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Back Sisters of Gold Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Title page
  3. Dedication page
  4. A Week’s Work in Birmingham
  5. I
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. II
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. III
  47. Forty
  48. Forty-One
  49. Forty-Two
  50. Forty-Three
  51. Forty-Four
  52. Forty-Five
  53. Forty-Six
  54. Forty-Seven
  55. Forty-Eight
  56. Forty-Nine
  57. Fifty
  58. Fifty-One
  59. Fifty-Two
  60. Fifty-Three
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. Further Reading
  63. About the Author
  64. By the Same Author

They turned into Chain Street. Even seeing the name, on the black-and-white sign, now made them feel at home. After a moment, Margaret said, ‘That little lad wouldn’t let go of my hand.’

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Six

10 October 1904

Margaret kept busy in the daytime, but at night there were the dreams. The face close to hers, the eyes, his breath on her neck . . . The terror she had felt as he lay there afterwards, that he was dead . . . And each time, on waking, the desolation and shame . . .

She opened her eyes, her heart pounding. Something had happened. She sensed it, though she had no idea what it might be. What was the dream and what reality? The darkness gave no clue, but she had felt something strange, a tremor that was not a part of any dream.

Reaching out a hand she felt Annie’s bent knee beside her. Her sister was deeply asleep. Annie did everything thoroughly and fast – even sleeping. Margaret did not want to wake her. Annie’s days at the factory were exhausting.

But something had happened. Something that felt wrong – outside the house somewhere. How near, she could not tell.

Margaret slipped out of bed and dressed in the chill darkness. Feeling about in the dark she could only find one of her stockings, so she slipped out of the room bare-legged, carrying her boots downstairs.

She had no idea of the time, but in the autumn darkness it still felt like the middle of the night. After pulling her boots on, she stood in the hall, listening. A faint movement came from somewhere outside, but nothing more. Yet she knew something had happened. She opened the front door and stood on the step, her arms folded, feeling the damp, billowing air seeping into her. There was only the faintest light in the sky.

‘Did you hear it as well?’ a man’s voice said.

Margaret gasped, so startled she almost fell off the step. She made out a large, dark shape to her right.

‘Oh, my goodness,’ she said, heart racing. ‘I didn’t see you there!’

From the voice and his presence at number twenty-four, she realized the man must be Philip Tallis. She pulled her cardigan protectively about her, trying to sound calm.

‘I wasn’t imagining it then?’

‘No, you weren’t,’ he said. ‘I was awake – I heard it.’