Love or Duty--A saga set in 1920s Liverpool Read Online Free

that point when she had suggested contacting the hospital to enquire after the child.
    Her mother had refused to talk about any of it saying that it made her feel quite unwell to do so. Nevertheless Penny felt she had a duty to try and find out how badly hurt the child was and if there was anything she could do to help.
    She worried about it all the next day but there wasn’t very much she could do on a Sunday without either her parents or Arnold discovering what she was up to.
    Penny spent another restless night and then on Monday morning knowing that her father and Arnold would both be at work and her mother was attending one of her numerous committee meetings she decided to take matters into her own hands.
    She resolved she would go over to Liverpool and see what she could find out.

Three
    Penny Forshaw paused at the entrance to Cannon Court and held her breath wondering if she had the nerve to go any further.
    She had never visited the Scotland Road area of Liverpool before but she had heard about it. Now that she was here she was appalled not only by all the dirt and dreadful smells but also by the abject poverty that she could see all around her.
    She stopped by the house marked number five, trying to pluck up the courage to go through with her mission.
    For a minute she wondered if perhaps she should have listened to her family’s advice after all.
    As she stood there debating whether to go up the steps to the scabby front door or down to the equally battered looking door in the basement, a woman carrying a baby wrapped in a shawl came along the road. She stopped by the stone steps where Penny was standing. ‘You looking for someone, luv?’ she asked, hitching the baby higher in her arms, almost as if it was a bundle of washing she was carrying.
    â€˜Yes, as a matter of fact I am. I’m looking for the Murphy’s house.’
    â€˜In that case then you’ve found it. I’m Ellen Murphy.’ Her sharp dark eyes narrowed as she stared in a hostile way at Penny. ‘If you’ve come asking about why our Kelly hasn’t been to school then I can explain,’ she added in a hard voice.
    â€˜No, no, it’s nothing like that at all,’ Penny said quickly.
    The two women stared at each other in silence for a moment; one smartly dressed in a crisp green and white outfit, the other slatternly and drab in a black skirt and stained dark red blouse.
    â€˜Was you the woman that was driving that motor car that knocked our Kelly down?’ Ellen Murphy rasped in an accusing voice.
    Penny bit her lip and then nodded her head. She felt unable to admit it out loud for fear of how the woman might react.
    â€˜My Kelly’s in a bad way,’ Mrs Murphy stated aggressively. ‘As well as having a broken leg she has cuts and bruises all over her.’
    â€˜I’m so sorry,’ Penny said quickly. ‘She ran out into the road after her ball, you know. I didn’t have a chance to stop in time. There was no way I could avoid hitting her,’ she added defensively.
    Ellen Murphy sniffed disbelievingly and hitched the baby into a more comfortable position.
    â€˜Is she still in hospital?’ Penny asked.
    â€˜Course she bloody well isn’t. They turfed her out the very next day and insisted that I should take her home and look after her there. Her leg’s in a sodding great splint and what’s more she can’t walk.’
    â€˜Oh, I am so sorry,’ Penny murmured. ‘It must be very worrying for you.’
    â€˜Bloody nuisance since she has to share a bed with two of my other kids. We had a real night of it last night, I can tell you. They woke up screaming when Kelly kicked them with that great splint and then she woke up crying because one of them was lying on her bad leg. It’s bloody hell for all of us, I can tell you.’
    â€˜I’m so sorry to hear all this, Mrs Murphy,’ Penny said apologetically. ‘If she is at home