Megan of Merseyside Read Online Free Page A

before six every morning.’
    ‘I know.’
    ‘And then he has another stint to do when he gets home after school.’
    ‘What sort of life is that?’ Lynn would jeer. ‘He’s nothing more than a labourer.’
    ‘He’ll own the farm one day.’
    ‘Scratching for a living, chasing sheep all over the mountains, milking cows night and morning and mucking out the pigs. That’s no future.’
    ‘It’s not all work. He goes hunting and shooting with his father and sometimes they go fishing.’
    That didn’t impress Lynn in the slightest. ‘How can you like someone who enjoys killing animals?’ she would sniff contemptuously.
    ‘I suppose you’d prefer a chap who dressed up in a smart suit and a white shirt to go to work and still looked clean and smart when he came home at six each night.’
    ‘Of course! Especially if he brings home a fat wage packet at the end of the week.’
    It’s a pity Lynn isn’t the one who has come for this interview, Megan thought ruefully. Nothing ever disconcerted her. She’d be so much more confident than I am. If she didn’t know the answer to any of the questions they asked then she’d bluff her way.
    ‘And that’s exactly what I had better do if I’m going to make sure of getting this job,’ Megan muttered aloud as she made a last critical scrutiny in the mirror to check that her lipstick hadn’t smudged and that her nose wasn’t shiny.
    She passed the comb through her hair again, wondering if she should have left it like Lynn had styled it for her. She supposed it had looked more sophisticated framing her face, but she felt more comfortable with it neatly tucked behind her ears in the way she always wore it.
    She frowned at her reflection. There was still something not quite right about her appearance. Perhaps it would be better if she took off her raincoat and carried it. It was her school one and didn’t really go with the smart image she was trying to create.
    She took a deep breath; what was she worrying about? It was only another interview and it would probably come to nothing anyway.
    That was the whole problem, of course. This time it did matter, quite a lot. Her father was counting on her making a good impression.
    Still, she told herself, if a complete stranger thought she was right for the job when her hair was all windblown and she’d been looking a complete mess, then surely, now that she’d smartened herself up, she stood a pretty good chance of being successful.
    Head high, ignoring the butterflies inside her, Megan made her way back to the general office, hoping she looked more confident than she felt.
    All she had to do was convince Miss Pearce that she could cope with the work, she told herself firmly.
    From what the young man had told her it seemed she might be the first applicant. If she put her mind to it, concentrated really hard, answered the questions in a clear voice and didn’t get flustered, there was no reason why she shouldn’t be successful. And then he would find her working there next time he came into the office. She felt a frisson of excitement at the thought.

Chapter Three
    THE WAITING SEEMED interminable. As the days slowly passed and there was no news from Walker’s, Megan’s hopes dwindled. She had been on cloud nine when she’d walked down Old Hall Street after her interview. Her mind had been full of dreams, thinking what it would be like to set out for work each morning, to be part of the teaming throng that made up the city’s life.
    The interview had gone so well. Valerie Pearce was a rather plain, stocky woman in her early thirties, with tightly marcelled fair hair and hazel eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses. In her trim navy suit and high-necked white blouse, she had looked rather prim; yet Megan had felt at ease with her, happy to answer her barrage of questions.
    For her part, Valerie Pearce liked the quiet, serious young girl with the wide-set, intelligent brown eyes. Her neat appearance and the absence of heavy make-up