East End Orphan by Kay Brellend

Author:Kay Brellend [Brellend, Kay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Sagas
ISBN: 9780349435565
Google: DVbYEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B0CJJ2GLXY
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2024-09-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The bell clattered in the kitchen a few seconds after Jake settled down at the table for his dinner. He put the virtually untouched pie and mash back into the oven to keep warm then pulled on his coat. He didn’t ignore business even when his mouth was watering for another taste of succulent beef and onion.

He strode along the dark path, already glistening with an early evening frost. The jangling bunch of keys in his hand was an alert to whoever was outside that their wait was nearly over. He added to it a shout that he was on his way. Having unlocked the gate, he pulled it open to find a woman huddled into a coat with a woollen scarf wound tight about her head and neck. From what he could see of her she didn’t look to be a regular. She looked startled to see him.

‘Where’s Old Peg?’ she asked nervously, bobbing about to peer past his lofty figure.

Jake got this a lot from people who weren’t local; those that were had by now heard on the grapevine that Peg Tiller had passed away in the autumn. Business had dwindled because of it; those customers set in their ways didn’t come any more. They never said so, when shuffling back out of the gate, but he could see it in their eyes: they didn’t trust him to know what he was doing because of his age. He didn’t consider himself young now he’d turned seventeen and was over five feet ten inches tall. Anyway, he looked nineteen and knew he had an old head on his shoulders. Peg and Mr Spooner had both told him so.

‘I’m running things now; come in.’ Jake gestured her through the gate and she did take a step inside but then halted.

‘What d’you mean by that?’ The woman sounded suspicious and scandalised.

‘Have you brought something for me to look at?’ He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘I’ll give you a fair price. I was working for Peg for a long while. She wouldn’t have wanted me to take over if she thought I was no good at it.’

The woman started shaking her head, backing away. ‘Must have the wrong place and the wrong information.’

‘What have you brought? Show me … you’ll be pleased with the price I give you.’

She slowly withdrew a bangle that glinted in moonlight, but snatched it back before he could examine it properly.

‘Come inside so I can see it in the light. It looks pretty, and I’ll pay you cash.’

‘Ain’t after cash for it,’ she whispered.

‘What?’ He frowned. ‘What are you after?’

‘Where’s Peg? I’ll only talk to her.’

‘You can’t; Peg died months ago.’

‘I didn’t know,’ the woman cried. ‘They didn’t tell me that.’

‘Who?’ asked Jake, feeling increasingly perplexed.

‘Me friend … she knew all about what Peg got up to. Sorry … didn’t mean to bother you.’ She turned and hurried away down the street and Jake, gazing after her, was sure he could hear her crying softly.

Blowing a sigh of disappointment through his teeth, he locked up again and went back inside.

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