I wasn’t the cause of its demise …

The Night Before Christmas  
    Whooo-ooo-ooo! The whistling of the wind coming in round the window frame was annoying rather than frightening, and the two slight figures huddled by the fireplace were suitably annoyed.
    ‘Why has somebody not done something about the window before this, Archie?’ the younger one said mournfully.
    ‘How would I know? It’s a damned disgrace after all this time. I remember when I was a laddie …’
    ‘Ach, not again man. I’m tired of hearing about when you were a laddie. It’s the same every winter, like the cold did something to your brains.’
    ‘Oh, well I’m very sorry.’ Archie, the elder by a good number of years, sounded quite offended. ‘I was only saying …’
    ‘I know what you were only saying, but I’m saying …’
    Whooooosh!! They both jumped back as a fluff of soot came spewing down the chimney.
    ‘Ach, the wind’s changing.’ Archie shook his head in disgust. ‘I suppose you’ll be saying next that somebody should block up the lum.’
    ‘There’s no need for you to be sarcastic.’ Fergus was offended now. ‘We shouldna have to freeze like this every winter.’
    Archie was silent, his white head hunched into his shoulders, his arms clasped round his middle, while Fergus regarded him sadly. ‘It’s bad enough the rest of the winter, but to be as cold as this on the night before Christmas … it doesna seem right.’
    ‘Whisht, man.’ Archie lifted his head as a distant clanking came to his ears.
    ‘What is it, Archie? Are you hearing something?’
    ‘I would be hearing something if you didna keep speaking.’
    They both strained their ears for a few moments, but the noise was not repeated. ‘What was it you thought you heard?’ Fergus persisted.
    ‘I didna think I heard something, I did hear something,’ Archie snapped.
    Realising that he was getting nowhere, Fergus changed his tactics. ‘If you would tell me what you did hear, seeing your hearing’s apparently better than mine, we might be able to settle down again.’
    Archie was only slightly mollified by the back-handed compliment. ‘It was chains rattling,’ he volunteered.
    ‘Ch … chains? Ghosts, d’you mean?’ The younger man was very agitated now.
    ‘Huh!’ Archie snorted. ‘There’s been nothing like that in this place for as long as I’ve been here.’
    ‘That doesna mean to say …’ Fergus was