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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

She went back into the shop, where he was setting up the counter, putting out boxes of sweets and jars of barley sugar. ‘Is it all right if I come back?’ she asked, her heart thumping in excitement. ‘I’m going to make some soda bread. Just to try it out. It doesn’t need to rise or prove; I can mix it and put it straight into ’oven.’

‘Right you are,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Just as you please.’

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

A customer came into the shop just as Ellen was bringing out the first batch of soda bread and placing it on a wire rack on the table; the smell of baking was drifting through.

‘Can I smell bread, Mr Foster?’ the woman asked. ‘Are you baking again?’

‘We’re trying out the ovens, Mrs Sharp, with a view to possibly baking bread again.’

‘Put my name down for a regular order if you do, please. I can’t bake like I used to,’ Mrs Sharp replied. ‘My hands are racked with rheumatism. I don’t suppose I could try some now?’

‘I’ll ask,’ he said, grinning, and went through to the back to ask the question.

Ellen beamed with delight. She thought that the soda bread was just right, light and fluffy on the inside and a golden crust with a cross scored on top. ‘She can certainly try it,’ she said, ‘and give her opinion. Tell her that it won’t keep. It needs to be eaten today.’

He smacked his lips. ‘I’m sure that won’t be difficult. It smells superb! Will there be enough for me to try?’ he asked, and she laughed and said there would be.

‘Why don’t you go through and introduce yourself?’ he suggested. ‘Customers do like to know who’s baking for them.’

So she dusted her hands of flour and went through to make herself known to her first customer and put the loaf in a paper bag, with her compliments.

‘Why, you’re just a slip of a girl,’ Mrs Sharp exclaimed. ‘Your mother must have taught you to bake.’

‘She did,’ Ellen said. ‘But I’ve been baking since I was twelve. I’m also ’mother to three children, so I’m not a girl any more.’

Mrs Sharp put her nose to the bag and breathed in the aroma. ‘Delicious,’ she declared. ‘You’ve been well taught. Mr Foster, I’d better have an extra pack of butter,’ she told him. ‘And a wedge of cheese. I’m feeling quite hungry.’