A Handful of Sovereigns by Anna King

Author:Anna King
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788630092
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2017-11-02T04:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

‘Oxford Street next stop,’ the conductor’s sonorous voice boomed above the chatter of the passengers on his horse-bus. Maggie jumped to her feet, almost forgetting Liz, who appeared to be stuck in the long seat.

‘Come on, Liz, hurry up, it’ll be moving off again in a minute,’ Maggie cried agitatedly.

‘Hang on, will you, I’m not as quick on me feet as I used to be.’

Holding Lizzie’s elbow, Maggie assisted her heavily pregnant sister down the curving stairway, not breathing easily until they were safely on the platform.

‘Yer shouldn’t ’ave gorn upstairs, Missus, not in your condition,’ the cheerful conductor admonished them both.

‘We wanted to see the view from the top – we’ve never been up this way before,’ Maggie replied by way of explanation.

‘Yes, well, sit downstairs on yer way back ’ome. Yer don’t want the little ’un being born on a bus now, do yer?’

They had barely set foot on the pavement when the vehicle started up again.

‘Bloody ’ell, they don’t hang about, do they?’ Liz grabbed at Maggie’s arm to steady herself. ‘We could have walked quicker, the time it’s taken us to get here.’

Maggie nodded in agreement. The roads were packed solid with horse-buses, hansom cabs, private carriages and delivery vans. She had thought the roads in the East End were congested, but they were nothing compared to this.

‘Oh, blast,’ Lizzie cried in disgust.

‘What’s the matter?’ Maggie turned to the cumbersome figure by her side, her voice filled with alarm.

Leaning heavily on Maggie’s arm, Liz lifted her foot, her eyes glaring at the brown mess on the bottom of her boot.

‘Whoever said the streets of London were paved with gold obviously never came up this way,’ she said grinning up at her sister.

Minutes later they were standing in front of a large department store, their noses practically touching the enormous plate-glass window, their eyes wide at the sight of the colourful collection of gowns and costumes on display. At the front of the window stood a wooden mannequin clothed in a brilliant, sky-blue gown. Lying on the floor close to the frilled hem was a wide-brimmed straw hat trimmed with silk flowers and a wide ribbon in the same matching colour. Alongside was another mannequin draped in a white tulle dress with a scarlet band round the waist. Again a matching hat lay at its feet, together with a white lace pair of gloves. The rest of the window was filled with smart skirts and blouses with gaily printed scarves pinned to the wooden display board.

‘Makes our stall look sick, doesn’t it,’ Liz said wistfully, before moving on to the next store. The next two hours were spent leisurely wandering up and down the narrow road, stopping every now and then to look into yet another bright and colourful window display. Finally they found a smaller shop that catered for babies and children’s wear. After much debating, they emerged carrying three wrapped parcels.

‘I don’t know about you, Maggie, but I could do with a cup of tea and something to eat,’ Liz said longingly.

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