An Orphan's Dream by Cathy Sharp

Author:Cathy Sharp [Sharp, Cathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2020-11-05T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

Danny shivered with cold as he lay on the ground, wrapping his arms about himself to try to keep some warmth in his body. He had no idea where they were, except that it was some kind of derelict building; he thought it was in a back alley not far from the docks, because during the night he’d heard the sound that the barges made when they were warning others to stay clear. However, now that his father’s bit of candle had burned out, it was so dark in here that he couldn’t see anything, even though a glimmer of light was coming between two boards blocking out what must have once been windows.

His father was drunk and sleeping. He’d brought Danny here the previous day and given him a hiding before settling down on some old sacking to start drinking. He was surrounded by empty bottles, food waste and rubbish and it was obvious that he’d been living here for a while. Danny could hear an occasional grunt and snore from him but hardly dared to move.

‘Try running away again and I’ll kill yer,’ he’d warned Danny the previous day. ‘You’re me son and you’ll do as yer told. I need ter find work ter get me drink and food – and yer can ’elp me.’

Danny hadn’t answered him. There was no point, for Jim Bryant wouldn’t have listened. Danny knew that he would be forced to do whatever his father told him until he found the opportunity to run away, but that might not come for days. If he’d known how to get out of wherever they were, he might have tried while his father slept, but he had no idea where the door was and he thought his father had some means of blocking it because he’d heard the sound of something heavy being dragged into place the night before and his father had muttered about keeping the buggers out. If someone was being kept out, then Danny was shut in and he had to wait until his father opened the door.

Lying there on the hard floor, cold, hungry and miserable, Danny thought about the wonderful life he’d had at Beattie’s. It had been his dream of a home and a loving mother come true and he felt the tears on his cheeks, knowing it was lost to him forever. Beattie would think he had run away and perhaps she wouldn’t want him back, even if he managed to escape.

Scuffing the tears from his cheeks, Danny knew he had to stay strong inside, just like Ron had told him.

‘When they beat us and do things we hate, we just have to shut it out,’ Ron had confided. ‘Some men are bullies and beasts, Danny, but if we don’t let them, they can’t touch the real us inside – no matter what they do to our bodies.’

‘I wish I was wiv you, Ron,’ Danny whispered. Together they’d been strong. They’d managed to fight off the bullies who had tried to hurt them at that warehouse and then the police had come.

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