Secrets on 26th Street Read Online Free

convincing, really. He ended up making me a present of two loaves.”
    Bea pulled off string and damp brown paper to reveal two round loaves. “This one’s pumpernickel. The other’s plain white. I like both. I hope you do, too.”
    Lucy nodded vigorously. “I likes butter on my bread.”
    â€œButter you shall have, dearie. What’s your name?”
    â€œMy name’s Lucy. It’s easy to say.”
    â€œThat it is,” laughed Bea. “Enough chatter, though. Lucy wants her bread. We’ll eat straightaway.”
    â€œShouldn’t we wait for Mum?” Susan asked.
    â€œThere’s plenty and more, love. Your mum would want you fed. I’m sure of it.”
    How can you be sure of it , Susan thought, when you don’t even know my mum?
    But Susan was too hungry to put up an argument. She bolted down the meat and vegetables, and even took seconds. Bea didn’t eat; she sipped a cup of tea and chatted away while the girls gobbled seconds and thirds.
    Bea was bright and cheery. Lucy and Helen were quickly taken with her, and even Susan couldn’t help enjoying herself.
    With her stomach full and the room so warm, Susan began to feel comfortably sleepy. Soon Lucy’s head was nodding. “I say, let me get this girl into bed,” Bea exclaimed.
    â€œNo!” Lucy’s head popped up. Apiece of potato clung to her hair. “I’m not sleepy!”
    â€œWhy, I didn’t mean you, dearie. I was talking about myself. I’ve had a long day, and I’m quite tuckered. Would you sit in my lap and listen to a song while I rock? It would help me relax ever so much.”
    Lucy scrambled from her chair into Bea’s lap. “My mummy sings to me, too. Will you sing “My Bonnie?”
    â€œDon’t know that one, love. I had in mind an old sea ditty my uncle used to sing to me. He was captain of a clipper ship, he was. Sailed the seven seas, had a wooden leg, the whole caboodle.” With that she began to sing. Halfway through the second chorus, Lucy was asleep. Bea tiptoed into the bedroom and put her in bed. Then she insisted on fetching water and washing up the dishes herself while Susan and Helen got a start on their lessons. “Can’t very well let those boys show you up in class, now, can you?” she said with a wink.
    Susan pulled out her English book and started conjugating verbs, but she couldn’t keep her mind on teach, taught, teaching . All she could think about was Bea—Bea, who was elbow-deep in dishwater and humming away. Susan liked Bea, she did. She couldn’t help it.

C HAPTER 3
    A S ECRET

    Soon afterward, Mum came dragging through the door, a puddle of water in her wake. The alarm clock on top of the icebox read half past eight.
    â€œIt’s raining cats and dogs,” she said. She sounded weary. Water was dripping off Mum’s hat into a pool on the floor, and she was shivering.
    Bea scurried to take off Mum’s wet things. “You look like you swam home, love,” she said. “Why didn’t you take the subway?”
    â€œPshaw,” said Mum. “No reason to spend good money on the subway. I won’t melt. You must be Miss Rutherford.” She smiled and held out her hand in greeting. “I hope my girls had a nice dinner ready when you got here.” Susan felt a stab of guilt. She hadn’t done anything Mum had asked her to.
    â€œWhy, they gave me a lovely welcome,” said Bea. “I just added the meat and a few carrots and onions to spice dinner up a bit. Sit down and try some. You’ve got jewels in those girls, love, that you do.”
    â€œI do indeed,” said Mum. She smiled and kissed Susan and Helen on the head.
    Bea took pains to get Mum warm and dry, then sat and ate with her. Bea told stories all the while, funny stories about her relatives back in England. She had them all laughing, even Mum, until tears ran from their eyes. Susan