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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

Still in a temper from the girls’ teasing, Kate fought back. ‘No, no. You aren’t going to cut me hair. You’ve no right. I won’t . . .’

The door closed and the immovable figure of Miss Denham leaned against it. ‘You, Katharine Hilton, will do exactly as you are told and we will have no more of this wilful behaviour.’

Hardly before Kate knew what was happening, Miss Denham had caught hold of her shoulders and pulled her towards her, enfolding her in a vice-like grip. Kate’s face was pressed suffocatingly against the woman’s massive bosom. She felt the painful tug on her scalp as the Matron grasped a handful of hair and she heard the scissors cut into her silken curls. Snip, snip, snip and her beautiful auburn tresses slipped to the floor.

When Miss Denham released her, Kate could feel the sudden chill on her neck and she put up her hand to feel the jagged ends brutally cropped just below her ears. Suddenly all the fight went out of her. Her knees gave way and she sank down, reaching out with trembling fingers to touch the shorn locks lying on the floor.

‘Get up, Katharine, and sit in a chair whilst I neaten . . .’

Her spirit returned. She scrambled up and struck out at the woman, knocking the scissors out of her hand and sending them slithering across the floor. ‘Ya’ll not touch me hair – not again.’ Her fury gave her strength. She pushed past Miss Denham, dragged open the door and ran. Down the two flights of stairs, through the hall, out of the huge heavy front door and down the steps into the street before anyone could stop her.

On the pavement, poised on the balls of her feet, she hesitated and glanced back at the grey building towering menacingly above her. Then, her decision made, she picked up her skirts and began to run up the hill towards the cathedral.

Ten

She was wet, cold, hungry – and lost!

Kate had waited in the cathedral until dark, joining the Evensong worshippers and leaving amidst them, hoping that no one would recognize the school uniform and question why she was there on her own – and without coat or hat.

No one did.

She wandered around the precincts of the towering building until she came to a statue of Lord Tennyson. Tired, she sat down and leaned her back against the base.

‘What are you doing here, little girl?’ The voice spoke directly above her. Kate blinked. For one foolish moment she thought it was the statue speaking to her. Looking round, she saw an elderly man dressed in a long black cassock peering round the corner of the statue.