The Winter Orphan. Cathy Sharp

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СКАЧАТЬ her household I would gladly go, but I was once falsely accused of theft and lost my position. Lady Rowntree knows the employer who dismissed me and I do not think she would have me in her house if she knew.’

      ‘Then I will help you,’ Arthur said and smiled. ‘You may trust me. You are not the first to have lost your position because of a lie. Leave this place and come to me at the inn before the end of the week if you will.’

      ‘Thank you, sir – but if you could help Bella? She is not strong enough to work in that awful chain-making place, and her mother was a lady.’

      ‘You knew the girl’s mother?’

      ‘Briefly, when she stayed here a short time. She told us her name was Marie but I think it may have been a name she chose for herself. Marie died in the fields one bitter night after leaving Bella on the church steps. She was beautiful and gentle, a sweet girl, and we cared for her babe as best we could despite the mistress’s spite when it was brought here by the vicar.’

      ‘Yes, I’m sure you did,’ Arthur said. ‘I intend to speak with Lady Rowntree concerning this place. It may be that things will change here, but I cannot guarantee it.’

      Florrie curtsied and thanked him and Arthur left. He knew that, even as he went out to his carriage, Mistress Brent would be complaining to her husband. If he was a man at all he would come after Arthur and try to force an apology from him. Otherwise, the guilty couple would flee. It all depended on whether they believed Arthur’s story. If they called his bluff he might not be able to prove anything, but if they ran … A smile touched his lips. Florrie had told him what little she knew, but others would tell more if they thought it safe.

      In the meantime, Arthur would visit the chain works and hear what this Karl Breck had to say. If he was willing to sell the child Bella to him, he would buy her and take her back to London – and if not? Mentally, Arthur shrugged. He could not rescue every child forced to do unsuitable work, but he would not stand by and see cruelty.

      Bella emptied the clothes from the copper where they had been boiled and then left to cool. She put them through the big mangle with its wooden rollers and turned the metal handle. It was almost too hard for her to turn full circle and she was panting by the time she had finished. Now she had to rinse them all in clean water in the zinc bath and then put them through the mangle again. She had filled the bath with cold water and dumped the load of sheets and pillow covers in it, sighing as she stirred with a big wooden stick.

      ‘Bella! Bella, come and help me!’ The scream came from the kitchen and Bella rushed in to discover her mistress bent almost double and writhing with pain. She saw that there was a puddle on the tiled floor and where Annie had pulled up her skirts she could see red stains on the cream flannel petticoats.

      ‘My baby!’ Annie gasped and clutched at her stomach again. ‘It’s coming early. Oh, I knew it would happen after what he did last night …’ Tears rolled down her cheeks and she clutched at Bella’s arm. ‘He won’t leave me alone. He won’t see I need rest!’ She gave a sob of utter despair.

      ‘Let me help you to bed,’ Bella said. ‘The beds are newly made and the old sheets are soaking.’

      ‘I need the midwife,’ Annie moaned. ‘Help me upstairs, Bella – and then run to Fornham for the midwife.’

      Bella nodded, looking at her with big, scared eyes. She had not been frightened of the mistress at the workhouse even though she was beaten regularly, but the thought of Annie giving birth terrified her.

      Annie leaned on Bella heavily as she helped her upstairs. Once in the bedroom, Bella was kept busy covering the clean sheets with old towels and a torn sheet, but by the time it was done, Annie was panting and grimacing like an animal, her teeth bared as she tried to control her pain.

      ‘Go now and get the midwife,’ she gasped.

      Bella hesitated for a moment. She’d seen women give birth at the workhouse and she sensed that the babe was coming soon, but Annie gestured angrily at her to go and so she ran. She rushed down the stairs and across the fields at the back of the house towards the village, running as swiftly as her legs would take her. Annie was in terrible pain and Bella was afraid she might die alone with no one to help her.

      She ran and ran as fast as she could, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath. It seemed a lot further than it had the day her master brought her to his house and gave her to the mistress. She was gasping and there was pain in her chest by the time she reached the village of Fornham, which was just one street and a huddle of houses to either side, two shops and a larger house that belong to the doctor. She’d run so fast that she was out of breath and it was a few moments before she was able to tell the first person she saw what was needed. The woman looked at her down her long nose when she heard who her employer was.

      ‘Jenny Midwife lives in that cottage at the end of the street,’ she said coldly. ‘But you’ll not find her there – she’s at Mr Tucker’s farm. His wife is having her baby and she’s gone there to nurse her.’

      Bella felt the panic rise. ‘If no one comes to Annie’s aid she will die – please, ma’am, will you come?’

      ‘Me? Come to that house?’ The woman’s eyebrows arched in horror. ‘No, indeed I shall not – fetch Annie’s husband to her or someone else.’

      Bella looked at her in disgust and ran off. She met three women coming from the village shop but they all shook their heads when she begged them to come to Annie. In despair, Bella ran to the workshop and called for her master. When he came out to her, he looked furious, as if she had committed a sin by asking for him.

      ‘The midwife is away and no one will come,’ Bella said. ‘Annie is bad and I fear she may die!’

      ‘Get back there and see to her,’ Karl said and cuffed her ear. ‘You’re not a babe. You should’ve stayed with her and ’elped her.’

      Bella knew that any excuse would fall on deaf ears. He went back into the cavernous interior of the dark workshop and Bella began to run back to the cottage. She was terrified of what she would find because she knew that without the midwife it would all fall on her shoulders. She had seen babes born but she did not know what to do for the mother and she feared that Annie might not survive. The babe was coming early and that meant something was wrong. Without proper help, there was little hope for either Annie or her child.

      ‘Where is the midwife?’ Annie gasped as Bella returned to the bedroom. ‘Is she coming?’

      ‘She was at a farm,’ Bella said. ‘I know not where – and no one else would come.’ She moved closer to the bed. ‘I will help you, mistress. I have water on the range. I will fetch it.’

      Annie gave a little scream and half rose from the bed. ‘No, don’t leave me. I can’t be alone – it hurts so much. Neither of the others was like this!’

      She screamed again loudly and clutched at Bella’s arm. ‘It is tearing me apart!’

      Bella bent over her, stroking the damp hair from her forehead. ‘What can I do to help you, mistress?’

      ‘Nothing, I need the midwife,’ Annie moaned and screamed again.

      Neither of them heard the knock at the door or the voice that called out, nor did they hear the footsteps on the stairs as Annie screamed and screamed. She was panting wildly, her eyes fearful as the pain ripped at her.

      ‘Where СКАЧАТЬ