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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

Bill Foster turned and looked at Harry. ‘So it is,’ he said. ‘How did she know? I remember now, I came to it from the back of these buildings and cut through. There are lots of these little alleyways running through, and some of the houses – if you can call them such – are not fit to live in.’

They peered down; there was no drain, only a gutter, which was blocked with mud. It wasn’t a court, as Ellen was expecting, but an alley with a wider entrance at the other end. ‘Surely no one lives down here now?’ she said to herself, not expecting an answer.

Sarah slid her hand back into her mother’s. ‘They did,’ she said in a low whisper. Her eyes were huge and her face pale. ‘Once they did.’

CHAPTER FIFTY

‘Sarah.’ Ellen gently shook her daughter’s hand. ‘How do you know this is ’place we’re looking for?’

‘I don’t know,’ Sarah whispered. ‘It’s somewhere at ’bottom of this alley. I just know. It was the man, Will, who lived there, but not the little girl called Sarah.’

‘Did somebody tell you?’ Harry bent down to face her. ‘Mebbe Gran Snowden?’

She nodded. ‘Mebbe, but she’s never been. Gran’d never been to Hull before she came to see us.’

‘We’ll go down and tek a look,’ Harry said, ‘and never mind the mud.’ He told Thomas to jump on his back, knowing he’d splash about in it otherwise.

‘Will you come, Lizzie?’ Ellen said, holding her hand out to Mary, who was hanging back.

‘It’s dark,’ Mary objected.

Lizzie took her other hand. ‘Let’s be brave together,’ she said.

‘I don’t remember it being as bad as this,’ Bill said as he brought up the rear. ‘But it’s some years since I was here.’

They reached the other end, which led into another narrow court and then another alley. This had a wider entrance but narrowed into a thin strip with six houses, three on each side of an opening just wide enough to walk through. At the other end they found themselves in a wider street called Blanket Row.

Ellen looked back and called to Sarah, who was standing looking at one of the houses. ‘This one,’ she said softly. ‘This is it.’

Bill Foster was staring back at the alley. ‘Look,’ he said, pointing up to the top of the wall. ‘Wyke Entry. This is the one all right.’ He looked at Sarah. ‘Second sight, we call it. Aborigines have it, and so did one of my aunties. It’s a gift. Sarah should cherish it.’

Ellen held out her hand to bring Sarah to her and Mary said, ‘Sarah always knows when something’s going to happen, don’t you, Sarah?’