Read Online The Carpenter's Children by Maggie Bennett - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Maggie Bennett
Ads: Link
a clout, Eddie! What did you do?’
‘It’s not that easy, Tom,’ said Eddie with a sigh. ‘Mrs Yeomans has been good to Mary, and given her a better home than she’s ever had before, but the girl’s never crossed our threshold since Annie had the baby. I couldn’t very well go for that lout in his own kitchen, so I just grabbed hold o’ Mary, and said, “Here, that’s enough o’ that, my girl” – and told him to take his dirty paws off her, or I’d be lettin’ his father know. He turns round and says somethin’ about who the hell are you, this isn’t your house – but when he sees I’m her dad he looks a bit sheepish. Mary just looked down at the flagstones, and I felt that helpless, Tom, I didn’t know what to say to her, so in the end I just told her that if she wanted me at any time, she knew where I was.’
‘And what did she say to that, Eddie?’ asked Tom, wondering how he would have reacted if it had been his daughter Isabel. Or Grace.
‘She nodded and muttered something, and then said, “Excuse me, I can hear the baby crying” – and off she went.’
‘Must be rotten for you, Eddie – put you in a bit of a spot, didn’t it?’ said Tom, knowing of the dislikebetween stepmother and daughter. Everybody knew that Mary had not once visited her little half-brother, and most felt sorry for Eddie who’d patiently endured years of worry with his first wife, and yet had looked after his daughter as well as he could.
‘They just don’t get on, Tom, Annie and Mary, and that’s the top an’ bottom of it,’ said Eddie, shaking his head. ‘Means I worry over Mary and that damned Yeomans boy, and there’s nothin’ I can do to look out for her. Been through a lot together, Mary an’ me.’
Tom Munday looked at him with real pity, but had no useful advice to offer. ‘So will you have a word with Yeomans?’
‘Yeah, but I’ll have to go carefully. Don’t want a quarrel, and Mary losin’ her job. There’s nowhere else for her to go,’ answered Eddie flatly.
‘Just a quiet word with him, then, that should do the trick,’ said Tom, trying to sound encouraging. ‘You could ask him to speak to his wife about it – she’d be the best one to look after Mary.’
‘You won’t say a word, will you, Tom? Not to your missus?’
‘’Course I won’t,’ Tom assured him, adding to himself, especially not to the missus. Poor old Eddie, stuck between two women who couldn’t get on, and a daughter facing temptations that could ultimately ruin her life; he, Tom Munday, could only be thankful that he had no such anxieties.
That was until he walked into the parlour one afternoon when Violet was out visiting Mrs Bird, and stopped in his tracks at what he saw. Grace was parading in front of the mirror, wearing her mother’s best hat trimmed with silk roses and an ostrich feather; she gestured with Isabel’s parasol and winked as she sang to an imaginary audience.
‘If I show my shape just a little bit –
Just a little bit, not too much of it –
If I show my shape just a
little
bit,
It’s the little bit the boys admire!’
The song was cut short as Grace became aware of her father’s reflection in the mirror, standing behind her. She spun round to face him, her dark eyes pleading.
‘I just found this copy o’ Marie Lloyd’s songs, Daddy, and thought I’d try to sing—’
‘Hand me that rubbish at once, my girl,’ he ordered sternly, taking up the sheaf of music that lay on a bookshelf. ‘And get those clothes o’ your mother’s back into her wardrobe straight away, before she gets in.’
‘Yes, Daddy, o’ course, Daddy, I’m sorry, I was only trying to…’ Grace began, putting down the parasol and taking off the hat in preparation for another angry reprimand and no doubt punishment from her father.
But Tom Munday did not feel equal to a confrontation just then, and having confiscated theMarie Lloyd songbook, he dismissed Grace without another word. He decided
‘It’s not that easy, Tom,’ said Eddie with a sigh. ‘Mrs Yeomans has been good to Mary, and given her a better home than she’s ever had before, but the girl’s never crossed our threshold since Annie had the baby. I couldn’t very well go for that lout in his own kitchen, so I just grabbed hold o’ Mary, and said, “Here, that’s enough o’ that, my girl” – and told him to take his dirty paws off her, or I’d be lettin’ his father know. He turns round and says somethin’ about who the hell are you, this isn’t your house – but when he sees I’m her dad he looks a bit sheepish. Mary just looked down at the flagstones, and I felt that helpless, Tom, I didn’t know what to say to her, so in the end I just told her that if she wanted me at any time, she knew where I was.’
‘And what did she say to that, Eddie?’ asked Tom, wondering how he would have reacted if it had been his daughter Isabel. Or Grace.
‘She nodded and muttered something, and then said, “Excuse me, I can hear the baby crying” – and off she went.’
‘Must be rotten for you, Eddie – put you in a bit of a spot, didn’t it?’ said Tom, knowing of the dislikebetween stepmother and daughter. Everybody knew that Mary had not once visited her little half-brother, and most felt sorry for Eddie who’d patiently endured years of worry with his first wife, and yet had looked after his daughter as well as he could.
‘They just don’t get on, Tom, Annie and Mary, and that’s the top an’ bottom of it,’ said Eddie, shaking his head. ‘Means I worry over Mary and that damned Yeomans boy, and there’s nothin’ I can do to look out for her. Been through a lot together, Mary an’ me.’
Tom Munday looked at him with real pity, but had no useful advice to offer. ‘So will you have a word with Yeomans?’
‘Yeah, but I’ll have to go carefully. Don’t want a quarrel, and Mary losin’ her job. There’s nowhere else for her to go,’ answered Eddie flatly.
‘Just a quiet word with him, then, that should do the trick,’ said Tom, trying to sound encouraging. ‘You could ask him to speak to his wife about it – she’d be the best one to look after Mary.’
‘You won’t say a word, will you, Tom? Not to your missus?’
‘’Course I won’t,’ Tom assured him, adding to himself, especially not to the missus. Poor old Eddie, stuck between two women who couldn’t get on, and a daughter facing temptations that could ultimately ruin her life; he, Tom Munday, could only be thankful that he had no such anxieties.
That was until he walked into the parlour one afternoon when Violet was out visiting Mrs Bird, and stopped in his tracks at what he saw. Grace was parading in front of the mirror, wearing her mother’s best hat trimmed with silk roses and an ostrich feather; she gestured with Isabel’s parasol and winked as she sang to an imaginary audience.
‘If I show my shape just a little bit –
Just a little bit, not too much of it –
If I show my shape just a
little
bit,
It’s the little bit the boys admire!’
The song was cut short as Grace became aware of her father’s reflection in the mirror, standing behind her. She spun round to face him, her dark eyes pleading.
‘I just found this copy o’ Marie Lloyd’s songs, Daddy, and thought I’d try to sing—’
‘Hand me that rubbish at once, my girl,’ he ordered sternly, taking up the sheaf of music that lay on a bookshelf. ‘And get those clothes o’ your mother’s back into her wardrobe straight away, before she gets in.’
‘Yes, Daddy, o’ course, Daddy, I’m sorry, I was only trying to…’ Grace began, putting down the parasol and taking off the hat in preparation for another angry reprimand and no doubt punishment from her father.
But Tom Munday did not feel equal to a confrontation just then, and having confiscated theMarie Lloyd songbook, he dismissed Grace without another word. He decided
Similar Books
