Down Daisy Street Read Online Free Page A

Down Daisy Street
Book: Down Daisy Street Read Online Free
Author: Katie Flynn
Tags: Fiction, Sagas
Pages:
Go to
the bandages for an Indian headdress and they’d likely spread the iodine on the cotton wool and feed it to that horrible mongrel of theirs. I’ve nothing against the O’Briens, as you well know; they do the best they can and it ain’t as if Mr O’Brien drinks his money away like Mr Templeton does, because every penny he earns goes on feeding and clothing all those kids. But there’s no denying there’s a good deal of make do and mend in that household.’
    Thinking back to that talk of the first aid box, Kathy thought bitterly that not the best bandages in the world could help when something really dreadful happened, like Billy’s accident. Why, she had not considered for a moment running home with her little brother in her arms to look through the first aid box. She had known full well that he needed hospital treatment, and now that she had time to think she realised that it was all her fault. She should never have allowed Billy to scramble on the floor amongst the fighting O’Briens; she should have picked him up and kept him away from trouble. The truth was, she thought guiltily, hurrying along the road, that her mind had been too full of her new school and her smart school uniform to worry about her little brother, precious though he was to her.
    At this point, the two girls entered the portals of the hospital where, according to Jane, her family spent such a lot of time. The truth of her claim was demonstrated almost at once when a sister came bustling up to them, saying as she approached: ‘Oh, Jane, what’s happened this time? Surely a little chap like that can’t have been fighting with his brothers? Or is it a girl?’
    ‘It’s Billy Kelling, not one of us O’Briens,’ Jane explained, looking a little self-conscious. ‘He’s Kathy’s baby brother; we were minding him for Mrs Kelling when – when our kids got into a bit of a rumpus on the floor and Billy got knocked over.’
    ‘He hit his head on the fender and – and I think he’s concussed,’ Kathy said, rather timidly, and was relieved when the sister, who was a thin, bright-eyed woman in her early forties, glanced keenly at Billy and then at Kathy, and said: ‘Sensible girl to bring him along straight away! I think you’re correct, and that whack on the head has concussed him, which means he’s in the right place because he’s going to need hospital treatment, I’m afraid. Where are your parents, Kathy? Because I think someone should fetch them at once; we may need information only they can give.’
    All Kathy’s newfound confidence fled. ‘Why – why d’you need me mam and dad?’ she quavered. ‘Our Billy isn’t going to – going to die ? Is he?’
    The two girls were following the sister as she made her way across the hall and into a long corridor which Kathy remembered, from previous visits with Jane when an O’Brien was wounded, led to the children’s ward. Now the sister halted her brisk pace for a moment, to smile soothingly down at them. ‘No, no, you mustn’t get in a state,’ she said reprovingly. ‘But we’ll need forms signed so that we can take an X-ray of Billy’s head and carry out some tests. So you two run along and fetch Mr and Mrs Kelling and before you know it, young Billy will be right as rain, sitting up in bed and demanding roast beef and two veg, and a glass of Guinness for his tea.’
    Laughing at the absurd picture this conjured up, Kathy laid Billy on the examination couch, and then she and Jane made their way back through the hospital, considerably reassured by the sister’s jokey comment. ‘You know where me dad works, don’t you, Janey?’ Kathy said presently, as they emerged on to Stanley Road. ‘He’s in the Sidney Sawmills on Melrose Road. He’s in the offices but if you just ask for Jack Kelling, someone will take you to him. Everyone knows Dad,’ she finished.
    ‘Oh . . . but wouldn’t it be better if I went for your mam?’ Jane said rather anxiously.
    Kathy guessed that her
Go to

Readers choose