The Boy with the Suitcase by Cathy Sharp

Author:Cathy Sharp [Sharp, Cathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2022-09-13T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Rose knew it wasn’t much use but she went round to the council office anyway and asked if she could be given Alice’s address. ‘I want to visit her, see how she feels about her mum being killed and take her a little present,’ she said. ‘She’s only young and I’m the closest to family she’s got now – her Aunt Rose, I am, see.’

Rose crossed her fingers behind her back as the girl behind the counter hesitated and then drew a book towards her. She read the entry and then frowned. ‘She isn’t at the farm anymore.’ Her finger ran down the entry. ‘It says here she has been put down on the list for an orphanage, but it doesn’t say where.’

‘Surely it must?’ Rose said sharply. ‘I can’t allow my Alice to be put in an orphanage. Give me the address and I’ll go and sort it.’

‘It doesn’t say.’ The girl looked uncomfortable and then frowned. ‘I’ll have to ask my superior anyway – and you’ll need to bring something in to prove you are her aunt.’

She looked relieved, as if she’d found a get-out for herself. Rose knew she was stumped. She couldn’t prove she was Alice’s aunt in law, because she wasn’t – and that meant they wouldn’t give her the name of the orphanage even if they knew it.

‘It seems mighty strange to me you don’t have her address,’ she said accusingly. ‘I’ve a good mind to go to the police about you lot.’

The girl looked alarmed. ‘It isn’t my fault, we had a fire during a raid last week. It got put out quick and the records in the metal file were safe but some papers that were due to be filed were lost.’ She looked guilty. ‘I’m sorry I can’t help you – but if you bring your identity papers in, I can release the name of the farm to you and they might know.’

Rose nodded and left. She’d known there wasn’t much chance of getting the address before she went, but she’d hoped she might get a junior – and juniors sometimes made slip-ups. Damn officialdom and the rules! Rose wished she’d got the address of the farm from Dora. It hadn’t seemed important while Dora was alive – especially after her promises to take Rose to visit.

Tears stung Rose’s eyes once more. She was glad they’d made their differences up before Dora was killed in that blooming raid, but she wished her friend was still here. Several of the houses had been damaged by the raid, but Rose’s home only had a couple of windows broken, which Harry Smith had got patched up for her. Why did it have to be Dora’s house that took the direct hit and why hadn’t the silly woman gone to the underground for shelter?

Alice in an orphanage! It didn’t bear thinking of. How had she taken the news of her mother’s death – her gran’s, too? Though she would have been expecting that.

Rose’s heart ached for her and the lad who had been sent off to Canada.

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.