BooksBarbecue
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

But Ruby ignored her and kept on going. She’d had enough of her young mistress’s temper tantrums and just wanted to get to the sanctuary of the kitchen until Miranda had calmed down. She was almost at the top of the stairs when she became aware of the girl charging up behind her.

‘How dare you ignore me!’ Miranda’s face was purple with rage as she grabbed Ruby’s shoulder and swung her about to face her. At the same moment Ruby saw Miss Wood hurrying along the landing towards them but she had no time to call for help for Miranda suddenly brought her fist back and thumped Ruby on the nose.

Ruby felt a sharp pain then became aware of something warm and sticky running down into her mouth and dripping off her chin. Her hand rose to wipe it away and she saw with shock that it was blood, but then Miranda suddenly swung her fist again and this time it hit her hard on the shoulder and she felt herself falling backwards. The stairs were right behind her and seconds later she had the sensation of flying through the air before she began to fall head over heels down the steep staircase, landing with a loud thud at the bottom with her leg twisted at an unnatural angle beneath her. She could hear someone screaming but the pain was so intense that she could do nothing but gasp for air, and then a warm darkness began to settle over her and she welcomed it.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

‘Oh, dear God, Miranda, what have you done?’ Miss Wood screamed as she lifted her skirts and raced down the stairs to the prone figure lying at the bottom. And then all hell broke loose as Mr Pembroke appeared from his workroom and the servants came running.

Taking in the situation at a glance, Mr Pembroke barked, ‘Betty, go outside and find Bill and tell him to run for the doctor. Tell him there’s been an accident and to come straightaway, would you?’

‘Yes, sir.’ White-faced, Betty shot off.

Cook ran over and bent over Ruby, but when she went to move her, Mr Pembroke told her sharply, ‘No, Mrs Baxter. We mustn’t move her until the doctor gets here. Go and fetch some pillows and blankets.’ At this point he had no idea if Ruby was even alive and he felt sick with fear. She looked so tiny and vulnerable.

Miss Wood dropped to her knees beside the girl and felt for a pulse and when she nodded, he let out a sigh of relief before asking, ‘But what happened? Did she trip or something?’