1 The bag snatcher
One Saturday afternoon in a small town, Emma Carter came out of the
shoe shop with some new shoes. They were cheap shoes, but Emma
was very pleased with them. She was seventy-three years old and didn’t
have much money. She began to walk home. ‘A nice cup of tea,’ she
thought, ‘and then I can go for a walk in my new shoes.’
It was a quiet town and there was nobody in the street. Suddenly,
Emma heard something behind her. She didn’t have time to look, because
just then somebody ran up behind her, hit her on the head, and
snatched her bag out of her hands. Emma fell down on her back. Then
she looked up and saw a tall young man with long, dirty brown hair.
He stood and looked down at her for a second; then he ran away with
Emma’s bag under his arm.
‘Help! Help!’ Emma cried.
But nobody came, and after two or three minutes Emma slowly got
up and went to the nearest house. The people there were very kind.
They gave Emma a cup of tea, and soon an ambulance came and took
her to hospital.
At the hospital a doctor looked at Emma’s head and back. ‘You are
going to be OK,’ he said. ‘Just take it easy for a day or two. Can your
husband help you at home?’
‘My husband died eight years ago,’ said Emma. ‘There’s only me at
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