Sarah's Story by Lynne Francis

Author:Lynne Francis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008244293
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2018-05-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

Sarah woke with a feeling of unsettling panic on the Monday morning. Daniel had said goodbye to them on the Sunday, standing in his shirtsleeves at the gate and waving until they were out of view as they walked homewards up the lane. He’d promised to leave the key with Martha when he left for work the next morning. Sarah and Ada had fallen into bed barely ten minutes after reaching Hill Farm Cottage and Sarah woke with a start at dawn, when Alice’s grumbling cries turned into full-blown wails. She had fed her, then settled her back into her crib, where Alice had gazed a while at the patterns that the sunlight was making on the ceiling, before the pair of them had drifted off to sleep again.

An hour later, there was no ignoring the fact that Alice was well and truly awake again so Sarah rose once more, aware that every muscle in her body ached from the weekend’s exertions. Her arms and shoulders were particularly sore, and her contemplation of the amount of work still required to make Lane End Cottage fit to move into had occasioned the sense of panic.

They had so few days left in which to prepare the new cottage and pack up Hill Farm Cottage as well, which wouldn’t be a simple task. Sarah made her way downstairs to get the day underway, Alice clutched to her shoulder. She winced as each step pulled on her overworked calf muscles. Unusually, her grandmother was already seated at the table. Wordlessly, she poured a cup of tea for Sarah.

‘How are you feeling this morning?’ Sarah was concerned. Ada was a good forty-five years older than her and she had worked every bit as hard as Sarah the day before.

‘My bones are creaking with every move I make and I could swear that my back is broken,’ Ada complained. ‘We can’t go on in this fashion. We must simply do what we can over the next few days and then move in. Whatever work there is left to do we can complete once we are there.’

‘You’re right,’ Sarah said, secretly relieved. ‘I don’t think I can face lifting a mop nor bucket, let alone a paintbrush, for a day or two.’

‘There are remedies waiting to be made, too,’ Ada said. ‘The weather has been good so I must harvest whatever herbs have come into season and make use of them. If our income is lost, we’ll not be long for Lane End Cottage in any case.’

Sarah and Ada crept around for most of that day, in such pain from their frenzy of work that Sarah was hard pressed to believe they would ever be well enough to undertake more.

‘I’d best go and fetch the key from Martha,’ Sarah said, as the afternoon drew to a close. ‘She’ll be wondering what’s become of us.’ But that day and the next slipped by in helping Ada and attending to neglected household chores and it was Wednesday before Sarah felt sufficiently recovered to head down the road into Northwaite.

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