Read Online The Girl From Seaforth Sands by Katie Flynn - Free Book Online Page B

‘Sometimes I wish I were just an ordinary kid, like the ones you’ve been off with today. They might never get to see the decorations in London, but they wouldn’t have to put up with the Frobisher boys being held up as an example the way we do. What were their names – the girls, I mean – were they nice?’
    ‘They were all right,’ Philip said indifferently. ‘Mary’s the older of the two – she’s a bit prim and goody-goody, but I dare say she can’t help that. Amy, the little one, was a real little devil. She went into the water with all her clothes on and got soaked. But did she mind? Not her. Plain as a boot, though,’ he ended regretfully.
    ‘Fancy going into the water in your clothes.’ Laura was wide-eyed. ‘I bet I’d like that Amy from what you say, better than I like the Frobishers, anyway.’
    ‘You can guess why they’ve asked the Frobishers,’ Philip said as they neared the end of the flight. ‘It’s because Mr Frobisher is something important in newspapers and will have all the latest news on the coronation.’ A thought occurred to him. ‘Dear God, you don’t suppose they’re going up to London tomorrow as well? The Frobisher twins, I mean. That really would be too bad.’
    ‘I’m surprised they didn’t go up for the coronation itself, seeing how important they are, or think they are,’ Laura said with a giggle. ‘Desmond thinks he’s the cat’s whiskers and Darcy is even more pleased with himself. Oh, I do hope they’re not coming to London with us. It would ruin everything.’
    Philip thought about Amy in her salt-stained, sandy clothes and about Mary, beautiful as a rose, both thinking themselves lucky indeed to be given cold meat and some fruit. He knew vaguely that the ‘ordinary kids’ of whom his sister had spoken were not really enviable. Their lives might seem free from the restrictions which bound him and his sister, but they were trammelled by their own parents’ conventions, just as he and Laura were. And for the Logans and Keagans, treats such as the trip to London on the morrow were out of the question. What wasmore, when he and Laura grew up, their lives would continue to be cushioned by their parents’ wealth, whereas the Logans and Keagans would have to fight hard just to keep food on the table and clothes on their backs.
    But it was no good saying any of this to Laura, who mixed very little with the local children. Indeed, though Philip knew of the hardships suffered by the poor in theory, in practice he was as ignorant as his sister. He had never been into one of the tiny houses in Seafield Grove, never visited the fish market in Great Charlotte Street nor been with his friends when they were earning a few coppers by running messages, chopping up boxes for firewood, or selling bags of shrimps from door to door. He could not really imagine these pastimes and though he knew most of the kids went barefoot in summer it had not previously occurred to him that this was not from choice.
    The front-door bell pealing, as they were crossing the hall, made Laura give Philip a dig in the back. ‘That’ll be them, arriving,’ she hissed. ‘Get a move on, Philip, so we can greet them with Grandma and Grandpa in the drawing room.’
    ‘Damn,’ Philip muttered, but nevertheless obeyed his sister’s injunction. He wondered wistfully what Paddy and Albert would be doing now, but then he caught a whiff from the kitchens of roast capon and Cook’s home-made stuffing. Despite Mrs Darwin’s generous lunch he realised he was starving hungry and was already looking forward to the meal ahead. Perhaps having money and a position in life weren’t so bad after all, he concluded, as he and Laura entered the drawing room.
    Paddy and his fish were welcomed home by Gran who told him briefly that his mam was off searching for another job. When Paddy asked why she had left the canny house, Gran mumbled something about other members of the staff being agin her but she looked