A Mother's Promise Read Online Free

buy the things we need.’
    Sammy dropped his snowball onto the pavement. ‘And our fish supper.’
    ‘That too,’ Hetty said, smiling. A snowball, thrown by Eddie with deadly accuracy, hit hersquarely in the face. ‘Why, you little . . .’ Half angry, half laughing, she wiped the melting ice from her eyes. ‘Right, you little monster. You’ve asked for it.’ She bent down and scooped up a handful of snow. Forming it into a ball, she tossed it at Eddie who screamed and ran away. Sammy responded by pelting Hetty with snowballs, and Eddie joined in, shouting gleefully. Hetty forgot all about being grown-up and sensible as she fought back, laughing and shrieking as loud as or even louder than her brothers.
    ‘Hey! Two on to one – that’s not fair.’ Tom came striding towards them out of the darkness. He scooped up handfuls of snow and made a huge snowball.
    ‘You wouldn’t . . .’ Sammy murmured, backing away.
    ‘Oh, wouldn’t I?’ Tom lobbed it at them, but the snowball hit a lamppost, fragmented and fell harmlessly to the ground.
    Hetty pitched a snowball at Tom, catching him squarely on the back of his head and tipping his cap over his eyes. ‘Got you, Tom. That one’s for me brothers.’
    He spun round and caught her by the shoulders, giving her a gentle shake. ‘Here, I was on your side.’
    A snowball hit him on the head and another clipped his ear, knocking his cap to the ground.
    ‘You see what happens when you take on the Huggins family,’ Hetty said, laughing.
    He bent down to retrieve his cap. ‘Fainites!’ he said, holding up his right hand and crossing his fingers. ‘I’ll go quietly.’
    Sammy and Eddie pounced on him, grabbing his hands. ‘We got him for you, Hetty. What shall us do with him now?’
    Hetty angled her head. ‘I think he should carry the bag of coal for us, for a start, and the kindling.’
    ‘You’re a hard woman, Hetty, but I know when I’m beaten. I’ll pay my penance, gladly. But on one condition.’
    ‘And what’s that, Tom?’
    ‘That you let me buy you a fish supper at Greasy Joe’s.’
    ‘I’ll think about it.’
    Sammy tugged at Tom’s hand. ‘And some wallies, please, Tom.’
    ‘I think I can run to a wally or two.’
    Eddie pulled Tom’s other hand. ‘How about a pickled egg?’
    ‘Maybe, but only if you’re a good boy and do everything your sister says.’
    Sammy and Eddie whooped for joy and bounded on ahead as Tom linked Hetty’s hand through the crook of his elbow and started off in the direction of the grocer’s shop.
    ‘You spoil them,’ she said with mock severity.‘But thanks anyway.’ Hetty knew that she ought to have refused his generous offer, but the thought of saving a few pennies was too tempting. She would be able to give Clench a little extra when he called next day. The sooner they paid him off the better. She smiled up at Tom. Although he was only just twenty-one, two years her senior, he had been labouring at the gasworks for more than seven years, and if she was being honest, she had to admit that he had matured into quite a good-looking young man. Any girl would be proud to be seen out with such a fellow.
    The interior of Greasy Joe’s café was filled with steam and the slightly rancid odour of hot fat mixed with the wet sheep smell of damp woollen clothes drying out in the fuggy heat. The other customers, all working men who had just come off shift in the gasworks or the carbolic acid factory on the banks of the River Lea, sat smoking hand-rolled cigarettes and drinking tea. Hetty prepared to queue at the counter, but Tom directed them to a bench, insisting that it was his treat and he had no intention of standing outside in the snow eating his supper from yesterday’s newspaper. Sammy and Eddie took their places at one of the wooden tables, staring around wide-eyed. Hetty hid a smile as she watched them sitting primly on the form,unusually silent, as they absorbed their unfamiliar surroundings. She could not