The Paper Mill Girl by Glenda Young

Author:Glenda Young [Glenda Young]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction & Literature, Historical, Romance, Saga
ISBN: 9781472268556
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2021-05-17T23:00:00+00:00

The week after the works outing, the photograph of the mill workers went on display in the office. Ruth allowed groups of excited girls from the rag room to go and look at it. She was as keen as they were to see the photograph framed and hung. She knew the girls would search the picture to find themselves there. They wanted to see how pretty they looked, if their best hat flattered their face as much as they hoped. They all wanted a reminder of their carefree afternoon on the sands.

‘One at a time, girls!’ Dorothy Smith called when the girls piled into her office.

Ruth and Edie were first in the queue. Jane, however, seemed less interested and hung back at the end. Ruth searched the photograph to find herself, but it was Mick’s face that jumped out first. He was beaming at the camera. She searched for the girl he had been with at the beach. She wasn’t at his side, nor in front or behind him. When she finally found her, standing at the back of the group, she was surprised how relieved she felt that she and Mick hadn’t been pictured together.

‘There we are!’ Edie cried. She was pointing at the end of the third row. The first row of girls were seated on the sands, the second kneeling behind, the third standing. Ruth was right on the end of the row, with Maude hidden behind a wide-brimmed hat worn by a girl in the row in front of Ruth. Those behind them were standing on the steps leading up to the prom. The effect was a small mountain of hats, heads and arms. Everyone was looking at the camera, at the funny little photographer with the curled moustache who’d kept waving his arms around and calling for them to be still. Everyone was smiling. Everyone, that was, except Jane.

Ruth gasped when she found Jane in the photograph and saw the expression on her face. She turned to look at Edie and saw that her friend was open-mouthed. She knew Edie had seen what she had too.

‘Look at Davey, behind her,’ Edie said, nodding at the picture.

Davey was staring at the camera as if challenging it to a fight. Jane was in front of him, with her head turned to one side as if she wanted to be somewhere else. But it wasn’t just the expression on her face that caused alarm bells to ring for Ruth and Edie. It was the sight of Davey’s hand on her neck. It was obvious to anyone who cared to look that he was holding her just a little too tight.

‘She was trying to move away from him,’ Edie said. ‘He was hurting her. Look! It’s right there in front of us. We’re going to have to have it out with her. Today.’

‘Dinner time,’ Ruth whispered. ‘We’ll go to the loft as if we’re going to check on Maude. It’s time we got to the bottom of this.’

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