BooksBarbecue
Back Sow the Seed
Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Margaret Dickinson
  3. Dedication page
  4. Contents
  5. Part One
  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. Part Two
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  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. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Sow the Seed
  50. Note
  51. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  52. Copyright page

When the water had reached a depth of about twelve inches, Kate turned off the taps. From the next-door cubicle, the water still gushed into the bath and continued for such a long time that Kate thought it would never stop. As she sat in the water and began to soap herself, she heard the taps being turned off and Isobel splashing. Only a minute or so later, she heard a swish of water as the girl next door stood up and climbed out of the bath. The plug on its chain was pulled out and the water began to empty from the bath. What a waste, Kate thought, me mam would have a ducky fit! Fancy filling a bath up that much and spending about a minute in it and then getting out and emptying it. Isobel wouldn’t do that if she had to fill the bath by the bucketful as they did at home. Kate splashed water on to her body to wash off the soap, then put her hands on the top edges of the bath and levered herself up. At that moment, Isobel popped her head round the corner again, dressed in her pyjamas and dressing-gown, ready to leave. Her cool gaze lingered on Kate’s slim body, the small breasts scarcely formed and her long legs, thin and coltish. Embarrassed, Kate stood in the bath wishing she had a towel to put around her to cover her nakedness, but the only one she had brought was wrapped around her head.

‘You’d better hurry up. We’re only allowed ten minutes each. There’s others to bath after you, you know,’ the girl said brusquely.

She turned away and Kate heard the bathroom door open. From her position in the cubicle, Kate could not see what Isobel was doing, but the next moment the whole room was plunged into blackness.

Upon leaving Isobel had turned off the gas-light near the door, deliberately leaving Kate standing in the bath, shivering in the darkness.

‘Isobel, don’t,’ she shouted, but the door slammed.

Kate bent and put out her hands trying to find the edge of the bath. Her feet slipped and she felt herself falling. She let out a yell as she hit her head with a thud against the bath and slipped back down into the water, which sloshed up and down the bath and splashed over the edge on to the floor. She felt the towel unwind and fall from her head.

‘Isobel,’ she roared, more angry now than frightened or hurt. She grabbed the sides of the bath and heaved herself upright and as she did so, someone pushed open the door and light from the corridor filtered into the bathroom.