Once upon a time there were five friends who worked in the shops of Boltontown, selling clothes and trinkets to the local ladies. They were called Gilly, Lilly, Patty, Dotty and Babs, and when they were not busy at their work they liked to drink and dine, particularly at the Tavern, Harveys and the Hen & Chickens, and sometimes on Mondays at the Office. They were a happy little band when they were not complaining about their employers, or the state of Boltontown, or in the case of Gilly and Patty and Dotty, their husbands. Then Gilly became poorly, and she was told that she had a nasty thing inside her, and that the doctor would have to keep hitting this nasty thing to stop it getting bigger. From that day forth, Lilly, Patty, Dotty and Babs did all they could to help Gilly. As the years went by each of them had their own sad times and difficulties, but they all supported each other, and they never stopped caring for Gilly because they knew that behind her pink nails and her brave face that she kept by the door, Gilly was very frightened of the nasty thing that wouldn't go away. And the thing that Gilly liked best about being with her friends was their Thursday lunch at the Tavern, where they could sit around the fire and talk about the things that friends talk about - families and other friends and clothes and holidays and work. But Gilly's nasty thing kept coming back, and the doctors kept hitting it, and sometimes when they hit it they hit Gilly as well and she felt even more poorly. And eventually it came back again and the doctor said that it was just too nasty and they couldn't hit it anymore and it would never, ever go away, and that soon Gilly would not be able to go to the Tavern on Thursdays. And at first Gilly did not want to tell this to Lilly and Patty and Dotty and Babs because she knew they would be sad, but after only a day or two she said to her husband that she could not deceive the friends who had been so kind to her and so he took her to the Tavern so that she could tell them, and that was to be her last time. But much sooner than she and her husband expected Gilly became very, very poorly, and while she was in the special nice place for people with nasty things that won't go away her friends came to see her and comforted her. And she told her husband that she wanted to give each of them one of her trinkets because these four friends had been the most wonderful friends that anyone with a nasty thing could ever have. She said she had already given one to Babs and had chosen one for Lilly for her birthday, but her husband said ˜why not wait until you have chosen for Patty and Dotty as well and give them all together". Gilly thought this was a good idea but what she and her husband didn't know was that the nasty thing was now very nasty indeed and before she could choose the last two trinkets she was overwhelmed by it, and the angels came and took Gilly to be with them. And Lilly and Patty and Dotty and Babs were very sad, and her husband and her little girl and her little boy had their hearts broken, and there were tears everywhere. And so Gilly's husband and her little girl had to choose the last two trinkets, so that Gilly's wish could be fulfilled. And the nice thing was that Lilly and Patty and Dotty and Babs were just as wonderful friends to Gilly's husband as they had been to Gilly, which she always knew they would be, and for which he was very grateful.