An Orphan's Hope: The BRAND-NEW gripping Battersea saga for summer 2024 from Sunday Times bestseller Kitty Neale by Neale Kitty

Author:Neale, Kitty
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2024-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

32

It had been a week since Rachel, Martha and Benny had moved out of the Battersea Tavern to their new home in Carshalton and four days since Carmen had left to live with her daughter in Balham. Yet Winnie still hadn’t got used to cooking for just herself, Maureen and Grace. ‘Oh well,’ she sighed, rolling her eyes at the mountain of mashed potatoes left in the saucepan, ‘we’ll have bubble and squeak tomorrow.’

‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to cook the dinners, Winnie?’ Maureen offered.

‘No, love, thank you. I enjoy it. But you’re more than welcome to take on my share of the laundry duties.’

‘Consider it done.’

‘And Grace,’ Winnie added, ‘I shall need you to come to the market with me tomorrow morning.’

Grace pulled a face.

‘Your boat race will stay like that if the wind changes,’ Winnie warned. ‘Rachel and the kids are coming for Sunday lunch, so I want a hand with the shopping. And you can do the washing-up this evening an’ all. It’ll be busy tonight downstairs; it always is on Fridays. Are you all right mucking in, Maureen?’

‘Yes, no problem. Vic said he’ll sit at the end of the bar and help out too if needed.’

‘I suppose you’ll be staying in again all evening?’ Winnie asked Grace.

The girl nodded.

‘Haven’t you got any friends, love?’

Grace shrugged.

‘What about Pauline Middleton at the end of the street? She’s in your class at school, ain’t she?’

Grace pretended to gag. ‘Pauline is dirty,’ she stated. ‘My gran used to tell me to stay away from her.’

Winnie was taken aback. As far as she knew, Pauline came from a nice family, albeit a family without two ha’pennies to rub together. Pauline’s clothes were second-hand, but the girl always looked smart enough, and many households in Battersea lived in poverty. Though Winnie knew that there was no need for the Middletons to be hard up – their lack of money was due to Pauline’s father being a gambler. Grace couldn’t know about Mr Middleton’s gambling habits, and she was surprised at the girl’s comment. ‘Pauline’s a nice girl,’ Winnie said, defensively.

‘The last time the nit nurse came to school, Pauline and her brother had them and fleas as well.’

‘Loads of kids get nits, that doesn’t make them dirty, love.’

‘That’s not what my gran said.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t want to say your gran was wrong, but her ideas were different from mine. Maybe you should give Pauline a chance, eh? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a friend who lives just a few doors up? Perhaps you’d like to invite her for dinner one evening?’

Unfortunately, Grace didn’t look enthused with the notion of Pauline coming for dinner.

‘This is your home, Grace. If you want to invite friends round, you’re more than welcome to.’

‘Thanks,’ Grace replied with no enthusiasm.

‘So, how about I ask Pauline’s mum if Pauline would like to come for dinner tomorrow?’

Again, Grace shrugged. ‘If you like,’ she answered, flatly.

Winnie wondered why the girl didn’t seem to have any friends. She hadn’t made any effort to be pals with Martha either.

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