The characters featured do not belong to me. This work is not for profit and meant as artistic expression inspired by the original work.
Ringing the Bells
by Beth
for xwingace
The woman was shivering in her uniform. The evening was growing even colder than the day had been, and the street was almost empty; it wasn't even worth turning the sound system on, and her bell was shot anyway. She rubbed her arms and stomped her feet, and it took her a moment to notice the man's approach. He had a scraggy blond beard, and his jacket looked warm.
"Cold, isn't it?" she called out as cheerfully as she could. "Give a dime or a dollar to those in need!"
"What's it for?" He had more than a trace of a British accent.
"Salvation Army." She patted her uniform jacket with pride. "For the poor and the needy!"
"Guess I can spare a penny then," he muttered as he searched his pockets. He dropped a few dollars into the almost empty kettle. "Not much luck tonight, ey?"
"I don't have the right sound effects," she told him with a rueful smile. "I got the broken bell, and I was supposed to have Christmas song on the iPod, but I let my son fill it, and he's a History major. I don't recognize a single song from the playlist."
"Not the classics, then? Holly and the Ivy, how did that one go?" The man closed his eyes. "The rising of the sun, the running of the deer..."
"Not in this version." She scrolled through the playlist of the little plastic device on her belt and plugged in the jack of the external speakers propped on her kettle.
"Holly standeth in the hall, fair to behold..."
"I know this one," the man said. "Nay, Ivy, nay, it shall not be, I wis, let Holly have the mastery as the manner is..."
He had a good strong voice. British drinking songs, she thought, or were those the Irish that sang in pubs all the time, and she wasn't that cold anymore as she clapped her broken bell on the kettle's edge, beating out the rhythm of the song.
Some stragglers from the offices paused in their dashing to their cars long enough to listen, and old instincts made them reach for their wallets. When the song was finished, she hugged the stranger, and they both laughed.
"Thank you!" she said. "I was about to pack in."
"You guys are a religious outfit, right?" He smiled. "Mention Robert... say well of Hob Gadling in your prayers and we're done."
"Done." She gave the bell another forlorn shake. "I'd get more donations if I were in a Santa suit, I guess."
"I can't stand Santa." Hob winked at her. "Bloody immigrants."
She looked on as he walked down the street, swaggering to the rhythm of a carol half a millenium old, and even when he turned a corner, she thought she could still hear that song.
Nay, Ivy, nay, it shall not be, I wis...