Read Online Crooked Pieces by Sarah Grazebrook - Free Book Online

not for she had no voice, but Pa and I rebuked her and she sang a very fine ballad about a maid at a fair who was spurned by her lover and went mad. We all clapped and cheered and then in came Mrs Grant,looking very sad and would not take a glass of porter, so I asked Pa if he would walk with me along by the river and show me the salmon leaping as he did when I was little. So he and I and Evelyn set off, leaving Alfie, who could not take his eyes off Miss Annie, and Ma and Will and Lucy.
    We walked for half an hour and Pa carried Evelyn on his shoulder so she was higher than any of us and kept reaching up for the branches. Hardly a word passed between us, yet we were happy. At last, as it grew dark and we turned to go home, Pa said, ‘Your Ma is not well with this baby, Maggie.’
    I said I thought she looked more tired than usual.
    ‘Tired? She’s worse than that. I never saw her so… Not even with little Samuel. She’s hardly strength to wash the clothes. She keeps no eye on Alfie when I’m out. He has the run of the street.’
    ‘Perhaps once the baby is born she will be better again.’
    Pa gave a sort of laugh. ‘Maybe. I hope so, Maggie, for if we should lose her, I cannot mind what’s to follow.’
    A cold wind – more than cold – a wind of brick-hard ice seemed to have wrapped me round. That my pa could hold such a thought.
    ‘Ma will be well,’ I said, clenching my hands together. ‘Once the baby comes.’
    ‘And there’s another mouth to feed.’
    I know not what stirred me but I could bear it no more, his complaining. ‘Pa, do you not put the babies in Ma? Why can you not stop?’
    We both stood still and Evelyn, who was cold, began to squeak.
    Pa stared at me, quite blank with fury. I knew then how Mamust feel when he takes his hand to her. He raised his arm and Evelyn, wobbling on his shoulders, caught hold of it and squeaked the more. He lowered his arm again and turned away. We walked home without a single word between us, having seen no salmon.
    When we got back all the pans were washed and the dinner things away. Mrs Grant had gone and Ma was sat in the front room with Will tearing at her hair. If ever I have a child I will shave my head, I think, for there can be nothing worse than to have it dragging at you every moment.
    Miss Annie said we should leave soon if we were to take the omnibus as Sundays are difficult. Ma came with us to the door. ‘I thank you, ma’am, for all your kindness today.’
    Miss Annie shook her head. ‘The kindness is yours, Mrs Robins, to listen to me and spare me your time.’
    As we walked to the stop I wondered if she would tell me what they had spoken of while Pa and I were out walking. She seemed deep in thought but once we were settled on the bus she turned to me. ‘Maggie, I cannot thank you enough for today.’
    I was surprised, for it seemed little of a day to me, to be at someone’s house washing their children and cooking the dinner.
    ‘I have talked with your ma and Mrs Grant and they will speak to the other women in the street.’
    ‘What about, miss?’ I asked, feeling very dull.
    ‘There is to be a rally. On February 19 th – the day Parliament re-opens – as many women as we can muster will meet at Caxton Hall in Westminster to hear if the King’s Speech contains a bill for suffrage – giving women the vote.Mrs Pankhurst will address the assembly, and Miss Christabel, too, with luck. It will be a mighty occasion. But I have been charged with stirring up the women of London and it is not an easy task. Your ma can help me talk to some I would not otherwise meet and we must hope they will spread the word about.’ She wiped her hand across her brow and for a moment looked very tired. ‘Oh, but it is a big job and no mistake. A mighty job. Still,’ she squeezed my arm and again looked very chirpy, ‘we have made a good start, you and I, today.’ Though I had not understood one word in six of what she had told me, I felt exceeding