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

When the bell rang at one, Annie stopped work, pulling back her aching shoulders. Lizzie’s scrawny form was slumped over the bench next to her press, head resting on her arms.

‘Hey, Lizzie,’ Hilda called. ‘What’s up with you today then?’

There was no answer. Hilda and another of the women went over to her.

‘I’ll be all right,’ Annie heard Lizzie say. She got to her feet, forcing a smile even though she was as white as a sheet.

‘All right, then, bab.’ Hilda and the other woman moved away. ‘Get some food inside yer and you’ll feel better.’

When Annie came back from her dinner break, she went out to the lavatories in the yard. There were two for the men, two for the women. Both the women’s were occupied so she waited by the rough wooden doors. There was a gap under each and from inside one she heard the sound of someone being sick, followed by a wretched moan. It was a long time before the door opened and other women were coming up, complaining.

‘Hurry up in there!’ One of them elbowed Annie sharply out of the way and banged on each door. ‘You ain’t the only one as needs to go, yer know!’

The other door opened and as someone came out, the woman pushed in there without a backward look at Annie.

Charming, Annie thought, flushing with annoyance.

It was Lizzie who emerged from the second lavatory and Annie was shocked by the look of her. She was half bent over, her face pale and shiny with perspiration, seeming hardly able to get along. But by the time Annie had hurried in and done her business, Lizzie was back at her work place. Annie cast nervous glances at her when she could. She had often visited people who were sick in the village, taking gifts of food or remedies from their mother, offering to help in any way she could. The one thing she had never been able to get over was feeling sick in sympathy with other people and all afternoon her stomach was queasy on Lizzie’s behalf.

It seemed an age until the evening bell rang. As soon as the presses were stilled and the others were hurrying away, she went over to Lizzie, who was sitting resting her forehead on her hand.

‘Lizzie?’ she said timidly.

‘What?’ Even though Lizzie’s voice was faint, she sounded hostile, as if she just could not rise to another thing, even talking to anyone.