BooksBarbecue
Back Sisters of Gold
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

‘Whatever are you talking about?’ she said. ‘We only met for the first time yesterday and I hardly know you. We had a conversation about trams – that’s hardly the basis for getting married, is it?’

Herr Schmale began to look crestfallen.

‘Are you crazy?’ Now she had started – her general irritation not assisted by her being extremely hungry – she seemed unable to stop. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be marrying someone else? I thought that was the whole point of why you’re here at all. And you’re wasting your time, in any case,’ she finished definitively. ‘I’m not going to marry anybody.’

She turned and stalked back into the house, pushing past the stunned audience of her sister, her aunt and a gaping Jack Sidwell.

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Eight

‘What in God’s name possessed the man?’

Annie had never seen Uncle Eb look so distraught. He paced back and forth in front of the fire in the back room, one hand raking his bushy hair until it stood on end. They were all trying to come to terms with the evening’s bizarre events.

‘So he just went away again?’

‘He . . .’ Aunt Hatt seemed close to tears. ‘Well, it was terrible. He looked terrible. As if someone had hit him. He just took his flowers and . . . Like a whipped dog . . . Annie was a bit harsh with him, but . . .’

‘What was I supposed to say?’ Annie protested. She had her arms folded tightly, still feeling shaken herself. She did regret being quite so brutal with Herr Schmale now – for her uncle’s sake, at least. ‘That I’d marry him? He’s out of his mind.’

‘No, wench.’ Uncle Eb sank down on to a chair. ‘Of course not. I just can’t imagine what got into him. He’s engaged to some woman – Hilda, wasn’t it, Hatt?’

Aunt Hatt shrugged. ‘Something like that.’

‘I can’t believe it really,’ Georgie said, standing in the corner near his father. He had been in the workshop and not witnessed these events. ‘It doesn’t sound like the same man.’

Eb shook his head, leaning forward, elbows on his knees, one hand still raking through his hair. ‘The feller must be off his rocker, as you say. I wonder if . . .’

Annie could see he was thinking about his deal with Herr Schmale, the costly brooch they had all rallied round to make as fast as possible. Would Freddie Small cancel the order now?

‘I’m sorry this has happened,’ Uncle Eb said. He looked up at Annie. ‘I mean, last night when he was sat here, he seemed normal enough, dain’t ’e?’ He rubbed his head again for a moment. ‘Well – can’t be helped. We’ll just have to wait and see.’ He straightened up, giving Annie a sudden mischievous grin. ‘You sure yer don’t want to marry ’im?’

‘Uncle!’ Margaret protested, shocked by his sense of humour.