Josephine Cox 3-Book Collection 2: The Loner, Born Bad, Three Letters. Josephine Cox

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СКАЧАТЬ will be back.’ Don had convinced himself of it. ‘I’ll get a job. I’ll work hard, and save all I can. I’ll give myself time to breathe, and if Davie still hasn’t come home, I’ll go after him. Meanwhile, I’ll build a new life for all of us. What d’you say to that?’

      Joseph laughed out loud. ‘I say that’s bloody wonderful!’

      At long last the awful loneliness was over, and with two of them praying for Davie’s return, who knew? Yes! With Don’s homecoming, the old man really felt as though he had turned the corner.

      Sadly, Rita was gone. But Don was here, and now Joseph was convinced that Davie would not be far behind. ‘I reckon we should celebrate!’

      With that he scurried off to the corner shop, in search of ‘summat to warm the cockles’!

Chapter Fourteen

      ALREADY, THE MAKEPEACE family were up and about, with Tom out grooming his shire-horse and his wife, Beth, pegging out the washing on this clear November Saturday; her tuneless voice uplifted in song and the dog whining at her feet.

      Having tolerated it for the best part of five minutes, Tom could bear it no longer. ‘For pity’s sake, woman, will you stop that screeching. The poor dog will be a shivering wreck by the time you’ve finished!’ All the same, he couldn’t help but smile. He knew how she loved to torment the hound, and what was worse, unlike himself, the ‘hound’ seemed to relish every merciless minute of it.

      ‘You get on with what you’re doing.’ Beth feigned indignation. ‘Me and the mutt enjoy our morning song.’

      ‘Huh!’ Tom spoke directly to the horse, which seemed oblivious to everything but the juicy hay hanging from its teeth. “‘Morning song” is it?’ He sniggered. ‘More like the sound of all hell let loose, if you ask me!’

      Through her bedroom window, Judy heard it all. Scrambling out of bed, she went to the window, opened it and called down, ‘Who’s being murdered?’

      ‘What d’you mean?’ Beth looked up. ‘You’re as bad as your father. No sense of music at all, the pair of you.’ Collecting a bedsheet out of the basket, she put two pegs between her lips and at once order was restored; the screeching stopped and the dog rolled over at her feet in a fit of exhaustion.

      ‘Thank God for that.’ Tom was greatly relieved.

      ‘You’d miss me if I wasn’t here to sing you a lullaby.’ Taking the pegs out of her mouth, Beth used them to secure the sheet to the clothes-line.

      ‘Don’t count on it,’ he replied, though he felt a shiver of fear at the idea of her not being around. He had wooed Beth when they were both in their late teens, and they’d been together ever since. The thought that there might come a day when she wasn’t at his side, was unthinkable.

      ‘Your breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.’ Taking up the clothes prop, she lifted the washing-line to catch the breeze.

      ‘Any chance of an extra slice o’ bacon this morning?’ Tom peered out of the stable to see her going across the yard, a plump figure with a few strands of grey in her hair, but a pretty thing all the same.

      ‘No chance at all,’ she replied. ‘You’ll get one slice and think yourself lucky.’

      Having witnessed the conversation, Judy dashed downstairs and promptly threw another couple of slices into the frying-pan. She knew all too well how her parents loved to tease each other.

      Having left her clothes-basket by the back door, Beth came into the kitchen to check on the breakfast cooking. ‘Morning, lass.’ As always, her smile was bright and cheerful. ‘You’re up early for a Saturday.’ Glancing at the wall clock, she noted it was still only eight-thirty. ‘Couldn’t sleep, eh?’

      ‘No, Mam.’ The girl tried hard to keep a straight face. ‘I had this terrible nightmare.’

      ‘Aw, pet.’ Beth was quickly across the room, her chubby arms outstretched to give her daughter a hug. ‘Bad, was it?’

      ‘Oh, Mam, it was just awful.’ Keeping her composure, Judy returned her mother’s embrace. ‘There was this noise … a kind of unearthly wailing. I thought the devil himself was after me.’

      And then she was laughing, and her mother too. ‘You little sod, you!’ Thrusting her away, Beth chided, ‘You and your father have no appreciation of a good voice.’ With that she grabbed the kettle, filled it with water and put it on the gas ring. ‘Your dad wants a couple more slices of bacon.’

      ‘Already done.’ Judy scooped out the slices, along with four plump sausages, from the frying pan and transferred them to a dish that she placed under the low-lit grill. She then cracked the shells of four eggs, which were soon sizzling and spitting in the pan, while her mother washed her hands and made a start on the bread and butter.

      A few minutes later, the table was laid; Tom’s plate was dressed with two plump sausages, two slices of crispy bacon, and two eggs with swollen yolks ready for bursting. The remainder was shared equally between Beth and Judy.

      ‘By!’ Tom walked in just as the tea was being poured. ‘Now, there’s a sight to win a man’s heart.’

      ‘Is that the bacon, or me?’ Beth asked with a mischievous grin.

      ‘Both,’ came the immediate reply. Then: ‘Though if I was made to choose, I reckon the bacon would win every time.’

      Judy shook her head. ‘You two!’ she laughed. ‘You get worse.’ No one in the whole wide world could ever know how much she loved them.

      Over breakfast, they talked of this and that and Beth told her husband how Judy had fooled her. ‘Said she had a terrible nightmare,’ she tutted, ‘and all the while she was taking the mickey out of my singing.’

      ‘Oh, she heard it then?’

      ‘Said it were like the divil himself was after her.’

      ‘I know just how she feels.’ Tom gave his daughter a sideways wink. ‘Did you know that when your mam starts with the wailing an’ screaming, you can actually hear the wild creatures run for cover?’

      ‘Hey!’ Beth warned him. ‘You got your two slices o’ bacon today, but I wouldn’t count on ’em tomorrow, if I were you!’

      ‘Oh, and why’s that?’

      ‘Because it’s Sunday, and I’ve promised myself a lie-in.’

      ‘What!’ Tom was wide-eyed. ‘That’ll be the day. I’ve never known you have a lie-in through all the years we’ve been wed.’

      ‘That’s what I mean,’ she retorted. ‘So, like I say, you’ll have to get your own breakfast, because it’s time I gave myself a little treat … wouldn’t you say, Judy?’

      He caught her giving Judy a sly secret grin. ‘Up to your old tricks again, are you?’ he chided. ‘If you’re not careful, I’ll turn you over my knee and slap your bottom!’

      ‘Promises, СКАЧАТЬ