The Christmas Bookshop(13)

‘Um, sometimes,’ said Mr McCredie.

Carmen quickly leafed through a box of children’s books. There was an old hardback edition of The Water Babies, several lavishly illustrated lives of the saints and a very old picture book about a rabbit who had wings, carrying a lantern over a snowy waste.

‘Oh my,’ said the woman, as Carmen held it up. ‘Is that Pookie?’

Carmen snuck a sideways glance at it.

‘It is!’ she said. ‘Pookie Believes in Santa Claus.’

‘My granny had these,’ said the woman wonderingly. ‘I think she had this very one.’

The copy was red-bound, with gold picked out on the illustration. Although Carmen had never heard of it, there was something unutterably charming about the illustrations.

Carmen gently brought it forward; it smelled comforting, dry and warm and she opened it and held it up to the baby, who oooohed and pointed.

‘Oh, it’s lovely,’ said the woman. ‘I know what happens next … show me the page Santa Claus arrives … ’

‘Oh, I’ll show you,’ said Mr McCredie, taking it off them. ‘I met the author, you know! She lived in Edinburgh. And married her publisher! Such a journey. So anyway, the publisher was originally William Collins, then they were bought out but the original artwork … ’

The baby in the pram clapped its hands with delight as Carmen smiled at her.

‘You know,’ said Carmen, interrupting her boss, which she normally wouldn’t do, but she had immediately got the sense that they might be there all day, ‘she’s very much at an age where she might eat quite a lot of The Jolly Christmas Postman.’

‘That’s true,’ said the woman. ‘But I have to have this. I just have to. How much is it?’

The printed sum on the back read 2/6 which was absolutely no help to anyone, and Carmen looked at Mr McCredie, who shrugged and mentioned something called the Net Book Agreement and patently had absolutely no idea and seemed about to launch into quite a long book-based spiel again.

‘Uh, seven pounds?’ ventured Carmen and by the way the woman’s face lit up, she instantly knew she’d made a terrible mistake. Oh well. Too late now.

‘Where’s the card-reader?’ she hissed at Mr McCredie, who, it became immediately obvious, had no such thing.

‘Um, we take cheques,’ he said, prodded into action. The woman and Carmen looked at each other, Carmen giving an apologetic smile. Finally, after the woman handed over a ten-pound note, she managed to count out three pounds in small change from a battered grey tin underneath the till.

The bell rang as the woman manoeuvred the large pram out of the doorway.

‘Oh,’ said Mr McCredie. ‘Because the really interesting thing about Pookie is he became a complete word-of-mouth success after the war. There were so many rabbits, you know, but this one had wings. I’ve filed him with all our rabbit books. Sub-species wings. Such a special title.’

Carmen looked at him.

‘You don’t separate children’s books and adult books?’

He blinked, not really understanding.

‘But books are for everyone,’ he said. ‘Who knows what you’ll love? How dare you tell children what to read?’

Carmen rolled her eyes.

‘Well, technically I agree with you,’ she said. ‘But … should we try selling a few first?’

He looked at her. ‘Well, your sister tells me I have to let you do your thing.’ He leaned forward. ‘I’m sure you’re going to be excellent. Right, I am off to do some reading. I’m so glad you’re here to save the shop.’

‘What?’ said Carmen. ‘What did you say?’

‘Your sister says I’m going to lose the shop if it doesn’t make any money, and I’ll be out on the street. They’re putting up the rent. If we don’t make money over Christmas, the bank is going to take everything. But you’re here to save the day.’

‘What?’



‘What?!’ Carmen was still shouting as soon as she got back to Sofia’s. Well, she wasn’t quite shouting, but it was close.

‘What were you thinking? It’s closing down! You dumped me in some absolute piece of filthy crap – it’s filthy, Sofia. It’s awful. It’s completely useless and this guy is going to be homeless unless I – what? – perform miracles?! He won’t let me into the stockroom! Says it’s his own system!’

‘I thought you’d take it as a compliment,’ said Sofia, who had hoped dearly that this might be the case without in any sense actually expecting it. ‘Only you can turn it around.’

‘I can’t turn it around! It’s an absolute … It’s a disgrace! You can’t find anything and there’s nothing recent and no money for stock and now it’s going to get shut down and he’ll end up on the street and I’ll have failed again. Thanks a bunch.’

‘I think there are better ways for us to manage our outdoor voices?’ said Pippa in an officious tone, and Carmen managed to stop herself snapping at a child, but very much only just.

‘I mean, what were you thinking? Fob off my useless sister in a pigsty for a month and get some free babysitting?’

‘No! That’s not what I meant at all!’