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

Love or Duty--A saga set in 1920s Liverpool
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then can I come in and see her?’
    Ellen Murphy stared at Penny for a long moment. ‘Yes,’ she agreed finally, with a shrug of her shoulders. ‘I suppose you can; that’s if you’re not afraid of dirtying your fine clothes.’
    Penny bit her lip and said nothing. She felt dreadfully uncomfortable. She could sense the anger and frustration bubbling up inside Ellen Murphy. Whether it was against her, blaming her for Kelly’s accident, or whether it was against the whole world she wasn’t sure.
    â€˜Come on then, I can’t stand out here in the street jangling all day,’ Ellen said ungraciously as she turned and led the way down the cracked and jagged stone steps to the basement area.
    â€˜Watch how you go,’ she called over her shoulder as she kicked a screwed-up piece of greasy newspaper, that looked as though it had once held fish and chips, out of the way.
    As Ellen Murphy pushed open the battered black door and led the way into a dark and dingy passage, Penny almost choked on the putrid smell that assailed her nostrils. It seemed to be a mixture of sick, urine and stale cooking all rolled into one.
    She could hear a child crying; a thin, plaintiff whining cry that went right through her head.
    â€˜That’s young Kelly moaning,’ Ellen Murphy told her. ‘She’s in bed down here,’ she added leading the way along the passage.
    Penny took out her handkerchief and held it over her nose as she followed Ellen Murphy. She shuddered as something soft and furry brushed against her ankle, hoping it was a cat and not a rat.
    The room Ellen Murphy led her into was airless; the small window looked out on to a brick wall and was so streaked with dirt that it let in very little light. Penny wondered if it had ever been opened.
    There were two beds crammed into the room; one was a single and the other a three-quarter bed that was jammed tight up against the wall at one side.
    The space between the two beds was so narrow that Penny had to edge along sideways to reach Kelly who was lying in a midst of rumpled bedclothes in the larger bed. Her small face was streaked with tears. She looked so thin and unkempt that Penny’s heart went out to her.
    As she saw the grazes and deep lacerations on the child’s face and arms Penny wanted to gather her up, smooth the greasy hair back from her little elfin face and try and comfort her.
    As Penny approached the bed Kelly pulled the grubby sheet up over her face so that only her eyes were visible.
    â€˜What you grizzling about now?’ Ellen asked as she leaned forward and pulled back the sheet. ‘Come on, sit up and show the lady your bad leg.’
    Kelly tugged hard at the sheet and cowered back down, sneaking a sideways glance at Penny as if not at all sure who she was and half afraid that she might be in some sort of trouble.
    Ellen pulled it back, completely exposing the child who was wearing only a dirty vest that was wrinkled halfway up her body.
    Penny gasped and her heart beat faster as she saw the heavy plaster cast on the child’s leg.
    Kelly looked fearfully from her mother to Penny and back again and then tried to lift her leg in the air but the weight of the plaster made it impossible for her to do so and her sobs became louder.
    â€˜You can see for yourself that she’s pretty badly hurt,’ Ellen Murphy stated with a triumphant note in her voice.
    Penny nodded, too overcome to speak. She wanted to comfort the child but she knew that she must not do so. Her father’s warning words about the possibility of the family suing for damages when the case came to court rang in her head.
    â€˜Time you were up,’ Ellen told Kelly harshly. ‘I can’t keep running backwards and forwards waiting on you all day. Come along.’ Catching hold of Kelly’s arm Ellen hauled the child off the bed and on to her feet.
    Kelly swayed and then clutched wildly at the bed frame as she tried
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