The Toffee Factory Girls by Glenda Young

Author:Glenda Young [Young, Glenda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Historical, Sagas, War & Military
ISBN: 9781035402496
Google: LMXIEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B0C9ZLM3DC
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2024-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

On Friday, the factory whistle blew at six p.m. For the girls in the wrapping room, this signalled the end of their working week. They weren’t due back until eight a.m. on Monday. For others at the factory, including the sugar boilers and the workers in the slab room, shifts of workers would continue to come in throughout the weekend. Hetty and Elsie walked from the wrapping room together.

‘What are you doing this weekend?’ Elsie asked.

Hetty bit her lip. For days she’d wrestled with her decision over whether to see Dirk again. She’d looked deep inside her heart and examined her feelings, turning things over this way and that. In the end, she’d decided she had to see him. If she was still eaten up by guilt over Bob, then she wouldn’t meet him again. The excitement of being invited to the dance was burning inside her. She felt as if her heart would burst if she didn’t tell someone.

‘Promise you won’t tell anyone where I’m going on Saturday night?’ she whispered.

Elsie pulled her close. ‘Where?’

Hetty shook her head. ‘Promise me,’ she said.

Elsie crossed her heart. ‘I promise.’

‘I’m going dancing at Elisabethville.’

Elsie’s eyes opened wide. ‘No! How did you manage that? Is someone smuggling you in?’

Hetty shot her a look. ‘Of course not. And if there’s a problem getting in, I’ll have my official pass with me.’ She patted her coat pocket. ‘Anne says she trusts me to keep it over the weekend because I need to go to Elisabethville first thing on Monday morning. Mr Jack wants me to collect paperwork from the supplies office. Anyway, I’ve been invited to the dance by someone in the camp, so all being well I won’t need it.’

Elsie looked at her. ‘Well, you kept that a secret. Is he nice?’

‘Very nice.’

‘Is he Belgian?’

Hetty nodded. She saw a look on her friend’s face that she’d never seen before.

‘I’m shocked at you, Hetty Lawson,’ Elsie said, but the mischievous smile around her lips suggested otherwise. ‘I wish you could get me in too.’

Hetty ignored the comment, knowing how precious her pass was.

They reached Market Lane, where Elsie went one way and Hetty the other.

‘Come here and let me hug you,’ Elsie said.

Hetty was surprised by the request. ‘This isn’t like you.’

‘I’m just so happy for you, my friend,’ Elsie replied.

Hetty stepped into her embrace, then pulled away, waved farewell and set off down Front Street. She felt someone at her side, and when she turned to see who it was, she was pleased to see Anne there.

‘Doing anything nice at the weekend?’ Hetty asked.

Anne shook her head, mumbling something about her landlady and her rug.

‘My word, she’s really having trouble with that rug,’ Hetty said, wondering if she dared say more. It seemed as if Anne was fobbing her off rather than reveal what she had planned. ‘Will it take up all of your weekend?’

Anne began to walk faster. ‘I can’t stop, Hetty, I’ve got things to do,’ she called over her shoulder. She was soon lost in the throng of factory girls walking home.

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.