Packing

All the way along the river, Ana tried to put Helen’s words in order, the way she put loaves on a tray. Half the bakery belonged to Michael. The sale needed his signature. Walter was going to Leeds on Friday. And Michael, who had just been told by his own father to stay away, probably had no idea that the whole future of Bridge Street was waiting for him to pick up a pen. She walked faster.

Durante todo o caminho ao longo do rio, Ana tentou organizar as palavras de Helen, do mesmo jeito que colocava os pães em uma assadeira. Metade da padaria pertencia a Michael. A venda precisava da assinatura dele. Walter ia para Leeds na sexta-feira. E Michael, que tinha acabado de ouvir do próprio pai para ficar longe, provavelmente não fazia ideia de que todo o futuro da Bridge Street dependia de ele pegar uma caneta. Ela andou mais depressa.

By the time she reached the canal, Ana was out of breath and the light was already going. The ducks were settling for the night under the old bridge. On one of the boats somebody was frying onions, and the smell drifted along the water. Everything looked exactly as it always did, which seemed unfair.

Quando chegou ao canal, Ana estava sem fôlego e a luz do dia já estava sumindo. Os patos estavam se ajeitando para a noite debaixo da ponte velha. Em um dos barcos, alguém estava fritando cebolas, e o cheiro se espalhava pela água. Tudo parecia exatamente como sempre foi, o que parecia injusto.

The Second Chance did not look as it always did. Its side doors were open, and there were cardboard boxes on the path next to it, some taped shut, some still empty. The little stove was out. The hatch over the engine at the back had been lifted, and Michael was kneeling beside it with a torch and an oily cloth, his sleeves pushed up to the elbows.

O Second Chance não estava com a cara de sempre. As portas laterais estavam abertas e havia caixas de papelão no caminho ao lado dele, algumas fechadas com fita, outras ainda vazias. O pequeno fogão estava apagado. A tampa do motor na parte de trás estava levantada, e Michael estava ajoelhado ao lado com uma lanterna e um pano com óleo, com as mangas arregaçadas até os cotovelos.