Child on the Doorstep by Anne Bennett

Author:Anne Bennett
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008162344
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2018-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

St Catherine’s was packed for the Requiem Mass for Alf Malone. Maggie whispered to Angela as they sat in the church waiting for the Mass to begin that Michael had fought with his mother to be one of the pallbearers.

‘Why didn’t she want him to be?’ Angela whispered back, mindful of Hilda sitting the other side of Maggie sobbing copiously and wiping her eyes with a large white handkerchief.

‘Because of his leg, what else?’ Maggie answered. ‘Michael said if we have to live with his mother then we’ll start as we mean to go on and he will refuse to be wrapped in cotton wool.’

Angela didn’t blame him and later, when they carried the coffin into the church, she saw Maggie looking at her husband with pride. She felt a measure of it too and she hoped that the future wasn’t going to be too hard for Maggie and Michael because she wouldn’t think Hilda the easiest person in the world to share a home with.

Maggie was the first to agree with her as they gathered in the back room at the Swan as usual after Requiem Mass and the visit to Key Hill Cemetery and they were able to talk at last.

‘I don’t think it will be too bad though and a good job as well, for we are stuck with her now, however we feel. We knew this day would come eventually with Michael being the only one left, but the house is big and that helps.’

Angela could see that that would be an advantage and she said, ‘How many bedrooms has it?’

‘Four,’ said Maggie. ‘And on the second floor is the attic where all the children slept when they were at home, one mattress for the girls and another for the boys. Michael said it was a squash, but it meant they could take in more lodgers so they never bothered complaining. There was no spare for wardrobes or chests though, and he said they had hooks on the wall and stackable packing crates for the rest.’

‘So will you take one of the bedrooms now?’

‘No, it will be better for Michael to have one of the rooms on the ground floor. His parents have always had one and the other was used as a sitting room. But now it will be changed to a bedroom. There’s an area off the kitchen big enough for use as a sitting room, with a fire and all. Not that I imagine I will be doing much sitting. I would think Hilda will demand her pound of flesh and I’ll be doing the lion’s share of the work. Still, beggars can’t be choosers. It will be difficult to do the weekend cleaning at the pub once we move out. Will you take it on?’

Angela nodded. ‘Breda has already asked me and I agreed to fill in till they get someone else.’

‘Be tough for you doing cleaning and working behind the bar,’ Maggie pointed out.

‘Yes but it’s unlikely to be for too long,’ Angela said.

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