Read Online Eve and Her Sisters by Rita Bradshaw - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rita Bradshaw
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would go barmy if Mary told her what she’d said. She hadn’t meant to lose her rag but Mary’s griping had made her mad. Mary knew full well they couldn’t go back. She just hoped they found work at the hirings; Eve’s money wouldn’t last for ever.
Eve was thinking the same thing. She had been amazed at how expensive buying their food had proved, she could have made three or four loaves of bread for the price of one in a shop. But it was her inability to provide a roof over their heads which was her main worry. And here they were looking like drowned rats and Mary’s cough like a bark now - that’d put folk off.And how many people would come to the hirings on a day like this? The weather would be bound to put potential employers off. Mind, it might reduce the number of folk who were seeking to be hired too. She hoped so, they needed every advantage they could get. If she and Nell could get work, they could manage for a week or so until they got their wages and could look for somewhere to stay. There must be another kind farmer round this area somewhere who had a barn they could sleep in, or even someone with a tin shack on their allotment. Her da had had an allotment at one time and the little hut he’d made there had kept the rain off. Anything was better than nothing. She would beg, plead, anything.
She hoisted Mary further up her back. It felt as though it was breaking. But everything depended on their finding work. There had to be one person in the whole of the north-east who would give them a chance. Didn’t there?
They reached Saltwell Park just before one o’clock, the bad weather having hampered their progress. After getting directions they made their way past the bowling green and the aviaries full of twittering birds. The rain had at long last let up, a weak sun occasionally popping its head out from behind the grey scudding clouds, but the day was cold. September was all but over, winter was round the corner.
They heard the music from the fair’s merry-go-round before they saw the bandstand, but on turning a corner, green lawns stretched in front of them and the sprawling stalls of the Michaelmas Fair met their eyes. Setting Mary down, Eve took her bundle from Nell and made Mary do the same. There weren’t many people walking round the fair, no doubt due to the morning’s rain, but she saw a line of folk standing by the bandstand and her heart sank. There were several men and quite a few women and girls of her age or older, and even a couple of families at one end. More people than she had hoped for certainly.They approached the bandstand and joined the line next to one of the families. The woman glanced at them and nodded, but she did not speak. Eve realised no one was talking.
About twenty minutes later a stout gentleman dressed like one of the gentry approached the line. He walked down it slowly and then stopped in front of the man of the family next to them. Eve received a surprise when the man spoke because his accent was broad, coarse even.‘How many of you are there?’
‘Six, sir.’ The man’s eagerness was pitiful.
‘I’m looking for a labourer who isn’t afraid of hard work and a woman who’s experienced in the dairy.’
‘That’ll be us, sir. Fifteen years we’ve been with Farmer Armstrong, Wickham way, and the wife in the dairy all that time along with helping the missus in the house. The master died three months ago and the son’s selling—’
‘Yes, yes.’ He was impatient. ‘And your lads?’ Hard eyes weighed up the couple’s children. ‘How old are they?’
‘The youngest is six, sir, and the oldest’ll be thirteen next summer.’
‘So they could be put to use when they’re back from school.’ It was a statement, not a question. ‘Religion?’
The man glanced at his wife and hesitated. He was obviously trying to work out what the farmer wanted to hear. After a moment it was the wife who ventured, ‘Church of England, sir.’
The farmer nodded.
Eve was thinking the same thing. She had been amazed at how expensive buying their food had proved, she could have made three or four loaves of bread for the price of one in a shop. But it was her inability to provide a roof over their heads which was her main worry. And here they were looking like drowned rats and Mary’s cough like a bark now - that’d put folk off.And how many people would come to the hirings on a day like this? The weather would be bound to put potential employers off. Mind, it might reduce the number of folk who were seeking to be hired too. She hoped so, they needed every advantage they could get. If she and Nell could get work, they could manage for a week or so until they got their wages and could look for somewhere to stay. There must be another kind farmer round this area somewhere who had a barn they could sleep in, or even someone with a tin shack on their allotment. Her da had had an allotment at one time and the little hut he’d made there had kept the rain off. Anything was better than nothing. She would beg, plead, anything.
She hoisted Mary further up her back. It felt as though it was breaking. But everything depended on their finding work. There had to be one person in the whole of the north-east who would give them a chance. Didn’t there?
They reached Saltwell Park just before one o’clock, the bad weather having hampered their progress. After getting directions they made their way past the bowling green and the aviaries full of twittering birds. The rain had at long last let up, a weak sun occasionally popping its head out from behind the grey scudding clouds, but the day was cold. September was all but over, winter was round the corner.
They heard the music from the fair’s merry-go-round before they saw the bandstand, but on turning a corner, green lawns stretched in front of them and the sprawling stalls of the Michaelmas Fair met their eyes. Setting Mary down, Eve took her bundle from Nell and made Mary do the same. There weren’t many people walking round the fair, no doubt due to the morning’s rain, but she saw a line of folk standing by the bandstand and her heart sank. There were several men and quite a few women and girls of her age or older, and even a couple of families at one end. More people than she had hoped for certainly.They approached the bandstand and joined the line next to one of the families. The woman glanced at them and nodded, but she did not speak. Eve realised no one was talking.
About twenty minutes later a stout gentleman dressed like one of the gentry approached the line. He walked down it slowly and then stopped in front of the man of the family next to them. Eve received a surprise when the man spoke because his accent was broad, coarse even.‘How many of you are there?’
‘Six, sir.’ The man’s eagerness was pitiful.
‘I’m looking for a labourer who isn’t afraid of hard work and a woman who’s experienced in the dairy.’
‘That’ll be us, sir. Fifteen years we’ve been with Farmer Armstrong, Wickham way, and the wife in the dairy all that time along with helping the missus in the house. The master died three months ago and the son’s selling—’
‘Yes, yes.’ He was impatient. ‘And your lads?’ Hard eyes weighed up the couple’s children. ‘How old are they?’
‘The youngest is six, sir, and the oldest’ll be thirteen next summer.’
‘So they could be put to use when they’re back from school.’ It was a statement, not a question. ‘Religion?’
The man glanced at his wife and hesitated. He was obviously trying to work out what the farmer wanted to hear. After a moment it was the wife who ventured, ‘Church of England, sir.’
The farmer nodded.
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