BooksBarbecue
Back A Place to Call Home Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. Cover
  2. ABOUT THE BOOK
  3. Dedication
  4. PREFACE
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY
  55. ENDING
  56. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  57. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  58. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  59. Also by Val Wood

‘Call me Henry,’ the young man said. ‘Do you like it?’

‘It’s perfect,’ she said again. ‘I feel as if I’ve come home.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Tannerson turned the horse and trap along the Beverley road back in the direction of Hull, and Ellen told him that she and her brother had driven along it when they had visited Harry. ‘I’ll walk next time if ’weather’s clement,’ she said. ‘I think I know how to cut across from ’hospital to Wincomlee, though mebbe’ – her voice softened at the prospect – ‘once Harry’s feeling better he might soon be allowed home.’ Then her mood suddenly changed. ‘Mr Tannerson,’ she exclaimed, ‘I don’t know who’s paying for Harry’s stay in hospital.’

He kept his eyes straight in front. ‘Your husband, and indeed Jim Smith, were admitted as emergencies after an accident, so there won’t be a payment due.’ He glanced at her. ‘But I should warn you that it is highly unlikely that he will be allowed home just yet. If you were assuming that your husband would be in a fit state to make the decision about moving house, Mrs Randell, I fear you were mistaken. This is something you must decide.’

‘What about ’rent? Mr Thorpe didn’t say how much it would be.’

‘He didn’t, did he? So assuming it’s the same as you are paying at present, how will you pay it?’

She did a quick calculation based on the money she had been given in advance by Mr Tannerson himself. ‘If it’s ’same as ’rent we’re paying now, I can pay it for another month. After that I’ll have to earn some, but it’s ’children,’ she said, almost talking to herself as she thought it through. ‘I can’t leave them alone. If my sister gets work’ – she didn’t say with you – ‘she’ll pay her share and we’ll manage till Harry comes home; then they’ll stay with him whilst I go to work until he’s fit again. I’ve planned it out already.’ She lifted a guileless gaze to him. ‘It’s putting it into practice that’s the problem.’

It was the older porter who greeted them at the door. He seemed to know Mr Tannerson, as he greeted him by name before he ushered them upstairs to wait outside the ward door. Tannerson told the nurse he was visiting Jim Smith and went in first, and then Ellen was called.

One side of Harry’s face was still covered by a thin dressing but both hands were outside the sheets, although loosely dressed with bandages. He seemed relieved to see her and she leaned over and kissed his forehead. Her eyes filled with tears. ‘You look so much better.’ Relief cracked her voice.