The Woman who lived under a bridge

There once lived an old woman under a bridge. It was an abandoned bridge in the countryside with no water running beneath. She kept two pet sheep. They would lay either side of her at night and she’d be quite cosy and warm. The old woman had become homeless many years before. She was used to it now but still longed for a house to call her own.

One day while out walking, the old woman came across a Magpie. ‘Go away, shoo shoo’ she gestured with her hands as the Magpie flew off. She continued to send him on his way by throwing stones. Magpies often stole bits and bobs she’d found out on walks. ‘You stole my gold coin.’ she shouted after him. ‘I wouldn't be poor any more if it wasn't for you thieving magpies!’ she screeched. ‘Nasty creatures.’ She mumbled.

She made her way back under the bridge and rummaged through her finds of the day. ‘Hmm an old hair pin, a tin can, a glass bottle and ooh lovely, I’d forgotten about this.’ She held up an old diamond broach with most of the diamonds gone and pinned it to her tattered old cardigan. ‘Now don’t I look pretty?' she said to her sheep as she stirred up her fire.

One night it got dark early. The old woman was out and became caught in a storm. ‘Oh dearie me.’ She said. The wind and rain was so bad that she couldn’t go on. She had to shelter beneath a tree. A startled magpie was blown from its nest. The old woman saw this and felt pity for it, so picked it up, covering the cold frightened magpie with her tattered cardigan.

She decided to walk back to the bridge in the rain. It was warmer there. Over hedges and under fences she went. She fell over rocks and got her skirt caught on barbed wire but she marched on. Her hair was wet and feet soaked but the magpie was nice and dry. 

She got back to the bridge and stirred up the fire and they sat next to it with the sheep and dried off. The rain fell hard and lightning flashed. She fed it scraps of food and they fell asleep as the storm eased off.

The next morning when the old woman awakened, the magpie had gone. The sun was shining and she came out from under the bridge. Something shiny had caught her eye. It was the gold coin she’d found that the magpie had taken, left right outside the bridge. ‘Oh my goodness!’ she shouted with joy. It must have been the same magpie she’d taken in the night before repaying her kindness. She brought it to the village and it was worth a small fortune. Enough to buy a little house and land for her sheep and to work off. She was very grateful. But so was the magpie.