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Back A Simple Wish
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. Chapter Forty-Two
  46. Epilogue
  47. Acknowledgements
  48. Also by Rosie Goodwin
  49. About the Author
  50. Welcome to the world of Rosie Goodwin!
  51. Letter from Author
  52. Apple Charlotte
  53. The Precious Stones series
  54. The Days of the Week Collection
  55. Victorian Tales from Memory Lane
  56. Memory Lane Club

Almost immediately her fingers closed around something and withdrawing it she gasped as she stared down at a glittering diamond necklace. But there was no time to stand and admire it, she was painfully aware that someone could come back to the house at any second so she delved again. The next find was a string of pearls that gleamed in the light from the fire, and after that a variety of rings. Working as fast as her shaking fingers would allow her, she crammed everything into the bag, not stopping for a second until she was quite sure that there was nothing she had missed. Only then did she tiptoe back to the door and scurry along the landing as fast as her legs would take her. She was going so fast that she slipped halfway down the stairs and painfully twisted her ankle as she grasped the bannister but she didn’t pause in her flight. She was in a total panic now and all she wanted was to get as far away from the house as she possibly could.

At the bottom of the stairs she panicked again as she realised that she had forgotten the way back to the kitchen. The first route she took led her to a number of doors leading to various rooms and, almost sobbing with terror, she retraced her steps until she reached the grandfather clock. It was this way, she thought, but at that moment the clock struck the quarter hour and she dropped the bag she was clutching with fright. She dropped to her hands and knees, frantically feeling around the floor to retrieve the stolen goods. The jewels were scattered across the floor but at last she was certain that she had found everything and after stuffing them back into the bag she set off again, crying with relief when she once again entered the kitchen.

‘I’m done,’ she hissed as she struggled onto the draining board, trying to ignore the pain in her ankle.

‘About bleedin’ time an’ all,’ she heard Nell complain. ‘It’s freezin’ standin’ out ’ere.’

Ruby wiggled through the window backwards and once her feet were dangling below the sill, Nell caught her round the waist and lifted her down to the ground.