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

Margaret felt Aunt Hatt looking closely at her. She could tell she was dying to ask her more questions, especially after the arrival of the letter that morning.

‘Whatever it is has gone on between you and your father,’ she said carefully, ‘you’re probably best out of the way for a bit. I can see you need to get over it.’

‘It won’t be for long, I don’t suppose,’ Margaret said. In truth, she had no idea how any of this might be resolved, but she was quite sure she was not going home while that man remained anywhere near the place.

Aunt Hatt leaned forward to pat Margaret’s hand and their eyes met. Margaret realized that her aunt already felt fond and protective of her and she was so grateful for her warmth.

‘It’s nice to have you here, bab. Bit of life in the house. And you’ll be a help to me, I can see.’

Annie walked into number twenty-six that evening utterly worn out, with a throbbing head, aching back, and hands burning from handling the rough pieces of metal for all those hours of the day. She had also endured a certain education and suffered a painful dent to her pride as she had sat in that long room amid the rows of women, most of whom she hardly even caught sight of. And her work was so much slower than most of them – even Lizzie, who had deft little fingers and picked it up much faster.

But Annie was not going to show any of this to anyone and she forced herself to hum a tune as she opened the door.

‘All right, Annie?’ Aunt Hatt called from the office.

Annie put her head round the door, forcing a smile on to her face. Aunt Hatt, seated pen in hand at her desk which was piled with ledgers, looked up over her spectacles. To her surprise, Margaret was also in there, sitting close to Aunt Hatt. Both of them looked busy.

‘Yes, thanks, Auntie,’ she said brightly, though feeling as if she wanted to collapse on to her bed and never get up again.

‘There’s tea in the pot in the back – help yourself.’

Annie smiled. A hot cup of tea – never had that sounded so welcome!

‘Oh – and Annie? How about the pair of you having a bath tonight?’