Read Online Shadow Baby by Margaret Forster - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Margaret Forster
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there, there won’t be a lot of bawling?’
There was no bawling. Evie was told, there and then, in front of the two strangers, that she was a very lucky girl and thanks to the prodigious efforts of Mrs Cox and the Authorities she would be going to live with her newly located family.
‘Do you know what the piece of paper in your ribbon box was, Evie?’ Mrs Cox asked. Evie thought it best to shake her head. ‘It was your certificate of birth. It showed who your mother was, and where you were born. This, Evie, you will be thankful to know, is your mother’s cousin and his wife, and they have kindly agreed to make a home for you. What do you say?’
Evie looked up. Three faces confronted her, all expectant, none wearing a smile. What should she say? ‘Thank you, ma’am,’ she said.
‘You’ll have to pull your weight, mind,’ the man who was her mother’s cousin said. ‘It won’t be a holiday.’
‘Go and get your bag,’ Mrs Cox said, ‘and wait at the front door.’ Evie didn’t move. ‘Evie, did you hear?’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Still she stood there, not knowing how to ask for her box but seeing Matron frown she just said, ‘My box, please, ma’am,’ as a statement rather than the request it should have been.
Fortunately, Mrs Cox was amused and said to the cousin and his wife, ‘It’s a tin box she had, with ribbons and the certificate in it’ ‘No money?’ the man interrupted - ‘No money. Someone had obviously impressed the child with its importance and she brought it
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to me for safe-keeping.’ The box was produced and handed to Evie, who then did a quick bob of a curtsey and backed towards the door.
The man and woman were waiting for her at the front door when she came down from the empty dormitory with her bag. There had been no one to say goodbye to and indeed she had no desire for farewells. She wanted just to slip away before anyone noticed and before her departure turned out to be a mistake. ‘Come on, then,’ the man said, ‘we’ve wasted enough time.’ She followed him and the woman to a cart outside. ‘Get in,’ the woman ordered, but however hard she struggled Evie was too small to reach the single step. Hands seized her from behind, strong impatient hands, and dumped her without a word on the wooden plank seat. The woman got in on the other side, with the man in the middle holding the reins of the horse standing patiently in the shafts. ‘Settle yourself,’ the woman said, ‘it’s a long ride, hang on to that bar on the corners and going down hills, and if you fall out don’t expect us to stop, you’ll have to run behind all the way, won’t she Ernest, eh?’ And they both laughed so heartily Evie wondered how she’d missed the joke. Ernest. Her mother’s cousin was called Ernest. She wished she knew the woman’s name, but not another word was spoken during the whole long, long journey.
Evie had no idea where she was. The cart turned the other way from the city and was soon in the country. At first it was thrilling to be bouncing along between green fields that stretched far away to the hills on the horizon, but when not a house had been in sight for what seemed hours Evie began to feel uneasy and even afraid. The fields were pretty, there was nothing alarming about them, and the outline of the hills blue and smudgy, not at all grim, but there was no life anywhere. She felt she was being carried away to oblivion and with every mile her sense of herself, never strong, diminished. The woman, who was Cousin Ernest’s wife, paid no attention to her but there was at least some little comfort in her squat presence. And Evie was pressed hard by Ernest’s flank and though it was uncomfortable it was also reassuring - while someone so solid was next to her she could not disappear. Once, she was handed a piece of cake wrapped in greaseproof paper. She was so surprised she almost dropped it and even when she had unwrapped it from the grubby paper, she still
There was no bawling. Evie was told, there and then, in front of the two strangers, that she was a very lucky girl and thanks to the prodigious efforts of Mrs Cox and the Authorities she would be going to live with her newly located family.
‘Do you know what the piece of paper in your ribbon box was, Evie?’ Mrs Cox asked. Evie thought it best to shake her head. ‘It was your certificate of birth. It showed who your mother was, and where you were born. This, Evie, you will be thankful to know, is your mother’s cousin and his wife, and they have kindly agreed to make a home for you. What do you say?’
Evie looked up. Three faces confronted her, all expectant, none wearing a smile. What should she say? ‘Thank you, ma’am,’ she said.
‘You’ll have to pull your weight, mind,’ the man who was her mother’s cousin said. ‘It won’t be a holiday.’
‘Go and get your bag,’ Mrs Cox said, ‘and wait at the front door.’ Evie didn’t move. ‘Evie, did you hear?’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Still she stood there, not knowing how to ask for her box but seeing Matron frown she just said, ‘My box, please, ma’am,’ as a statement rather than the request it should have been.
Fortunately, Mrs Cox was amused and said to the cousin and his wife, ‘It’s a tin box she had, with ribbons and the certificate in it’ ‘No money?’ the man interrupted - ‘No money. Someone had obviously impressed the child with its importance and she brought it
40
1
to me for safe-keeping.’ The box was produced and handed to Evie, who then did a quick bob of a curtsey and backed towards the door.
The man and woman were waiting for her at the front door when she came down from the empty dormitory with her bag. There had been no one to say goodbye to and indeed she had no desire for farewells. She wanted just to slip away before anyone noticed and before her departure turned out to be a mistake. ‘Come on, then,’ the man said, ‘we’ve wasted enough time.’ She followed him and the woman to a cart outside. ‘Get in,’ the woman ordered, but however hard she struggled Evie was too small to reach the single step. Hands seized her from behind, strong impatient hands, and dumped her without a word on the wooden plank seat. The woman got in on the other side, with the man in the middle holding the reins of the horse standing patiently in the shafts. ‘Settle yourself,’ the woman said, ‘it’s a long ride, hang on to that bar on the corners and going down hills, and if you fall out don’t expect us to stop, you’ll have to run behind all the way, won’t she Ernest, eh?’ And they both laughed so heartily Evie wondered how she’d missed the joke. Ernest. Her mother’s cousin was called Ernest. She wished she knew the woman’s name, but not another word was spoken during the whole long, long journey.
Evie had no idea where she was. The cart turned the other way from the city and was soon in the country. At first it was thrilling to be bouncing along between green fields that stretched far away to the hills on the horizon, but when not a house had been in sight for what seemed hours Evie began to feel uneasy and even afraid. The fields were pretty, there was nothing alarming about them, and the outline of the hills blue and smudgy, not at all grim, but there was no life anywhere. She felt she was being carried away to oblivion and with every mile her sense of herself, never strong, diminished. The woman, who was Cousin Ernest’s wife, paid no attention to her but there was at least some little comfort in her squat presence. And Evie was pressed hard by Ernest’s flank and though it was uncomfortable it was also reassuring - while someone so solid was next to her she could not disappear. Once, she was handed a piece of cake wrapped in greaseproof paper. She was so surprised she almost dropped it and even when she had unwrapped it from the grubby paper, she still
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