Christmas for the Halfpenny Orphans by Cathy Sharp

Author:Cathy Sharp
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008118518
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

Wendy looked at the child sitting forlornly on the side of her bed; it was a bright morning and she ought to be outside, running about with the other children, getting some fresh air, but she looked so pale and distressed that Wendy couldn’t chide her. Instead, she sat down beside her.

‘Something is wrong, isn’t it, Sarah?’ Wendy asked and reached for the delicate hand, cradling it in her own. ‘Can’t you tell me?’

‘Sarah want Samantha,’ she said and two tears welled and spilled out of her wide eyes.

Wendy wiped them away with her fingers, longing to cuddle the child, but knowing she wouldn’t be helping. Unless they could get Samantha back, Sarah was going to have to learn to cope without her twin.

‘Samantha can’t come love; your aunt won’t let her, but I’m sure she will one day …’

Sarah shook her head and then clutched at her tummy. ‘Hurt bad,’ she said, ‘Samantha not well.’

‘Do you mean you’re not well?’ Wendy asked, looking at her in concern. ‘Do you have a tummy ache?’

Again Sarah shook her head. ‘Not Sarah, Samantha hurt bad … hurt all over like when Pa beat Sarah. Samantha crying.’

‘Samantha is crying because she’s hurt?’ Wendy looked into the wide innocent eyes and felt a jolt when she saw the utter despair there. ‘How do you know? Have you seen her?’ Sarah’s head shake was angry, impatient. ‘Then what makes you so sure, love? Perhaps you don’t feel well and you think it’s your sister?’

‘No!’ Sarah jumped to her feet in sudden temper and gave Wendy a look of what could only be disgust. ‘Wendy not understand. Sarah feel Samantha’s pain always!’

Then, before Wendy could answer, she ran out of the room.

Too stunned to think, Wendy was slow to follow and when she did there was no sign of the child. Frustrated and distressed, she’d run off somewhere. Wendy’s heart went out to her; Sarah had seemed genuinely in pain, but how could it be possible that the hurt she was feeling was actually her twin’s? That wasn’t possible, was it? She’d heard stories about a kind of telepathy between twins, but this seemed so far-fetched. She wondered whether she might have misunderstood; Sarah was a bit backward, which made it difficult to be sure that she knew what she was saying.

Yet supposing she was right? Supposing Samantha was unwell or in pain? Was it an illness or … Wendy went cold all over. What if the child was being ill-treated by her aunt?

It was Wendy’s day off. Perhaps if she asked Angela for the aunt’s address she might go round there and ask to speak to Samantha …

‘Wendy, may I speak with you for a moment?’ Wendy turned as Nan came up to her.

‘Yes, Nan. What can I do for you?’

‘Nurse Paula telephoned a moment ago; she has terrible toothache so she won’t be coming in. Could you do the evening shift? I’d ask Michelle, but she’s been on all day so Angela suggested I speak to you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.