The Little Runaways. Cathy Sharp

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СКАЧАТЬ far she didn’t show very much so she should be able to keep her job for a while but what was she going to do when it became obvious? Her mind felt numb with fear and she couldn’t think past the day when her mother found out.

      Smothering her sigh, she nodded and began to walk as fast as she dare; it had frozen again last night and the pavements were icy. During the worst of the weather, shops and factories had closed, because the electric kept going off and even the schools had shut their doors some days because they were too cold for the children. Alice thought it seemed a little better this morning and she didn’t want to spend money on a tram while she could manage the walk, because she would need all her money once her condition left her homeless and without a job.

      ‘Alice,’ Nan called to her as she entered the home, still hurrying; it had taken her longer to walk to work, because of the slippery pavements. ‘I wanted a word with you, please.’

      ‘Yes, Nan?’ Alice paused, the breath catching in her throat because she was always aware that she was here on probation. One false move and Sister Beatrice would send her packing. ‘Do you need me to do something?’

      ‘One of the children in room five was sick all over her bed this morning. I think there must be a bug going round. I’ve been busy since I got here and I haven’t had time to clear it up. Can you change all the sheets and covers and take them to the dirty laundry room, please?’

      ‘Yes, of course,’ Alice said, relieved that it was just a straightforward request to clean up a bed. ‘I’ll be glad to.’

      ‘Make sure to wash your hands afterwards. We don’t want you to go down with the sickness, Alice. I’ve enough trouble with the kitchen staff. Muriel was complaining of feeling a bit under the weather first thing. If she goes off sick I’ll be left with all the cooking.’

      ‘I don’t mind working a bit longer today,’ Alice volunteered. ‘I don’t need a lunch break, just a cup of tea.’

      ‘You need to keep your strength up,’ Nan said, looking at her with concern. ‘You’ve been a bit pasty recently, Alice. You’re not sickening for anything yourself?’

      ‘No, I’m all right, thanks,’ Alice replied more cheerfully than she felt. ‘If you need me to stay on, just ask.’

      ‘You’re a good girl, Alice.’ Nan hesitated, then, ‘It was a pity about what happened to your boyfriend, Alice – though perhaps you’re better off without his sort.’

      Alice didn’t answer. Any girl in her position wanted to be married and respectable. Alice knew that once her condition became known people would turn their backs on her and whisper about her. Girls who went with men before marriage were not considered decent where she came from. You might be poor and you might have to mend your stockings and the holes in your clothes, but you kept yourself decent if you wanted to hold your head up high. Alice had broken the code when she’d let Jack make love to her and she was going to have to pay for it soon enough.

      As she turned away, Nan touched her arm. ‘If you’re ever in trouble, Alice, come to me. I’m sure I can find a way to help …’

      Alice stared after her. How could Nan know that she was in trouble? Of course she couldn’t – surely there was no way anyone could guess her secret yet?

       ELEVEN

      The old house was silent apart from the whispering of the wind in the eaves and the occasional soft tread of a carer’s footstep as she passed their room. Someone had looked in about ten minutes earlier, which was what had woken Nancy, and then she’d heard her brother whimpering in his sleep and the words he muttered sent chills down her spine. No one else must ever hear what he was saying or they would both be in terrible trouble.

      ‘Listen to me, Terry,’ Nancy said, leaning down to whisper close to his ear. ‘You’ve got to behave, because if you don’t they might try to separate us again. You’ll be taken somewhere they put bad boys – no, you’re not bad, but they’ll think you are if you say things like that – and they might lock us away in prison. You don’t want that, do you? You mustn’t ask who locked the door … if you do they might put us both in prison.’

      Terry clutched at her hand, his dark eyes wide and fearful as he gazed up at her. ‘I don’t want to say, Nance, but the dreams keep coming. I’m frightened that he’ll come after me again. Next time he’ll kill me …’

      ‘Pa won’t hurt you no more,’ Nancy said, reaching out to smooth his dark curly hair back from his forehead. He felt damp to her touch, because he’d been sweating. The nightmares kept on returning and then he woke screaming, his body drenched. ‘I told you, he died in that fire. Him and Ma …’

      ‘I didn’t want Ma to die.’ Terry’s eyes spilled their tears. ‘What happened, Nance? I can’t remember when I’m awake but – I dream terrible things, hear them screaming but the door is on fire and it’s locked. I can’t get to Ma in my dream – I can’t get her out …’

      ‘Hush, now,’ Nancy said, and stroked his face gently. He was so terrified of his father’s cruelty; it was better if he didn’t remember what had happened. ‘It was Pa’s fault. He was drunk when they came back that night and so was Ma. He left his jacket on the chair and I took the keys and unlocked your door. I gave you some bread and dripping and a drink of tea and then – I left you to go back to sleep while I cleared up the kitchen. They had made such a mess … Pa was sick all over the floor. He shouldn’t have drunk so much and then it might not have happened.’

      ‘Pa beat me again, didn’t he?’ Terry clung to his sister’s hand. ‘He was bad, Nance – what he done to you. He deserved it but Ma didn’t deserve to die – why didn’t she come out?’

      ‘Stop thinking about it,’ Nancy ordered. The door had been blazing and she’d known it was too late when she saw how fierce the fire was and him standing there staring at it. ‘You have to forget it, Terry. Ma should have left him and taken us with her years ago.’

      ‘Are you angry?’ Terry asked, looking at her strangely. ‘You’re not angry with me? I was just standing there in the hall and then you grabbed me and pulled me down the stairs and we ran away …’

      ‘You didn’t do anything wrong.’ Nancy gave him a little shake. ‘Listen to me, Terry; this is important. You were in your room until I came and got you out of bed. What happened wasn’t your fault. Remember that if the police ask questions.’

      Terry was shaking all over. ‘Why should they ask questions, Nance? We didn’t do nothing wrong, did we? Did I do something bad, Nance?’

      ‘No, you didn’t,’ Nancy said, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she shook him again. ‘Just remember, you were asleep until I grabbed you out of bed and shoved you down the stairs. Your dreams are just nightmares – you stopped on the landing and looked at the door. It was a sheet of flames and you just stared at it and then you screamed for Ma, but there was nothing we could do. Pa locked us out. It was his fault, that’s all you have to remember.’

      ‘I didn’t do anything bad?’

      ‘No, love,’ Nancy said, and held him in her arms, kissing the top of his head. He smelled clean and decent and she loved him. He didn’t carry the foul stink of a man that clung to Pa: sweat and beer and other things that made her shudder.

      ‘Nance, СКАЧАТЬ