Chapters (52)
- Cover
- Margaret Dickinson
- Dedication page
- Contents
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Part Two
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Sow the Seed
- Note
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Copyright page
Rosie’s tears almost shattered Kate’s resolve not to cry. ‘Don’t go, Katie, don’t go ‘way. Who’m I going to play with? Who’s goin’ to take me to school?’ She wound her chubby arms around Kate’s neck, almost strangling her, and sniffled pitifully.
‘I must go, Rosie. Really I must. Me mam’ll be waiting for me,’ Kate pulled herself out of the child’s grasp, turned and ran.
She could still hear Rosie’s sobs as she crested the Hump and plunged down the other side towards home.
‘There you are. It’s time to go. Mek haste, Kate.’ Her mother was dressed in her best costume, with a smart new hat perched on top of her hair which, as always, was piled high on her head, luxuriant and thick – a rich auburn colour like Kate’s own. There was not a trace of grey showing in her mother’s hair, Kate thought.
Her stepfather was still in his working clothes for he was only coming as far as the station.
‘Aren’t you going to say goodbye to your sister?’
Dutifully, Kate bent over the cradle and kissed the baby’s forehead. Lilian’s tiny fingers clutched at Kate’s flowing hair and tugged at it.
‘Ouch!’
The baby crowed with delight, but when Kate prised open the small hand and stood up, Lilian began to whimper at the removal of her plaything. Kate stood looking down at the child with distaste. She’d rather have little Rosie for a sister any day!
‘We’re all loaded up,’ Jonathan Godfrey came into the kitchen, ‘and Enid’s just arrived to take Lilian till I get back.’ His voice had a forced joviality that did not deceive Kate. But far from upsetting her, it actually comforted her to think that he cared.
As the trap rattled down the lane towards the town, Kate watched Brumbys’ Farm become smaller and smaller. She bit down hard upon her lower lip. She refused to let her mother see her cry.
What hurt most of all was that she had not seen Danny. The one person she loved best in all the world and she had not even been able to say goodbye to him.
She pushed her hand into the pocket of her coat and felt the reassuring wrinkled surface of the whelk shell he had given her.
Seven
The school was a tall grey building set in a row of imposing town houses. From the street, stone steps led up to the heavy front door and the long windows seemed to be watching their approach.