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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

At this blissful idea, Annie could only nod, having to stop her lips trembling. Though Lizzie was quietly friendly, some of the other women near her seemed hostile towards her, as if singling her out as different, a stranger. She was overwhelmed by the impossibility of her task. How was she supposed to preach the Lord’s word in such a place – to these women? There was no time, for a start! Everyone was always rushing, both in and out of the room, when the bell went and to get through the work while they were there. And all of it was so different from anything she was used to. She could not imagine the likes of Doris being receptive to what she had to say. The day had made her feel lonely and a failure, but she didn’t want to break down and sob in front of her aunt. It’s so hard! she thought. I can’t do it and everyone’s looking down on me!

Aunt Hatt was no fool. ‘If you handed in your notice, no one would think the worse of you,’ she said, eyeing Annie kindly.

But I would, Annie thought.

‘No, no,’ she said, turning away. ‘It’s quite all right. I just need to get used to it, that’s all.’

Later that night, after tea and once all the workers had gone home, they helped Aunt Hatt boil pans of water on the range and pour them into the tin bath in the scullery.

‘In our new house, we’ll have a proper bathroom,’ Aunt Hatt told them again, emerging out of a cloud of steam after she had poured a kettle of water into the bath. It fitted along the quarry-tiled floor, between the cupboards and stone sink. ‘Just think – pipes through the house, water straight out of the tap! Heaven!’

In the village they had a simple bathroom with cold running water so the routine of pouring a hot bath was much like here. And to Annie, sinking her stinging hands and aching body into the warm water, no bath had ever felt more luxurious than this one. She tried not to think about the fact that in just a few hours she had to be back at the pen factory, doing the same thing for all those hours over again.

As she later sank into sleep, curled up next to Margaret, she thought, I’m going to get faster. I’m going to be the fastest one there. If they can all do it, so can I.

Eleven

Eleven

Aunt Hatt gave Margaret the simplest tasks in the office at first: addressing envelopes, writing out invoices and helping Bridget pack up finished goods in boxes.

‘Here,’ she said, clearing a space at the end of her own desk. ‘You’ll have to perch here, Margaret. I’ll bring a chair in from next door.’