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Back A Place to Call Home
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

Ellen nodded. It was history, she thought. We all have a story to tell over time. ‘Come on,’ she said softly. ‘We’ve said our goodbyes. Now we need to say hello to a new life.’

CHAPTER NINE

The children were excited to be climbing into the wagon to travel to their new home, each clutching a cloth bag containing their favourite things. Sarah had a rag doll that one of her aunts had made for her; Mary had her building bricks; whilst Thomas had the much-washed blanket that he liked to hold until he went to sleep.

Ellen had explained to Sarah and Mary that they were going to live in a big town, but as neither had been anywhere but her own village they didn’t know what that meant.

‘It might feel like a prison to them,’ Harry muttered to Billy as they drove away. Neither he nor Ellen looked back at their former home. ‘There’s no garden where bairns can play, onny a yard where Ellen can hang out ’washing. Nowhere to grow our own vegetables or a few flowers.’

‘You can grow taties and carrots in a sack,’ Billy said practically. ‘Granted, not now cos it’s too late, but you could plant for next year, if you’re still there. And,’ he added, ‘you can beg a wooden box from ’grocer or somebody and Ellen can fill it wi’ soil and scatter some flower seeds in it if she has a mind, though I tend to think it’s a waste o’ time growing summat you can’t eat.’

Ellen leaned forward to listen. ‘What’s a waste o’ time?’

‘Growing flowers,’ Billy grinned.

‘It’s good for the soul,’ she responded, ‘especially if there aren’t any flowers or trees to look at.’ She suppressed a sigh. ‘Mebbe there’s a park near to where we’re going.’

‘Dennison mentioned there was one, but he didn’t say where, and I didn’t see one,’ Harry said. ‘We went into Hull this way, through Hedon and back out up Holderness Road. Top end of Holderness Road leading out of town is pleasant enough, but a bit swampy in parts, so we shan’t be visiting you in winter, Billy, in case we get bogged down. There’s a place midway called Summergangs where ’road runs through some fields. We’ll be able to walk there on a Sunday.’

‘It’ll be too far to walk to Holderness,’ Ellen remarked from the back of the wagon as she pointed out the tall ships’ masts to the children as they passed the dockyards. ‘And we won’t have ’luxury of a wagon to ride in.’