So Long At the Fair Read Online Free Page B

not a farthing between them. Mrs Curren went away and came back with a new halfpenny piece. ‘Ready?’ she said. ‘Who’s going to call?’
    Silence.
    ‘Which is the older of you?’ Mrs Curren asked.
    ‘Please, mum, I am,’ Jane said. ‘Six months.’
    ‘Then you call. All right?’
    Mrs Curren neatly flipped the coin into the air, caught it in her right palm and clapped it onto the back of her left hand. ‘Heads or tails?’ she said to Jane.
    ‘Tails, please, mum.’
    Mrs Curren lifted her right hand exposing the coin and Victoria’s profile. ‘Heads,’ she said, raising her eyebrows to Jane in sympathy. ‘Well.’ She smiled at Abbie. ‘I hope you’ll be happy here.’
    ‘Yes, mum. Thank you, mum.’
    Mrs Curren turned back to Jane. ‘I’m sure it won’t be long before you find a place. Here . . .’ Taking Jane’s hand she put the coin into her palm. ‘A little consolation for you.’ Jane thanked her and dropped it into her pocket.
    ‘Now,’ said Mrs Curren, ‘I’m sure you girls are hungry after your long walk, aren’t you?’ Without waiting for an answer she waved a hand towards the large, scrubbed table. ‘Just you sit down there and we’ll see if we can’t find you a little refreshment before you start back.’
    ‘Are you sure you don’t mind too much?’ Abbie asked as they walked back along the road towards Flaxdown. ‘Me getting the position, I mean.’
    Jane’s failure had tempered Abbie’s own satisfaction. She was well aware of how badly Jane and her mother needed the money. Since Jane’s father had died she and her mother had lived little more than a hand-to-mouth existence, their only income being from the handmade lace that Mrs Carroll produced. Beautiful as it was, however, it was becoming more and more difficult to sell. Machine-made lace was available now, and only the wealthy and discerning chose to buy the exquisite, but relatively expensive, lace made by the likes of Mrs Carroll.
    ‘No, of course not,’ Jane said. ‘She only wanted one maid so we couldn’t both get the job. Besides, you heard about it first. And anyway, I’ll find something soon.’
    Rain began to fall soon after five o’clock, just as the village of Flaxdown came in sight, and they finished the last two hundred yards of the journey in a mad dash.
    After saying goodbye to Jane, Abbie entered the cottage to find her mother preparing the evening meal, while Lizzie and Iris sat in a corner playing with their little rag dolls. ‘Thank the Lord you’re here,’ her mother said. ‘Eddie will be in from the farm soon and your father’ll be back from Bath at any time.’
    As Abbie changed her clothes in her bedroom her mother came and stood in the doorway. ‘So, how did you get on?’ she asked.
    ‘There was only one place,’ Abbie said. ‘And we tossed for it.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘I got it.’
    Her mother looked relieved. ‘Good. When do you start?’
    ‘In two weeks. She seems very nice – Mrs Curren. She gave us apple pie and tea. Tea with milk.’
    ‘And what wages will you be getting?’
    ‘A shilling a week and all found.’
    ‘A shilling. Still, it’s only a petty place. You won’t need to stay more than a year, then you can find something better.’
    ‘Mrs Curren said she hopes as I’ll be very happy there and will want to stay on.’
    ‘Well, she would, wouldn’t she? But she knows well enough that no self-respecting girl stays in a petty place more than a year. It’s not expected.’
    Downstairs again, Abbie set the table for high tea and then, leaving her mother to finish preparing the meal, sat at the window and got on with the mending of some of her father’s and brother’s socks. The rain had stopped now. As she worked she kept an eye on the lane.
    All at once she was putting her mending down on the window ledge, getting up and hurrying to the door.
    ‘Oh, your father’s back, is he?’ her mother said. ‘Must be. There’s only one thing that makes you move