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"Hurry up, Gavin," his father said.
"Your mum asked us to stop at the butchers and pick up something for
supper. We don’t have time to dawdle."
"I’m not dawdling, Daddy. I’m
walking slowly. My feet are tired," Gavin answered.
His father had to smile. "Ah, here
we are; the butcher shop." He pulled the door open and followed Gavin
inside.
"It smells in here, Daddy," Gavin
complained.
"Why don’t you look around and I’ll
order something for us," his father suggested.
Gavin wandered around the shop. He
peered through the glass cases at all the different meat. He read the
signs, though some of them were difficult words. "Those are fat sausages,"
he laughed, looking at a long string of plump spicy sausage. "I’ve never
seen duck meat or grouse before. I wonder what venison is?" He walked over
to his father and pulled on his jacket. "Daddy, what’s venison?"
"It’s deer meat."
"Is a partridge a small cow?" Gavin
asked.
"No, a partridge is a bird. It looks
a lot like a pheasant. Did you see some?" his father asked.
"Yes. There’s a whole shelf of game
birds, whatever that means. Does it mean they play games with each other?"
Gavin wondered.
"No, son. It means they are wild
birds. People hunt them. Go and have a look for some gammon steak for us."
Gavin looked through the glass
window. He saw bacon, chicken, beef Wellington and lamb. "Ew, what is
that?" He read the sign. "It’s an ox tongue. Who would eat a tongue?"
The butcher heard Gavin and started
to laugh. He leaned over the counter. "People pay a lot of money to eat ox
tongue. Would you like me to cut a bit off for you to taste?" he asked.
"Ew, no. I will never eat any kind
of tongue," Gavin assured him.
He moved on. "I see haggis, mutton,
pork chops, stew meat and here’s the gammon steaks. Daddy! I found the
gammon!" he shouted.
His father walked over to Gavin.
"Good lad. Let’s have some for supper tonight. I’ll pick up some bacon for
tomorrow’s breakfast and also a beef brisket for tomorrow night’s supper.
Your mum will appreciate that."
Gavin watched the butcher pick out
some gammon steaks and wrap them in some butcher paper. He did the same
with the bacon and the beef brisket. "There you go now," he said to
Gavin’s father.
"Come on, Gavin. It’s time to go,"
he called to his son.
Gavin ran to the door. He was glad
to leave. It smelled horrid in there. "Daddy, I know something else that
will make Mum happy. Let’s stop and pick her up some doughnuts for sweets
tonight."
"Oh, your mum will be happy will
she? What about you? Would you like a doughnut too?" his father asked.
"Yes, Daddy. I’d like one too,"
Gavin said, honestly. They went into the bakery. "I like the smell in here
much better. I smell sugar and sweet things." As his father picked out a
dozen doughnuts, Gavin looked wide-eyed at all the delicious, tasty sweets
piled high on platters on the shelves. "Oh, those cakes look good,
especially the one with chocolate." He licked his lips and moved to the
next shelf. "Sticky toffee pudding. That’s my favorite thing in the whole
world," he drooled. "Look at those pastries, with cherry filling and
vanilla icing. I wish Daddy would buy me one of those too."
It was time to leave much too soon.
Gavin wanted to stay in the bakery for another hour. He wished he could
have a taste of everything. "Time to go now. I bought your mum some
doughnuts. You can have one too," his father smiled.
When they got home that night,
Gavin’s mum was happy to see all the things they’d bought for supper. They
ate the gammon steaks with boiled potatoes, carrots, and bread with
butter. At last it was time for doughnuts. Gavin’s father brought the box
to the table. "You can pick first," he said to the lad. Gavin looked at
them all. Some had colored sprinkles on them, some had chocolate icing on
them and some had custard and jam fillings and sprinkled sugar on them.
"I want this one," he said and
picked one with red, green and yellow sprinkles. He bit into it. It tasted
so delicious.
"Will you stop by the fish shop
tomorrow and pick up some fresh mussels?" his mum asked.
"Of course we can, dear. I’m sure
Gavin would love going into the shop filled with all the different types
of fish and seafood, wouldn’t you, lad?" his father asked.
Gavin didn’t smile. He couldn’t
answer because his mouth was full of delicious donut. He knew the fish
shop would smell even worse than the butcher shop, but maybe, just maybe,
he could get his father to stop by the bakers again and get some sticky
toffee pudding. |
